Scholarship Search and Process

THE SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH

1. Apply for as many scholarships as you meet the eligibility for.
2. There are scholarships for all types of students: grades, demographic, programs of study, financial need and compelling story.
3. Avoid websites that want you to pay a fee- applying for scholarships shouldn’t cost a dime!
4. Talk to people who have been awarded a scholarship- what strategies did they use?
5. If you have to mail documents - use a 9X12 envelope; it is much more professional.
6. Copy the application and practice filling out a draft before you do the real thing.
7. Keep a folder of scholarship information- with commonly requested documents and always print out a copy of completed applications for your record.
8. Date documents with the day you sent them so you have a record.
9. Devote 2 days a month to doing scholarship research.
10. Don’t give up! There are scholarships for all types of students!

Where are the scholarships?

The easiest place to look is in the Career Services Center in Room 1102E.
We have 4 main ways students can look for scholarships.
· Our website - we add scholarships weekly that we are made aware of. Our website is www.seattlecentral.edu/careercenter/scholarshipinfo.php
· We have binders with information about scholarships for those that like that method.
· We have scholarship books that students can look through
· There are a number of hyperlinks on our website to databases with 100s of scholarship listings under ‘Online Scholarship Databases’.

The other way to narrow your search is simply to ‘Google’ what type of scholarships you are looking for, such as typing ‘scholarships for women’ or ‘scholarships for Science Majors’ in the search window. Narrowing your search in any search engine or database will help you pull only scholarships that you are eligible for.

Think about how you can identify yourself to narrow your search:

Ethnicity Gender Club Affiliation Your Bank
Disability GPA Field of Study Military Status
Community Service Transfer High School Location/State
Parents Affiliations Religion

Filling out the Applications:

In order to reduce the paper trail and go Green, many scholarship applications are online and require supplemental documents to be mailed. Typical documents that are requested include:
· Financial Statements from your parents
· Academic transcripts- official and supplemental copies
· Letter of recommendations
· Personal Statement and/or essay
· a list of activities you’ve been involved with; including volunteering, internships, service learning or cooperative education experiences and work experience.







Advise

· When an application is not filled out online- if possible type it.
· Read ALL the directions carefully!
· Be sure all your information is current and accurate, such as financial and GPA
· Don’t leave anything blank- if a field doesn’t apply to you, put N/A
· Do not attach any extra information unless explicitly asked or if it states that you have the option of attaching addition comments or documents
· If you don’t understand something- ask questions- to the foundation or organization offering the scholarship directly or to a teacher, advisor or counselor.
· MAKE A COPY OF EVERYTHING ONCE YOU ARE DONE AND PUT IT IN YOUR SCHOLARSHIP FILE
· Make sure you provide the correct postage amount before mailing it.


Letters of Recommendation
Scholarship applications usually ask for letters of recommendation or include a form for you to
give to a recommender.

· Choose a person who will write your recommendation(s) carefully.
· The relationship you have with the person who writes this letter is important! Family and friends are not appropriate.
· Give your recommender plenty of time to write a good letter. Remember that this person is doing you a big favor and is probably very busy also.
· Give the writer enough information to comment on what is important and specific to the type of scholarship you are applying for.
· Provide a resume for the writer that summarizes any of your activities, awards, academic and career goals, accomplishments, leadership roles, etc...
· Write a Thank You note to your recommender.
· Ask if you may have a PDF copy of it and whether it is OK to copy the letter for other scholarships you are applying for. This way you can cut down the time they spend and just have them sign additional copies for other scholarships.


Writing Your Personal Statement
Most scholarships ask for a personal statement or essay- responding to a prompt or specific question(s).

· Follow the rules for length and topic, etc…
· BE PERSONAL! The essay is about you, not the facts of the topic. Include your personal experiences that are applicable to the prompt.
· Demonstrate that you have learned from experiences. A good rule of thumb
§ Tell what you did
§ Why you did it and
§ What you learned from the experience
· Tell why you are interested in your chosen major.
· How you will benefit society
· Don’t be listy!- this means sometimes prompts will just be a list of related topics that they want you to touch upon; make your essay flow without sounding listy!
· Scholarship providers are investing in you, so you will need to show them that you are worthy of their investment!
· Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! Have several people you respect and trust read it.
· Print it out and read it out loud- sometimes you catch errors with your voice that your eyes cannot.