How to write a winning scholarship essay - Gen Tanabe, Kelly Tanabe 2018

Exploring scholarship goldmines
Where to find great scholarships

In this chapter:

■ Scholarship goldmines

■ How to decide which scholarships to apply to and which to avoid

■ How to uncover the mission of any scholarship

Exploring scholarship goldmines

When we were looking for scholarships, we found them in nearly every place imaginable. We discovered some in the dusty collection of books at our library, others by serendipitous newspaper announcements of past winners. We even found an award advertised on a supermarket shopping bag.

Having personally spent hundreds of hours scouring the planet for scholarships and meeting hundreds of other successful scholarship winners, we have learned where most scholarships are hidden. To help make your scholarship hunt more efficient, we present what we believe are the best places to look for scholarships.

As you search, keep in mind that not every scholarship you find is one you should apply for. As the list of possibilities grows, evaluate each award to determine if it is right for you. Don’t worry—we’ll show you how to do this later in the chapter. But knowing which awards to pass on is vital since it lets you focus your time and energy on those awards that you have the best chance of winning.

The first two obvious places to find scholarships are: books. There are a number of good scholarship books from which to choose. When looking for a guide, seek one that offers detailed descriptions of the awards. Most importantly, make sure that the book has an easy-to-use index. You don’t have time to read through every scholarship, so an index will help narrow your choices quickly. For example, our scholarship directory The Ultimate Scholarship Book not only contains thousands of awards but also has indexes based on criteria like field of study, ethnicity, athletics, hobbies, talents and much more to help you pick awards that match your talents and abilities.

Internet websites. A great way to find scholarships is through the Internet. One of the benefits of online scholarship databases is that they can be updated often. Check out the free scholarship search on our website at www.supercollege.com. By creating a personal profile you can let our database do the work of finding awards that match you. Here are some websites we recommend to help you get started:

■ SuperCollege (www.supercollege.com)

■ CollegeAnswer (www.collegeanswer.com)

■ BrokeScholar.com (www.brokescholar.com)

■ The College Board (www.collegeboard.com)

■ Scholarships.com (www.scholarships.com)

■ AdventuresinEducation (www.adventuresineducation.org)

■ CollegeNet (www.collegenet.com)

■ Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies (www.einaudi.cornell.edu/funding/search.asp) Regardless of which websites you use, always make sure that they are free, (i.e. there are no fees for using the service). Never pay to do an online scholarship search.

While scholarship books and online databases are easy ways to find scholarships, you also need to do your own detective work. With literally millions of scholarships available it is impossible for any one book or website to list them all.

We believe that one of the best places to find scholarships is right in your own backyard—your community. Start with the following: counselor or financial aid officer. Do this right now. Call your counselor or financial aid officer and make an appointment. Before the meeting, determine how much money you will need for college and prepare a resume or list of your activities and awards. During the meeting explain your situation and ask if there are any scholarships that your counselor or advisor can recommend. These counselors and financial aid officers probably know more about the awards available in the community and on campus than anyone else. But, it is up to you to take the initiative to meet with them and give them enough information so they can recommend appropriate awards.

It’s important whenever you speak to a counselor (either in high school or college) that you inquire about any scholarships that require a nomination. With these competitions, the applicant pool is almost always smaller. The most difficult hurdle is that you need to get nominated. You have nothing to lose by asking, and if nothing else, it shows how serious you are about financing your education.