Your child may or may not be a straight-A student or a star athlete. But that’s okay! There are still PLENTY of scholarship opportunities that they can win. Read on to learn how…
The misconception: Most parents think of scholarships as “getting a full ride” from a university. These types of scholarships are called merit scholarships, and are usually awarded to kids based on strong academic performance. But there are other scholarship opportunities out there…
What are the other opportunities? In addition to merit scholarships, outside scholarships are an incredible way for your child to get money to pay for college…even if they’re NOT a straight-A student.
What are outside scholarships? These are scholarships offered by businesses and organizations for high school kids who have specific interests. For example, a non-profit organization that supports women in technology may offer a $2,000 scholarship each year for female high students who plan on majoring in computer science. Or REI may offer a scholarship for $5,000 to students who are interested in the outdoors. Or the local boys and girls club in your town may offer a $500 scholarship for students who speak Spanish as their first language. There are scholarship opportunities out there for almost EVERY interest, activity and background that you can imagine!
Will these small amounts of money make a difference? Yes! These scholarship opportunities are often overlooked because families don’t think that they will make an impact. As a result, these scholarships are not nearly as competitive as merit scholarships, and your child has a pretty good chance of winning a few different scholarships if they put the time in to apply. Imagine if your child won 4 scholarships for $2,000 each…and kept winning that same scholarship for a total of three years. That would provide your family with $24,000, which is a significant amount of money!
Are these scholarships only for seniors? This is another misconception! These scholarships are usually open to Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors AND Seniors. And often even college students as well. It’s never too early to start collecting scholarship money.
How are winners chosen? Most scholarships have applications and ask for your child to write a short essay. These scholarships are usually based on your child’s interests or background, and NOT purely on his or her academic performance/GPA. Your child does NOT need to have a 4.0 GPA in order to win this money. Rather, students need to show that their interests align with the scholarships that they apply to.
How can you find these scholarship opportunities? This is the tricky part! There are thousands of incredible scholarship opportunities out there, but it can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack if you don’t know where to look. But no need to fear! I’ve put together a totally FREE guide for you, which shares the 5 best places to search for these types of scholarships...and exactly what to search for. Click here (or on the image below) to get the FREE guide now so that your child can start applying for and winning scholarship money right away!
