Scholarship Applications
Try guessing how much money Andrew Knight won through scholarship applications:
a. $138 b. $13,800
c. $138,000 d. $1,385,000
The answer is “d.” Yes, you read that correctly. He won more than $1.38 million in scholarships!
Now, some of that was school-specific. He could only get the money if he went to that school—so the total amount he was able to use came to about $400,000.
Still, that’s pretty good.
Knight, 30, has used scholarship money to earn a bachelor’s degree from University of Florida, a master’s from MIT and a law degree from Georgetown. He’s now a Ph.D. student at Princeton, where he’s studying mechanical and aerospace engineering. He’s also author of the book Full Ride to College.
Knight may have been valedictorian of his Florida high school class and a National Merit scholar, but he says that B and B+ students can get money, too. Here’s how to execute effective scholarship applications.
Manage your time better
Let’s say you’re a sophomore with a B average. You’d like to get some scholarships, but with a B, you’re not sure you’ll stand out in your scholarship applications.
It’s really just a matter of managing your time better. Quit the stuff that doesn’t matter or that you’re not enjoying, and spend that time and energy instead on something more profitable, like strategically raising your grades.
Knight calls this “grade engineering,” or raising your grades where it can help you the most. For example, focus on increasing your 78 average in history to an 84. It’s not a huge jump,
but it will help your GPA more than raising your 96 physics average to a 98.
Keep your grades high
Why is your GPA so important?
“To get into the top colleges and be successful in your scholarship applications, you have to make the first cut. If your grades are too low, [and] your test grades are too low, you’re going to be cut out before admission committees even look at your scholarship application,” Knight says.
Have a hook
Spend some time developing a hook for your scholarship applications.
The key to a hook, Knight says, is to “do something meaningful, significant and important.” Start a charity, preside over a national organization or develop one of your talents.
Caleb Shreve’s hook was his songwriting ability. Shreve, of Lone Oak, Texas, won $25,000 from Upromise after writing and recording a song and receiving the most votes in an online contest.
Knight says that scholarship committees are only going to read the first three to seven awards you’ve won or activities you’ve done. So your hook doesn’t have to be that you’re involved in 30 different clubs. That just shows you’re spreading yourself too thin.
“The key is to do something really meaningful and significant,” he says.
Go for the sure things
Does your state offer scholarships for students in the top of every high school class? Study hard enough to make the cut. Does your scout troop, band or local library offer small scholarships for students? Apply.
“If you never try, you’re never going to have any kind of chance,” Shreve says. “A little bit of work is definitely worth the scholarship applications. Write an essay or do whatever you have to do. Then just hope and pray that it works out. You’ll never have a chance if you don’t try.”
Start early
Your first shot at a scholarship applications doesn’t have to be for college. Going to a summer program or camp? Apply for a scholarship for there.
Knight’s first scholarship was for tuition to the U.S. Space Academy in Huntsville, Ala.
Keep going
Your scholarship search shouldn’t stop once you’re in college. Apply while you’re in college, too.
“I think that when you’re in high school, there are a lot more general scholarships,” Knight says. “In college, it’s far more likely to find and achieve a scholarship through the college or related to (your fields).”
Start early
Your first shot at a scholarship application doesn’t have to be for college. Going to a summer program or camp? Apply for a scholarship for there.
Knight’s first scholarship was for tuition to the U.S. Space Academy in Huntsville, Ala.
Keep going
Your scholarship search shouldn’t stop once you’re in college. Apply while you’re in college, too.
“I think that when you’re in high school, there are a lot more general scholarships,” Knight says. “In college, it’s far more likely to find and achieve a scholarship through the college or related to (your fields).”