5 Ways to increase your chances of receiving a college scholarship
My son is in his junior year in high school. We’ve had a great year learning how to plan for the next stage of his life. I’ve learned a few things that can help other parents increase their chances of receiving scholarships for their children. I thought I’d share with you what I have learned.
1. Help them to start planning in their freshmen year. Concentrate on getting them to make good grades to keep his/her grade point average up.
2. Volunteer somewhere~show leadership and volunteer at church or with an organization like Big Brothers. Do anything you can to stand out above the crowd.
3. Start taking the ACT in your Junior year of high school. You can take it over and over again. Here’s the best part if you make a 30 on Math one time, a 32 the next and a 34 the next they will take the highest score on each and every subject. So your low scores don’t matter. Just work on getting to the 29+ mark on their composite score. Getting the 29 enables you to get lots of good scholarships. My son just retook it for the second time and raised his score from a 29 composite to a 30.
4. Join clubs and if you can try to hold an office. Treasurer, secretary, President, it doesn’t matter. This is just one more way of showing leadership skills and that you have what it takes to get things done.
5. Play an instrument or be on an athletic team. IF you play an instrument make it one that is not popular. My son plays violin. If he played viola he would have more scholarship opportunities. It’s a great way to plan early to get them those hard to reach scholarships.
Getting scholarships for college are not as hard as it seems.
You just need to know what to do to stand out above the other students. That’s what it’s all about. How are you different then the next guy? We are so excited for our next stage in our son’s life. This summer we begin touring colleges and in the Fall we will apply to a minimum of 5 colleges. This way we can compare scholarships offered and see which one meets our needs for him the most. Make sure you start applying for scholarships in the Fall of your senior year. If you wait until Spring you’ve waited too long and the scholarship money has all been handed out.
Did you receive a scholarship for college or did you get student loans?
I got a small $500 scholarship back in the day, but these are great tips. I am going to share with my 16 year old step son!
I didn’t have student loans until senior year. I also thought I was too good for scholarships. DUMB. My nieces and nephews all apply!
These are great tips for getting a college scholarship. We’ll have three in college at once.
I actually never had a scholarship and paid out of pocket and quickly dropped out because it was getting too expensive. FYI I was in community college.
I’d love a scholarship. Most are not for my level anymore now, so I’m usually out of luck. I always poke around and look anyway though. Doesn’t hurt to do that, and these are great tips for you to share!
these are definitely great ways to earn a scholarships. Thanks for sharing these great tips
I’ll have to remember this post when my daughter is applying to colleges. She’s only 2 now so I have some time to plan!
My little ones are still several years from college. Howevet, my nieces are not. I am going to go through this with my sister. It’s really good information.
Great information. I have put two sons through college and they didn’t qualify for financial aid but did get a scholarships. I received both financial aid and scholarships way back when and it was quite a process of paperwork to fill out back then.
We paid with student loans. Paying on them for years!!
My sister is getting ready for college I’ll have to forward this to her. Thanks for all the great tips.
These are all great ideas. My daughter is a freshmen this year, and I am always wondering what she can do to stand out. I think I am going to encourage her to run for office at school and find somewhere to volunteer her time.
Wow- I wish I would have known this when I was going to college. Still paying student loans….
Got a full ride and then some! Thanks Florida Bright Futures!
I didn’t get a scholarship, but I am determined to help my kids get a good education and as much help as possible.
Great tips. Also, some extracurricular clubs and outside organizations are good for things like scholarships as well as networking and community service.
Thank you for this college scholarship tips. Academics is important to get good scholarships.
These are great ideas. I was able to garner tons of scholarships for my freshman year! I applied to anything and everything I could.
These are all tools i used to help myself land a few scholarships while in college.
My kids received scholarships, but my parents paid for mine. I’m the lucky one!
I extended my education late in life so I didn’t get a scholarship but I did receive financial help from my husband’s job. I’m hoping that my kids get a scholarship. My daughter will be a freshmen next year. So these tips came just in time. Thanks so much for sharing.
These are great tips for anyone! I did all of these in school and raked in a few scholarships!
I really wish I had scholarships for college. I had to go the loan route.
I was able to get two small scholarships to college. They did not cover everything but they helped pay a semester.