Your College Scholarship To-Do List Part 1: Why an activity list will help you win scholarships.

When it comes to success, everyone knows what to do: develop a goal, devise a plan, and work hard. The formula is common sense. However, most people have trouble reaching their goals. Why?

In my opinion, we get caught up in the details, especially in the planning stage. We know we have to create a plan, but we spend hours deciding on the steps to take. We don’t know how to do something at some stage in the process so we put it off. We don’t know where to start, so we never start. We put off action by substituting it with planning. Unfortunately, when it comes to paying for college and winning scholarships, you don’t have time to plan: you need to take action. 

Why? 

If you don’t take action, you’ll miss opportunities. You’ll miss deadlines. You’ll lose money.

So, to help you take action (and help you win money for college) I’m providing you with the initial plan to jump start your scholarship search. These suggestions and information will come through many blog posts, so stay tuned. More importanty, ENJOY and USE THIS LIST. Take action now. You’ll thank me later. 

Step 1, Part A: Make a [very specific] activity list.

Before you get ahead of yourself, I think it’s essential to get reflective first. You need to take stock of what you’ve done, what you find interesting, and what you want to do with your future. Once you create a list of all the various “things” that make up who you are, it becomes easier to identify what scholarships you qualify for, and helps you develop a search strategy. I’ll explain.

It’s important to create an activity list for three reasons:

1. Creating a very specific activity list will help you “know thyself.” 

By listing your activities, you’ll know exactly which scholarships you qualify for and which ones you don’t. You will save time because you’ll only apply to awards that you can win. (Most people are tossed out of applicant piles because they don’t meet the requirements of the scholarship donors.)

2. You’ll create your own, specific scholarship search methodology. 

When you know your interests (past, current, and future) and your activities (past, current, and future), you can run a very specific scholarship search that again saves you time and energy. Instead of visiting Google and typing in “scholarships,” you’ll be able to seek out specific organizations that give you awards for participation in their activities. For example, if you enjoy photography, you might search “photography + scholarships.” Or, you might find a national association of photography. Usually these organizations give scholarships. Simply Google “national photography association.” In your specific case, “national (your activity here) association.” By using this type of search, you will find more qualified scholarship opportunities.

3. By listing your activities, you can develop an application theme that helps you stand out to scholarship judges. 

     Most people, when they apply for awards, simply list all the activities they’ve ever participated in. Unfortunately, most applicants have similar activity lists: student counsel, NHS, sports, language clubs, and youth groups seem to appear on everyone’s application. If you list these same activities, how will you stand out? By creating a very specific activity list before you start applying for scholarships, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to study your list, go over your activities and see what ties them together. You can give yourself a leg up on your competition by developing a theme for your activity list. 

     Let’s revisit the photography example. Say you have a deep interest in photography, and participate in the “normal suspects” list of activities. Perhaps you can capitalize on your interest in photography by having it become your theme. You start taking photos of student counsel activities, you volunteer to take pictures of premature babies at the local hospital, you submit photos from your sports activities to the high school newspaper and yearbook. Thus, when it comes time to list your activities for a scholarship, all of the “normal” activities become highlighted and interconnected with your love of photography. You prioritize your activity list to emphasize your photography abilities (typically, activities are listed chronologically. Instead, with the “theme approach,” activities are prioritized. In our case, activities with photography are listed first, followed by others). The result? Instead of being “Joe or Jane Doe,” you become “Fred or Fanny the Photographer.” Your theme helps you stand out from other applicants. 

Now that you understand how a specific activity list can help you, you need to create one. Stay tuned for my next post, I'll help you brainstorm and create an awesome activity list.

The State Fair and scholarship judges.

Yesterday, I went to "The Great Minnesota Get-Together." The State Fair. Food stands, music, people, exhibits. In all, it was quite the experience. 

I had the privilege of tallying the scores from the wine tasting contest. Seeing the different numbers, and comments, was interesting. It turns out, these wine judges are a lot like scholarship judges. And, to help you improve your scholarship applications, I want to let you in on some of the "judging insights" I gleaned while tallying up those wine scores.

1. Each judge has a different way of scoring.

Yesterday, the scores for wines varied. A lot. One wine, for instance, had a score of 24 (very low) and 92 (almost perfect). Looking back over the scores within the two judges showed me that the low and high scores were trends: one judge was a high scorer, while the other was a lower scorer. In addition, the lower-scoring judge was more critical on all fronts (you could tell by his/her comments). 

When you apply for a scholarship, keep in mind that no two judges will score your application the same way. However, when you're applying, you want to keep the most critical judge in mind: what will that person find fault with? How can you improve your application to meet that judges needs? When you keep the low-scoring judge in mind, you will almost always score high on their tally while also ensuring higher scores from the more "lenient" judges.

2. Each judge has a favorite "blend."

A variety of wines entered the contest for state's best. For instance, there was an "interesting" mushroom wine, a fruity mango concoction, tried and true wines like Chardonnay and Merlot. There was even a wine made from jalapeno peppers--spicy! Here's the deal: some judges were purists, some were experimental. Judges who were fans of "normal" wines loved those varieties, and turned up their noses at wines that stepped outside the box. More adventurous judges favored the more original blends. However, the wines that earned the highest scores across the board were strong--those wines could be defined, and not confused with any other. 

Remember, you can't please anyone (and you shouldn't try).  However, you can be the best YOU possible. By doing so, you'll stand out from other applicants. There will be no doubt as to who you are. Also, when you have a strong application that clearly defines your interests and personality, you'll please the judges that are already in your corner. Most likely you'll gain the respect of the other judges as well. 

3. Know your categories.

Each wine entered into a category it was to be judged in. For instance, there were sparkling wines, red wines, white wines, desert wines, and so on. The goal was to be the best in category, and then best overall. However, some wines were disqualified because they didn't meet the requirements of the category they entered in. 

As with wine categories, scholarships have strict application requirements. If you don't meet the requirements, you will automatically be disqualified. You can prevent disqualification by knowing yourself, your interests, and your past and future activities very well. When you're armed with this knowledge, you will save yourself time (you won't apply for scholarships that you don't meet the requirements), while increasing the odds you win money (you'll be applying for scholarships that you meet very specific requirements). 

All in all, scholarship judges and wine judges are not the same. However, you can glean information about the judging process, and I hope I've given you some insight into the process of judging in general. Have a great weekend!

The truth about athletic scholarships.

Many parents and students get excited about athletic scholarships: they seem like a sure bet, especially for talented athletes. In addition, many families spend thousands of dollars each year on private lessons, team fees, and athletic equipment in the hope that someday it will all pay off. However, getting a full-ride scholarship as an athlete is not as easy as it looks. The fact is there's a limited amount of funding available for collegiate sports teams, and you need to be realistic about your chances for earning athletic scholarships to pay for college.

Read this article for a very good break-down of athletic scholarships and how they are awarded.

To increase your chances of earning some sort of scholarship for college, it's important to work on gaining academic scholarships in addition to any awards you might receive for athletics. There's 30 times more college money available for academic scholarships than athletic scholarships, so if you hone both your brain and body muscles, you'll be a lot better off money-wise.

Want scholarships? Prove it.

It is easy to be lured into false hope of paying for college using only scholarships. Many search engines advertise how easy it is, companies looking to make some sort of profit announce "there are thousands of unclaimed awards every year," and here I am telling you it is possible to get scholarships to pay for college. What gives?

The fact is, it is possible to get scholarships for college. The catch is that you have to work for them and prove to scholarship committees that you are a good investment.

The reason why most people do not get scholarships is because they don't put the work in ahead of time. When the time for scholarships rolls around, they don't have the grades, qualifications, extracurricular activities or community involvement to meet the application requirements. 

If you really want to win awards, you have to plan ahead and work toward meeting the scholarship criteria and expectations of the award committees. Here's what you do:

1. Start searching for awards before you need them.

If you search and find scholarships ahead of time, you can look ahead and see what you need to do to make the cut. 

2. Participate in experiences that will bolster your credentials.

Some awards have a specific number of community service hours required to apply, for instance. Knowing this ahead of time will allow you to accumulate these hours over the long run--which looks a lot better than trying to cram a bunch in before the deadline.

3. Get personal.

If you know that you will need recommendation writers in advance, start thinking about who knows you best, or who needs to know you better. The recommendation letter is a huge portion of the scholarship application. The more authentic, specific, and personal, the better.

The bottom line is that with a little foresight, planning, and execution, you can prime yourself to be an excellent scholarship candidate. Remember, committees are looking for someone to invest in. If you invest in yourself well before the scholarship due dates, you will be far ahead of your classmates, and a lot closer to paying for college with scholarships.

Can anyone win college scholarships?

The short answer? Nope. I know this might be hard to hear, but there are certain characteristics that make up scholarship winners. Some people haven't developed these skills. 

The long answer? With the right mentality, work-ethic, and planning scholarships are within anyone's reach.

Here are six characteristics of scholarship winners. If you want to win awards, start by developing these skills:

1. Creativity. 

Most scholarship winners are creative thinkers. Now, this doesn't mean that you have to be the next Mozart, but you have to be able to think outside the box. You look for scholarships off the beaten path, thus increasing the odds you win because there are less people to compete with.

2. Work Ethic.

There is no quick fix when it comes to paying for college. If a deal seems to good to be true, it is. Scholarship winners know that it takes some work to search for, find, apply, and then win scholarships. If it sounds like to much work for you, you're not going to win a dime.

3. Planning.

Scholarship winners plan ahead. They know that if they start looking for awards early, they can develop a plan of attack. Based on the scholarships they've found, they develop the skills required for these awards, earn the grades necessary to qualify, or join clubs related to their interests. 

4. Interpersonal Skills.

Applying for scholarships is more than an individual effort. Most require recommendations of some sort, and scholarship winners know that their relationship skills directly impact the quality of those recommendations. Developing genuinely good relationships with your teachers, coaches, friend's parents, and community leaders will help set you apart from other applicants through the stellar recommendations you'll get.

5. Leadership.

Now, this is cliche, I know. However, being a leader is more than being the captain of your sport's team. It's an attitude toward living. Most scholarship winners are self-starters that motivate themselves and in so doing motivate others. When you develop or possess this quality, it is evident in your essay or interview and manifests itself as confidence. When you inspire confidence in scholarship committees, they feel confident giving you money for college.

6. Resiliency.

Most scholarship winners apply to many awards with no luck. They receive numerous rejection letters. However, the people that win scholarships are the ones that keep trying and are resilient in their efforts: they don't give up. 

Notice, none of the traits of scholarship winners include straight A's, awesome athlete, or musical genius. Why? Because these things just aren't necessary to win awards. In fact, academic achievement, athletic ability, or musical skill are often the result of the characteristics listed above. The fact is, you (or anyone) can win awards if you spend time cultivating the skills I just listed. It worked for me.

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If you want the latest insider knowledge about scholarships, where to find them, and how to win them look no further. Although all of my website is not up, I still want you to get the benefit of the knowledge I have accumulated (I paid for my entire college education with scholarships, and so can you). There is a sign-up for my weekly e-zine: "The Resource," an email newsletter that comes straight to your inbox once a week. Don't miss out: only those of you who get the e-zine will receive access to the best tips and tactics to win scholarships. The result? You'll leave college with memories, not debt. Visit The Collegebound Resource: www.collegeboundresource.com.

What David Cook and American Idol can teach you about winning scholarships.

Last night, David Cook took away the title: he was crowned this year's American Idol. This win came as a surprise to me. Personally, I thought that Cook's competitor, David Archuleta sang better on finals night. The question is: why, then, did David Cook win? And what can he teach us about winning college scholarships?

If you watched the show from the early stages, Cook stood out as someone different: he was innovative, original, and most of all, memorable. People started labeling him as "the rocker." If you want to win scholarships, you need to be memorable, too. You need to be labeled. (I know this is a somewhat disturbing prospect, labels are so superficial.) However, labels help people remember who you are because you own a category in their brain. An association. I would argue that Cook won because he was better positioned as a rocker--a definite label--for a longer period of time. He was more memorable in the minds of the audience. Archuleta, while a beautiful singer and captivating performer, did not own a significant label in the audience's brain. Only recently did he become the "prodigy" or "phenom," and too late to capitalize.

Like Cook, as scholarship applicants, you must own a place in the scholarship committee's brain in order to stand out from the crowd and increase the likelihood you win an award. What is your niche? What is your unique talent or ability? How will you stand out? 

Today, literally everyone participates in everything (student council, NHS, sports, music, drama, etc.). Participation in a variety of activities is good, but not a way to stand out anymore. It is the depth, rather than breadth of your experiences that helps you stand apart. To find out how you can better package yourself (be remembered like "David the Rocker"), it is important to take stock of your activities. Are there any over-arching themes? 

For example, let's say you play football. What other ways did football manifest itself in your activity list? Did you coach a youth team? Volunteer for the special olympics as a coach? Work as a ref. for a part-time job? On student council did you organize a fundraising event around a football game? If this were the case, you did a variety of volunteer, work, and extra-curricular activities, and football was the theme that tied them all together--making you "Joe the football star" instead of Joe: Application 276.

Pam Proctor, author of The College Hook: Packaging Yourself to Win the College Admissions Game, identifies the top 10 "college hooks," or areas that people position themselves to increase their odds of gaining admission into top schools. These "hooks" translate easily into the scholarship application process as well:

1. The Athletic Hook

2. The International Hook

3. The Music Hook

4. The Political Hook

5. The Technology Hook

6. The Humanitarian Hook

7. The Science Hook

8. The Writing Hook

9. The Drama Hook

10. The Multicultural Hook

Do you have significant expertise, ability, or talent in any of these areas? Do you have significant skill in another area not listed? Take a look over your activities list: try to find a over-arching theme that can tie your activities together. If you do, you have the potential, like David Cook, to captivate scholarship committees, become memorable, and win awards that pay off huge.