Types of Scholarships Directory

How to craft a scholarship strategy

In order to maximize your chances of winning scholarship money, it’s a good idea to come up with a concrete plan for your applications. Here are some tips to get your plan together:

Look at a wide variety of scholarship categories

Students can qualify for scholarships based on their grades, extracurriculars, demographics, academic interests, and much more. Using the scholarship directory above, as well as our free scholarship matching app, you can find opportunities that match every part of who you are as an applicant. Many students go through the application process without even knowing that certain accomplishments or pieces of their history could qualify them for scholarship funds.

Think local

Local scholarships are some of the best opportunities for students when paying for college. Since local scholarships are open to a smaller number of students, you’ll have less competition, and a higher chance of winning. Try reaching out to your high school counselor or local leaders, like a Boy Scout leader or someone at your church, to see if your community has a collection of scholarships available.

Expert Perspective

Some high schools keep their own scholarship database, which can be a great way for students to keep track of scholarships in their area and when they are due.

Melody Lipford | Advising Specialist on the Virtual Access Team, College Possible

Keep your deadlines straight

With scholarships opening and closing all throughout the year, it can be hard to remember when to get your applications in for each one. Making a Google Calendar to keep track of deadlines can be a great idea – you can even program it to email you before the deadline as a reminder. Another great way to keep on top of your deadlines is our free scholarship matching tool, which updates with custom-matched opportunities daily and allows students to store scholarships they are interested in.

Treat your scholarship applications like a job or an additional class

Another great way to stay on top of your applications is to block off a certain amount of time every week or month to look for scholarships and work on applications. By having this time sectioned off, you’ll be able to keep track of all your deadlines and continue a steady stream of applications.

Tips from a Scholarship Winner

I treat scholarships no different than I treat schoolwork. You have homework to do every week, and you have scholarships to do every week, based on their deadlines. I like to print out my scholarship applications and put them in different piles. For example, I’ll have an October pile, a November pile, and so on.

Joe McGee | Winner of our $10,000 Scholarship, Student at University of Wisconsin-Superior

Tips for scholarship applications

Research each organization

When a scholarship organization chooses a winner, they are looking for someone who aligns with their mission values. So, when you’re answering their prompts, you’re not just trying to answer the question, but also use your answer to demonstrate how you hope to use the scholarship funds to further their mission. Make sure to read up on each organization’s mission and their past accomplishments so that you can make the connection between your future ambitions and those of the organization.

Fine-tune your writing

Writing about yourself can be challenging, but we have a guide to help you through. We can also help you write a 500 word essay, start your essay, and answer common scholarship essay prompts. Working on this will help you stand out from the crowd of applicants!

Get great references

Getting strong references, or letters of recommendation, is a great way to stand out to scholarship application reviewers. If a scholarship application requires a letter of recommendation, make sure to ask your recommenders with plenty of time to spare; you’re asking them a favor, so you’re best off if you don’t rush them.