Scholarship Tips and Tricks for High School Seniors 

Senior year is one of the busiest times of your life- last first day of school, last homecoming, last prom, last year of extracurriculars, last memories with your friends, and more. And truthfully, those things are so important. However, you will never again in your life be offered as much free money as you are offered in your senior year of high school, so it is important that scholarships 

are just as important as every other senior year activity. Here are some tricks to making sure your scholarship season is as successful as possible: 

Scholarship Hustle is Real - Some of your time will be spent merely looking for scholarships. I recommend starting a list and highlighting the application deadline to keep yourself organized. Consider searching for scholarships based on different identities you hold, as the more specific you can get, the more likely you are to be eligible to apply. I received roughly 7% of the scholarships I applied for, so if you only apply for a few, your chances of being awarded one drops drastically. 

Treat Scholarships Like a Part-Time Job - Think about the time commitment that is required for a part-time job. It is not over-consuming like full-time employment, but it is also more than just a few hours a month. Just as you would schedule practice or organization meetings, plan time in your schedule to work on scholarships and set a tangible goal for yourself. I applied to at least one scholarship every single day of senior year. If you are reading this and think, “There is no way I want to do that,” that’s okay! Set a goal that balances high expectations while also being realistic. Be strategic and specific - how much time are you spending searching for scholarships? How many are you going to apply for? 

Recycle Your Essays - When you start the process for scholarships, one of the first things you will notice is that most applications want to know the same information - why you are the best applicant, a significant moment in your leadership or community service journey, or a time you failed. Once you write an essay that is strong and proofread by multiple trusted adults, reuse it! Even if it is not the same prompt, once you write a few essays, you can often pull pieces from each to make your new essay, so you are not starting from scratch. This is why it is so important to start writing those scholarship essays early, as the more scholarships you apply for, the less time each application will take you. 

Let the scholarship games begin, and may the odds (and the essays) be ever in your favor