Institutional Scholarships Many schools offer money to students based on merit of some sort (academic, artistic, etc.). Students may be required to submit a separate application to be considered for these awards. These separate applications are often labor intensive and may have different (earlier) deadlines than applications for admission. At some schools, automatic scholarships are offered to students who meet certain academic criteria and do not require separate applications. Ask your admissions counselors about the scholarship process at their school. Be on the lookout for awards offered through the admissions office as well as departmental awards offered for students interested in certain academic disciplines. What Scholarship Committees Look For Scholarships go to students who have demonstrated initiative and success in multiple areas. There is no set blueprint for becoming scholarship material. However, students who are wellrounded, demonstrate leadership, have strong academic backgrounds and actively participate in community activities tend to be more attractive to scholarship committees than students who are strong in one or two areas. The way in which you present your credentials will likely have an effect on the way a scholarship committee views your application. Committees that award academic scholarships are looking for students who clearly manifest the ability to think for themselves and who have the desire to make intellectual contributions supporting the pursuit of excellence. Often, they are looking for students who are embarking upon a road of self-discovery and who desire to accomplish something remarkable. A committee member for a prestigious scholarship program wrote: "We are seeking creative, insightful and talented individuals who have already distinguished themselves as intellectually gifted people. These are students who are already using their intellectual skills to analyze the important problems and issues of today and to make an impact on their community." Grades/Rigor of Academic Program These twin pillars (!) are the single most important aspect of your preparation to win scholarship awards. Many awards carry minimum requirements. Usually students should be in the range of 3.5 to 4.0 to apply for most scholarships. It is possible to win a scholarship without good grades, but it is much more difficult to do so. It is even more important that your course selection demonstrate a desire to significantly challenge yourself academically. If you have more than a year left in high school, you can challenge yourself by taking Advanced Placement courses, Honors courses, upper level science, advanced foreign language work or strong mathematics courses. Make it your motto not to do the minimum amount of schoolwork in the shortest amount of time - try to challenge yourself. Good grades in difficult courses will often indicate that you have not only intelligence, but also a strong work ethic and self-discipline. Try standing in the committee's shoes: Whose education would you rather fund? Someone who has a great intellect but who does not work to his/her potential or someone who works consistently hard and who often overachieves?
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