It is no secret that scholarships are among the best ways to finance a college education. Hundreds of scholarships become available each day and millions of dollars are available for students. Maybe even billions! Unfortunately, countless college students don’t take advantage of these wonderful opportunities leading to increased student debt.

There are several reasons why students choose to not apply for scholarships. Many do not know these great opportunities exist, some don’t know where to look, while others believe the countless scholarship myths out there. On the other hand, there are many individuals that are applying but are still not winning scholarships. Whichever category you fit into, these scholarship tips will help you on the path to reaching your goals.

Personally, I have been using these scholarship tips for years and have been able to finance nearly all of my college education and study abroad experience with them! I have also taught these tips to many other students who have found similar scholarship success. But I must admit, I didn’t come up with these secrets on my own. Over the years, I have attended numerous scholarship workshops, interviewed scholarship and financial experts, and have spoken with various scholarship committees.

The Good News

There are countless scholarships out there. And I mean countless! There are so many amazing people out there who want to give back to their community through scholarship donations. Even better, companies want to give out scholarships to students, they are tax deductible and incredibly good for the companies image. Large companies such as Coco Cola, McDonalds, Dell and so many more are leading the way with scholarship opportunities.

So what does that mean? It means that there so many great opportunities out there for you to increase your chances of winning scholarships.

However…

However, because there are so many scholarships out there, how do you choose which to apply for? And how can you distinguish yourself from all of the other applicants? Let’s get started, shall we?

1. Set a Goal

First thing’s first. Before you even begin your scholarship process, you need to start with the end in mind. If you are going to take your scholarship applications seriously, you need to approach them as a professional project. With every successful project, you should have a goal and a deadline. To set your goal, decide how much scholarship money you will be needing. You will then use this value to figure out how many scholarships you will need to apply for this year.

In my experience, I have found that for every five scholarships you apply for, you will receive $1,000. This is only when you are putting your full effort into all five of those scholarships AND applying to the right ones. This is especially the case during your senior year of high school when scholarships are the most available.

To calculate your scholarship goal, download our free scholarship spreadsheet HERE!

Example:

My personal goal for scholarship success each year has been $20,000 (to cover tuition and some rent). So, each year I should be applying for a minimum of 100 scholarships.

Because I plan on hopefully winning $1,000 for every five scholarships I apply for, that means I will need to apply for 5 scholarships 20 times ($20,000/$1,000 = 20) or 100 scholarships total during the year (5*20 = 100). I hope I made that clear enough.

Note: As you begin your process, you may find that you average $1,500 for every 5 scholarships you apply for, or maybe $800. If that is the case, be sure to adjust your scholarship goals as you continue on to maintain motivation. But remember, you won’t hear back from scholarship committees for months so keep up the hard work!

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2. Focus your efforts on the right scholarships

The truth is that not all scholarships are created equal. In order to begin winning scholarships, you will need to apply for the right scholarships. I don’t just mean apply for scholarships that fit your specific situation (ie. applying for medical scholarships as a nursing student). Instead, what I recommend is actually prioritizing your scholarships based on the probability you will be highly considered based on factors including location, age, year in college, gender, first-generation status, military status, major, family size, and EFC.

The more specific the requirements, the smaller the pool of applicants and the higher your chances are of winning. 

In my experience, the best way to do this to start focusing your search efforts beginning with location and specialization. Begin searching for scholarships only available to individuals in your hometown and county. Then move on to your current (or future) college, specific scholarships based only on your major or future career, then state scholarships, then specific organizations, then national, then international.

Related: How to Prioritize your Scholarship Search

Tip: If you’re looking for study abroad scholarships, check out my guide to studying abroad where I go into detail about finding great international scholarships!

[clickToTweet tweet=”The more specific the scholarship requirements are, the higher your chances are of being considered. ” quote=”The more specific the scholarship requirements are, the higher your chances are of being considered. ” theme=”style2″]

3. Get Organized

Like I mentioned before, you should be approaching your scholarship applications like a professional project. The best way I have found to keep all of my projects organized is through a binder and computer folder system. Keep all of your appropriate documents all in one specific location to be accessed easily. This post goes over my entire monthly planning system, which includes project planning!

Related: The Ultimate Guide to Monthly Planning

For my binder, I have the following setup:

1. Calendar, Goals, and Tasks: This is where I schedule out all of my scholarship deadlines and tasks, as well as keep my scholarship goal sheets and project planning pages. I always make sure to write in the scholarship deadline and work backward to schedule out all of my scholarship tasks (outline essay, create a draft, ask for a letter of recommendation, etc.)
2. Tracking: In this section, I will write down all of the scholarship applications that I have submitted, all of the scholarships that are still in progress, deadlines for reoccurring scholarships, scholarships to look into, and scholarships that I should be reapplying to next year.
3. Resources: Here, I keep all of my scholarship search engine login information as well as notes for tips and tricks for scholarship success I have collected over the years.
4. Loans + Winning Scholarships: This is the section where I keep any relevant student loan information. I am incredibly lucky and don’t have many, but it is good to have all of the paperwork in one place, as well as all of the official letters and correspondence I have received in the mail for future reference. I will also keep any correspondence from my awarded scholarships (such as contracts that require me to maintain a specific GPA).
5. Current Applications: You will find that some scholarships still require you to send in paper copies of the application, or just some portions of the application. I keep all of this collected material in this section.

On my computer, I have the following setup:

• Scholarship Main Folder:
  • Essay Folder: Where I keep the original document of each essay I have written, titled with the essay topic instead of the scholarship name.
  • Official Documents Folder: This is where I keep the most recent copies of my transcripts, enrollment verification, etc. to easily attach to any application
  • Information and Tips: Here, I keep a copy of all of the scholarship tips and printouts I have received over the years to access easily
  • Scholarship Spreadsheet: This is, perhaps, the most important document. This is a spreadsheet with all of the current, past, and future scholarships I am working on. It serves as a database that I personally use to stay organized and to know what scholarships I will be working on next. I will reference this document when planning out what tasks I will be needing to do next with my binder worksheets.

Free Scholarship Spreadsheet

Smash your scholarship goals by staying organized with this free scholarship spreadsheet.

4. Create a Schedule

To begin winning scholarships, you will need to block out days and times of which you will sit down and just work on scholarships. You will also need to create specific times when you will be searching for scholarships. These are two separate tasks. One is filling out applications, writing essays, etc. The other is actively using search engines and other resources to find scholarships you are eligible for. Both need to be done frequently throughout the year.

Personally, the first thing I do every day after school and work will be to set a timer for 20 minutes and search for scholarships. I have different search engines I look at each day of the week to spread out my efforts. Then, Wednesday and Saturday mornings for about 2 hours each, I will only work on scholarship applications (essay writing and filling out applications). Because of this schedule, I usually work on scholarships pretty far in advance so never have to work extra to make a deadline, but in those cases I do, I will block out my entire Saturdays to get them done.

Tip: The scholarship spreadsheet freebie has a tab to help you determine your schedule! 🙂

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5. Re-Use Similar Essays to Save Time

When applying for many scholarships, you will find that the same essay pop-up all the time. Perhaps they aren’t exactly alike, but they are similar. Go back to previous essays and tailor it to your new scholarship application. Saves you hours of work. You can also just use parts of other essays to cut and paste in.

Tip: Be cautious, always make sure to re-read your essay before you submit it to ensure all of the information in up to date.

Bonus Tip: Save your scholarship essays by essay prompt, not scholarship title. This will help you search for them in the future!

Related: The Ultimate Guide to Budgeting that will have you Saving Thousands! 

6. Have your Essays Proof-Read

Yes, your friends and parents are a good source. But don’t just stop there. If you want great feedback, use your teachers, professors, and English major besties to check those babies out!

Up your scholarship and financial game with my Ultimate Student Financial Printable Bundle!

7. Write a Story

One of the scholarship workshops I’ve attended was strictly about personal statement writing. This was offered by a major scholarship provider that told us what they specifically look for in winning scholarships. The basis of the workshop was this: write an essay about your current dream. 

What does that mean? It means that most scholarship committees want to see passionate and dedicated essays. Many do not care whether you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, or a police officer, they just want you to be specific about what dream you are currently pursuing. So, if you are still on the fence (like most college students) about what major to declare, or are debating between becoming a nurse or a photographer, just choose one career path you are most interested in at the moment. Chances are, nearly all of their scholarship applicants are going to change their minds anyway!

So, instead of writing an essay about how you’re interested in possibly becoming a teacher, a writer, or a ballerina, write a passionate essay about how teaching is your life. Write a story about how you realized teaching was your passion and what specific career goals you have in mind. Or whatever your essay is about, of course. The key here is that you are writing a moving story. Be unique, but don’t try to write what you expect them to hear, just be yourself and write about your current dream.

This isn’t lying, nor is it stretching the truth. This is actually what most scholarship committees would prefer and expect. They aren’t giving you the scholarship because your career is to become a plant physiologist, they are giving you a scholarship because they believe your education is important, that you’re a great person, you’re a great investment, and you have worked hard to get where you are.

However! Only do this for generic, non-major-specific scholarships!

Be aware, only do this for scholarships that do not require a specific major or profession. And, on the flip side, do not apply for scholarships that only are looking for artists when you are certain you are going to pursue an entirely different profession. This would qualify as wrong and you usually won’t be able to back it up anyways.

Here is a great article by Purdue OWL on personal statements for more tips!

8. Always Include Optional Material

In many instances, there will be additional pieces of information that are optional to your application. Never leave these blank. Of course, if that optional material can hurt you, such as an optional transcript where you failed a course or something like that, do not include it. However, if it can only help, ADD IT!

Furthermore, if you have something that needs further explanation and they don’t give you an opportunity to include it, either A. ask your recommendation to include it in their letter or B. include an additional small essay with a title such as “dropped class due to a car accident.” Or something along those lines.

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9. Send your Application Early

Better be on the safe side! Send in or submit your application at least 2 weeks in advance. After being notified on three separate occasions that my hard work wasn’t even being looked at due to my application being lost in the mail or a technical glitch submitted my application late, I have learned my lesson, and I hope you can too!

A few factors can slow the submittal process for you. First can be the physical mail (transcripts, paper applications, etc). Bad weather or a busy holiday season can be the difference between an on time and late application. The second, and most common, is forgetting one small piece of information. It could be as simple as a signature. If you are notified before the deadline, it is an easy fix! If not, your chances of being considered will plummet.

Tip: To avoid any problems, be sure to read all directions carefully and keep track of all application tasks using a spreadsheet. 

10. Make your Application Look as Professional as Possible

Maintain constant font size and style when possible, send in a nice envelope, etc. When I send in my paper applications, I even put a sticker or wax seal on it. Definitely, overkill but you get the idea. Also, ALWAYS check your spelling!

11. Beef up your Resume!

Throughout your college career, be sure to always be involved with campus activities, professional organizations, volunteer groups, as well as keeping up the good grades. Be sure to carve time out of your busy schedule and make time to keep your resume looking sharp. They will help you in your future career AND give you some awesome materials to add to your personal statements and other scholarship essay questions!

Tip: Creating your own blog is a great way to do this! Interested in starting one? Check out this free 5-day blogging crash course!

12. Contact your Financial Aid Office

Finally, make sure your financial aid office (or scholarship office) is aware of all of the scholarships you have received. They will take care of rest! Like tracking them down to make sure they pay (at most schools that is…). They also will take care of all of your tax information for you as well. Easy peasy!

Looking to ace your next exam? Check out my ultimate study system (includes a free study printable)! And don’t forget to download your free scholarship spreadsheet HERE!