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There seem to be a lot of quick, easy, no essay scholarships. Are these worth looking into?

#college #scholarships

scholarships
Thank you comment icon Short answer: no. Long answer: There are millions of students who are searching for scholarships. Any kind of quick, easy, no essay kind of "scholarship" means that you are entering a giveaway or sweepstakes. If you enjoy giveaways, go ahead and enter for fun, but do not expect to win any money or be able to pay for tuition or room and board with those "scholarships". There are tens of thousands of other people who are entering, making your chance of winning something like 0.0001% or less. Katarzyna
Thank you comment icon (cont 2) A much better tactic is to use databases such as Cappex and Fastweb that help match you to scholarships you might be competitive in. For example, if you are a volleyball player, have a twin, grew up on a farm, are interested in becoming a pilot, want to major in business/French literature/graphic design, parents were in the military or firefighters, etc, there are scholarships for all of those and more. Does your city or county in Utah have any scholarships for local students, even if they are attending a school in another place? Does your college/university offer scholarships to students based on good academic performance? That's where you should focus your attention. Katarzyna
Thank you comment icon (cont 3) After you seek out those opportunities, then you can apply to other essay-based scholarship applications that are open to any students. Pay close attention to the requirements and what the topic is. After you write a draft of the essay, go to the writing centre at your college (or ask a friend majoring in English or a professor) to read your draft and give you feedback. Then edit it, and submit. Katarzyna
Thank you comment icon (cont 4) Continue to search for more scholarships and apply. If you get even one out of every ten you apply for, that's a 10% success rate, which is significantly better than the tiny 0.0001% or less success rate you might get with those "no-essay" giveaways. The best part is that after you start applying for scholarships, you build up a collection of personal essays, and those essays can, with a little bit of tweaking, can be tailored for new scholarship applications. So invest the time in applying and it will get easier and easier as you go along. Good luck! Katarzyna
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Ken’s Answer

The best way to look for scholarships is through the reference librarian at your local library and professional associations related to your career area of interest. However, the first step is to develop a better sense of career focus and then talk to professionals in your career area of interest to get their advice and suggestions.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
• It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Nicole’s Answer

Hi Haylie J. I see that you posted this question a little while ago so I hope my answer to you (or others who may read this response) is still helpful.

I echo the idea that looking for "quick, easy, no essay" scholarships may take you to a point where you aren't actually getting any scholarships. I also share that there is benefit to engaging in the essay writing process. To name a few 1)Writing an essay (or getting in good practice by writing a few), can make an individual a better writer. There are life-long benefits to becoming a better writer 2)Most college programs/curriculums require writing essays. As an engineering student, I had quite a few essays that I had to write both within my engineering classes and for my required elective classes. 3)Learning how to write good essays becomes helpful an individual's career (think of how most people communicate...text is a quick way but in many corporate settings, it is email and being a better, clearer writer using email can mean the difference between getting something done or not :))

As with any other task, practice can make that task easier over time. Consider a new approach where you get to start small in developing your writing skill and writing style, continue to develop those "muscles" and then, knock 'em dead with your awesome essays! Best of luck to you..
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