How to plan for college scholarship applications
If your child is a high school sophomore or junior who is planning to attend聽college, now is the time to start thinking about聽.
There are some that students can win while in college, but most are available only to graduating high school students聽鈥� so聽it鈥檚 critical to prepare for the application process while your child is聽still a few years away from enrolling.
Take these聽steps to get started.
Choose your scholarship path
Parents and students alike are often excited about the prospect of winning money聽for college, but not all families should spend their time applying for scholarships. Instead, choose the scholarship path that鈥檚 most suitable for you and your child.
1. 鈥淎pply for everything鈥�
This is the best choice for families with students who have long lists of accomplishments. You should only take this path if your student excels in at least one of these areas:聽academics, athletics, art, leadership or community service.
Applying for scholarships can be much more profitable for these students than an after-school job 鈥� but, as with a job, researching and filling out scholarship applications can take a considerable amount of time. Your student will do the bulk of this work, so make sure he or she is committed to the process.
2.听鈥淔辞肠耻蝉鈥�
It might be best for other students and their families to focus on applying for a small number of scholarships with more limited applicant pools. These might include scholarships that apply only to those of a certain聽race, gender, sexuality, religion, family situation, geographical area or financial circumstance. They might also consider whether applicants have聽overcome obstacles.
Other options聽include scholarships聽that aren鈥檛 well-advertised, are worth only a small amount or are only given out to a small number of people. For example, if your workplace gives out scholarships to children of employees, you should definitely apply on behalf of your child.
3.聽鈥淧ut your attention elsewhere鈥�
The final path families can take is to choose not to apply for scholarships at all. If your student has gotten mediocre marks and hasn鈥檛 been involved in extracurricular activities or artistic or athletic accomplishments, then he or she聽may not be a suitable candidate for many scholarships.
While you can follow the more focused聽path and find some scholarships that fit, your family might decide against it. Life is busy, and applying for scholarships might not be worth the time and effort it requires.
Build聽your scholarship team
The main people involved in your scholarship team will be you聽鈥� the parents 鈥斅燼nd your student. Your family will be doing most of the work, though you can聽also hire a scholarship coach to help.
You鈥檒l also want to enlist your child鈥檚 teachers, counselors, coaches聽and聽mentors. This group can help you find scholarships and potentially act as references.
Finally, recruit relatives, family friends, co-workers and teammates to help with the scholarship search.
Create a timeline
Once you鈥檝e identified聽a few appropriate scholarships, make a schedule 鈥� perhaps on a spreadsheet 鈥� of the application due dates. Include聽information such as聽the selection criteria and the documents or essays that each聽application requires.
Make sure your child gives聽his or her references at least three weeks鈥� notice about the application deadline,聽then reminds them a week before the references are due.
As you create this timeline, evaluate how realistic the schedule is. To meet back-to-back deadlines, your child should get started early and might need your help prioritizing applications.
Consider the costs
Applying for scholarships will only cost some families聽their time. For others, the expenses can add up.
If your student needs some extra help creating compelling applications, you can hire a聽scholarship coach or tutors. These professionals generally charge $50 to $100 per hour.
You also might want to buy books that suggest certain scholarships and give tips about them and the application process. Four or five books would cost around $100.
Other miscellaneous expenses 鈥� including the costs of聽official transcripts, postage and thank-you gifts for references 鈥� could also add up to about $100 to $200.
Start early
Scholarship applications can require聽a lot of time and effort. You聽should start working with your child聽to create a scholarship plan by sophomore year聽鈥� or聽even earlier if your child is an especially good candidate and plans to apply for many scholarships. Those who start too late聽often miss important deadlines.
By getting a head start, you can also help your child shape his or her聽extracurriculars聽to look best on scholarship applications. This will improve your child鈥檚 chances of securing a scholarship, a move that could save you thousands in聽聽and have a significant impact on your family鈥檚 finances during your child鈥檚聽college years.
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