2 answers
Ivanna
Student
Katy, Texas
4
Questions
Asked
681 views
Best Scholarships for high gpa students?
I am looking for good scholarships. #idk
Login to comment
2 answers
Katie Kippley
Auditor
10
Answers
Somerville, Massachusetts
Updated
Katie’s Answer
Hi Ivanna. Great question! I will only speak from my experience, as I had a merit-based scholarship at my University. I attended Bentley University, which is located just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. My advice would be to apply to some schools that you are confident you'll be accepted to, as well as some reach schools. Then, research each of the schools to see if there are any additional applications to fill out to be considered for any scholarships. In my experience, there was no further applications, but they consider all students for the scholarships. In conclusion, you may be surprised what scholarships your prospective colleges offer you through applying to them!
Madisen Karlson
Financial Advisor
6
Answers
Phoenix, Arizona
Updated
Madisen’s Answer
Hi Ivanna! I know that there are many private scholarships available to students in high school, but my opportunities for scholarships happened after I started college in my Junior and Senior years, so I will speak to my experience. Like Katie said, many colleges offer merit-based scholarships, so if you maintain the required GPA, you may automatically qualify. I also got scholarships for specific things pertaining to my major. For example, a housing scholarship paid for rent for my internship over the summer. I competed in several collegiate competitions that had scholarship rewards, I only placed in one of those, but the other times gave me experience that I could write about in my essays. Or there were scholarships offered through private companies that wanted to support the "next gen." The common denominator in finding these scholarship opportunities and being chosen are the following:
--My mentors at my university made me aware of most of these. A mentor in college can guide you to various opportunities. My professors were my main mentors. I performed well in class, I volunteer for them a lot, and visited with them during open office hours. If something doesn't happen naturally, you can start a conversation with a professor. Example: "I am a hard working student, and I think I might be interested in {X}. I would really appreciate your guidance in helping me identify opportunities related to internship, scholarships, and learning more about {X} career. Would you be willing to mentor me?"
--Every so often I would google scholarships that were based in my major, and see if any new ones showed up and if I might have a chance of being awarded it. I would save all my essays, so I could repurpose the language and not spend so much time crafting a completely new essay.
--Writing a compelling essay. Often times the scholarship board is looking for particular criteria. The best way to get insight into what they want is to talk to someone who has been awarded that scholarship before. Often times your mentor can connect you with them if your mentor was the one who made you aware of the opportunity. If you don't have any connections, have your essays reviewed. You can get them reviewed by professors, career counselors at school, the university's writing lab, or other professionals to whom you might have connections. In general the scholarship committees want to hear the "why me." An easy format to use is the STAR (situation, task, action, and result) format (STAR format is also used in job interviews), which allows you to tell them how you performed in a specific situation and you can include the "why me" very easily.
My Freshman and Sophomore years of college I was in big auditorium classes and scared to interact with the professors. I actually changed schools. The school I changed to was generally considered less prestigious, but the class sizes were smaller. I worked hard, broke away from my fears, and started getting involved in my major and asking my professors questions. Finding scholarships is really difficult, but with support and determination, there are a lot of opportunities out there.
Find a mentor.
Have your scholarship essays reviewed and edited.
If possible, find people who have been awarded the scholarship and ask for advice.
--My mentors at my university made me aware of most of these. A mentor in college can guide you to various opportunities. My professors were my main mentors. I performed well in class, I volunteer for them a lot, and visited with them during open office hours. If something doesn't happen naturally, you can start a conversation with a professor. Example: "I am a hard working student, and I think I might be interested in {X}. I would really appreciate your guidance in helping me identify opportunities related to internship, scholarships, and learning more about {X} career. Would you be willing to mentor me?"
--Every so often I would google scholarships that were based in my major, and see if any new ones showed up and if I might have a chance of being awarded it. I would save all my essays, so I could repurpose the language and not spend so much time crafting a completely new essay.
--Writing a compelling essay. Often times the scholarship board is looking for particular criteria. The best way to get insight into what they want is to talk to someone who has been awarded that scholarship before. Often times your mentor can connect you with them if your mentor was the one who made you aware of the opportunity. If you don't have any connections, have your essays reviewed. You can get them reviewed by professors, career counselors at school, the university's writing lab, or other professionals to whom you might have connections. In general the scholarship committees want to hear the "why me." An easy format to use is the STAR (situation, task, action, and result) format (STAR format is also used in job interviews), which allows you to tell them how you performed in a specific situation and you can include the "why me" very easily.
My Freshman and Sophomore years of college I was in big auditorium classes and scared to interact with the professors. I actually changed schools. The school I changed to was generally considered less prestigious, but the class sizes were smaller. I worked hard, broke away from my fears, and started getting involved in my major and asking my professors questions. Finding scholarships is really difficult, but with support and determination, there are a lot of opportunities out there.
Madisen recommends the following next steps: