Get Ready To Win Scholarships

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Get Ready To Win Scholarships!

• Ashbrook High School
• May 1, 2006

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What are you going to learn tonight?

• The process of the scholarship hunt
• How to manage the process
• How to search for apply for scholarships
• Common mistakes
• What the competition looks like
• How to become competitive
• Planning your winning strategy!
• Advice from some of our winners

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The PROCESS

• Learn about what is required (youre doing that
  now!)
• Prepare yourself to be competitive
• Search for scholarships for which you are
  eligible
• Apply! Apply! Apply!

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What You Need To Know

• There are two types of scholarship money merit
  based need based. Need is determined by
  parents students income using the FAFSA (Free
  Application for Federal Student Aid
  www.fafsa.ed.gov). Financial aid money can only
  be applied for during the senior year after Jan.
  1st. Nothing can be done for that right now.
  There is not any preparation you can do except to
  learn about the process. DO NOT count on
  financial aid money!
• Most merit-based scholarship money comes from the
  colleges universities.

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What You Need To Know (continued)

• Schools with lots of applicants are more
  competitive than schools with less applicants.
  Usually this comes down to BIG SCHOOLS vs.
  smaller schools. A question to ask is, How many
  do you admit, and how many applications do you
  receive?
• The competition is fierce (but you can still
  win!)
• To win, you have to stand out.

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Common Mistakes

• Not applying for scholarships for which youre
  eligible this is the 1 MISTAKE!
• Not applying on time postmarked vs. received by
  deadlines
• Waiting too late to do a good job plan ahead!
• Not giving enough notice or enough information to
  those writing letters of reference. Try to give
  at least TWO weeks notice.

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Common Mistakes (continued)

• Black ink vs. Blue Ink always use black or
  type! Almost all of our scholarships can be
  typed now using the latest version of Adobe
  Reader.
• Not having essays proofread for mistakes
• Waiting too late to take the ACT/SAT. Take 2x by
  the end of the junior year.
• Not completing the FAFSA by March 15th (March 1st
  for some schools)

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I Want To Win A Big Scholarship! What Do I Do?

• Start building your resume now. Keep it updated
  with all of the honors awards you win,
  extra-curricular activities, community
  service/volunteer work, and paid work that you
  do. The format should be simple and thorough,
  covering and explaining all that you have done.
• Good grades test scores are expected. Take the
  challenging classes to help you get into the top
  of the class and to help prepare you for the
  ACT/SAT.

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What Can I Do? (continued)

• Start taking the ACT/SAT as soon as you have
  completed Algebra II. You can improve your
  scores by working on your weaknesses, and
  re-taking the test. Be sure to take the PSAT as
  a junior, and use it to see what you need to work
  on. For a additional fee, you can get the
  questions, correct answers, and your answers for
  each SAT/ACT you take. This can be useful if you
  use the results and prepare. NEVER say that you
  are bad test taker! You will subconsciously make
  this come true!

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What Can I Do? (continued)

• The extracurricular activities are what make the
  difference. Get involved in the school and/or
  community. Find something you like can get
  passionate about!
• Volunteering is more impressive than paid work.
  While paid work is good, it is not as impressive
  unless the job is unusual or you are helping to
  support your family.

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What Can I Do? (continued)

• Think like a college admissions officer. You are
  trying to become someone the college wants to
  recruit for their college. That is usually a
  student who demonstrates leadership potential
  and/or someone who makes a difference in their
  world.

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What Can I Do? (continued)

• Your leadership is the biggest factor outside of
  academics that makes you competitive. You dont
  have to be in student government to demonstrate
  leadership. Some scholarships do like
  traditional school leadership, but it can also be
  shown through leadership in clubs, church,
  community organizations.

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What Can I Do? (continued)

• Can you find a need and work to fill it? Doing
  this can really get you noticed because it isnt
  seen very often. It shows initiative and
  leadership.
• You need to remember that mission trips are
  great, but they are now common. Is there some
  leadership you can exhibit on the trip?

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What Do The Big Merit Winners Look Like?

• GPA 4.0
• Class Rank top 5 - 10 of their class
• SAT Scores 1350 (Reading Math only) ACT
  Scores 30
• Courses Taken the most challenging available
  AP, Honors, College Transfer
• Extracurricular Activities Depth breadth
  depth is more important consistency is valued
  breadth is impressive if sincere LEADERSHIP is
  valued by scholarship selection committees!

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An Ashbrook Winner!

• John Fredrick Doe
• 6412 Elm St.
• Gastonia, N.C. 28054
• [phone]
• LEADERSHIP
• Student Body President - 9th Grade
• Sophomore Class President - 10th Grade
• Student Body Secretary - 11th Grade
• Student Body President - 12th Grade
• Secretary of NCASC (North Carolina
  Association of Student Councils) -
  11th-12th Grades
• President of Southwestern Conference of the
  Church Denomination Youth of North Carolina
  (SWCYNC) - 12th Grade
• Secretary of SWCYNC - 11th Grade
• President of Student Government Association at
  North Carolina Governor's School East 1997
• Captain of Men's Varsity Tennis Team - 12th
  Grade
• Homeroom President - 10th Grade
• Treasurer of SEAC (Student Environmental
  Awareness Club) - 9th
• Latin Club Advisory Council - 11th Grade
• Mars Hill Leadership Workshop - 10th Grade

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An Ashbrook Winner (continued)

• Academics 4.72 Grade Point Average
• Honors and Awards
• Gaston County Student of the Week - 9th Grade
• North Carolina Honor Chorus - 9th, 10th Grade
• North Carolina All-State Chorus - 9th, 10th
  Grade
• Gastonia Junior High Service Award - 9th
  Grade
• Gastonia City Council Achievement Award - 9th
  Grade
• Commissioner's School of Excellence - 9th
  Grade
• North Carolina Youth Chorale (Sang in Carnegie
  Hall) - 10th
• Gaston County All-County Chorus - 9th, 11th,
  12th Grade
• Soloist for McGill Youth Chorale European Tour
  - 11th Grade
• Selected to attend N.C. Summer Ventures in
  Science Mathematics at Appalachian State Univ.
  -1997
• Recipient of Silver Medal for National Latin
  Exam - 11th Grade
• Junior Marshal - 11th Grade
• Most Outstanding Student Council Member -
  11th Grade
• 1997 Tennis Team Coach's Award - 11th Grade
• Attended Tar Heel Boy's State - 11th Grade
• 1996-97 Principal's Award - 11th Grade
• Recipient of James B. Hunt Young Citizens Award
  - 12th Grade

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An Ashbrook Winner (continued)

• High School Involvement
• Student Cooperative Association - 9th, 10th,
  11th, 12th Grades
• Student Executive Council - 9th, 10th, 11th,
  12th Grades
• Junior Civitans Member - 9th, 10th, 11th,
  12th Grades
• Ashbrook H.S. Incentives Committee - 10th,
  11th, 12th Grades
• Gaston County Choral Ensemble - 10th, 11th,
  12th Grades
• Varsity Tennis Team - 10th, 11th, 12th Grades
• Latin Club - 11th, 12th Grades
• Attended Governor's School East (Choral Music)
  - 1997
• Attended Tar Heel Boy's State - 1997
• National Honor Society Member - 12th Grade
• Who's Who Among American High School Students
  - 12th Grade
• Community Involvement
• Gaston County Crime and Drug Task Force -
  9th, 11th Grades
• Gastonia Church Chancel Choir - 10th, 11th,
  12th
• Gastonia Medical Explorers - 9th, 11th
  Grades
• CROP Walk Volunteer - 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th
  Grades
• Gastonia Rotary Club Leadership Conference -
  10th, 11th Grade

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Where Do I Start?

• Read! Read! Read! What have you read that was
  not required by your teacher?
• Reading will help prepare for the ACT/SAT.
• Start reviewing for the ACT/SAT now.
• Visit our AWESOME scholarship website!
  www.ScholarshipPlus.com/Gaston

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ScholarshipPlus.com/Gaston

• It has information about all of the scholarships
  we know about.
• Students AND parents can check to see the
  scholarships that are available.
• It has scholarships available for ALL grades.
  Yes, there are scholarships for grades 9-11!
• You can generate a newsletter from it!

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www.ScholarshipPlus.com/Gaston (continued)

• One of the most useful features is to Sort by
  Deadline. This lists the scholarships in order
  from January to December so you can see what is
  due in the next few months.
• Custom Sort is where you can generate a
  newsletter that has all scholarships that our
  students are eligible for.

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How Do I Use The Site?
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How Do I Use The Site? (continued)
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How Do I Use The Site? (continued)
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How Do I Use The Site? (continued)
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How Do I Use The Site? (continued)
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How Do I Use The Site? (continued)
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Other Scholarship Resources

• Visit www.fastweb.com - the worlds largest
  scholarship database. You must have an e-mail
  address.
• Visit Ashbrooks website for a list of great
  links. www.gaston.k12.nc.us/schools/ashbrook
• Click on Guidance Guidance Links

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Setting Your Strategy

• A question you must answer for yourself What is
  most important to me going to college as
  inexpensively as possible or going to a one
  specific college?
• Once this decision is made, you can make your
  game plan. You have three basic choices
• Select the schools you want to go to and only
  apply to those (the most popular option but not
  the best financial option). This only produces
  scholarships for the very best students.
• Apply to any college you think you can win
  scholarships to attend (the option that has the
  most work and can be the most expensive
  initially it can help you go to college for
  free, however).
• The combination option (the best of both worlds!)

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Setting Your Strategy (continued)

• We recommend the combination option plan to
  apply for your 1, 2, and/or 3 colleges of
  interest and try to win one of their major
  scholarships. At the same time, look at other
  colleges and ask, where would I go to college if
  I could go for free? If there are colleges you
  could be happy attending for free, make sure you
  apply for their major scholarships. Apply to as
  many of those as you are truly interested in, but
  remember it cost money to apply. Application
  fees average approximately 50.

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Scholarship Winning Tips

• Winning Tip 1 Use the combination strategy, and
  apply to schools that dont receive as many
  applications. Most of these schools are still
  great schools. They just dont have as much
  competition which gives you a greater chance to
  win! Ashbrooks top 20 is competitive at many
  colleges!

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Scholarship Winning Tips (continued)

• Winning Tip 2 Find out what the deadlines are
  to enter into the scholarship process at your
  colleges of choice. Some schools have deadlines
  as early as October. Most colleges require that
  you apply for admission by a certain date to be
  eligible for their scholarships. Some colleges
  have separate applications for different
  scholarships. Contact your colleges of interest
  to determine exactly what you have to do to get
  in the game and what the deadlines are. Apply on
  time!

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Scholarship Winning Tips (continued)

• Winning Tip 3 Manage the details. A parent or
  guardian can help do this, but you can do it on
  your own. It really helps to be organized!
  Someone helping you can assist in a number of
  ways
• Searching for scholarship that you are eligible
  to apply for. This takes time and is the major
  thing that doesnt get done! If you dont know
  what is out there, you cant apply. Never in the
  history of the scholarship world has this been
  easier or overwhelming to do!

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Scholarship Winning Tips (continued)

• Keeping track of what is due when, and managing
  your application calendar. It helps to have a
  calendar with the deadlines of the scholarships
  you plan to apply for. You can make this your
  calendar for the year.
• Filling out basic portions of applications (name,
  address, test scores, other demographics).
  Anybody can do this. The application must be
  yours, but filling out the basics is going to be
  the same no matter who does it. The essays and
  questions must, however, be the students work!

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Scholarship Winning Tips (continued)

• Winning Tip 4 Complete applications early
  whenever possible because of everything else that
  must be done (term papers, required reading,
  sporting events, social life, etc.) This also
  helps when a new scholarship comes out with
  little notice (which seems to happen each year!)
  If you end up in a time crunch, you will
  invariably decide not to complete your
  scholarships.

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What Advice Do Past Scholarship Winners Have For
You?
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Questions ???