If you’re a parent of a college-bound student, you’re likely shopping for back-to-school supplies and preparing your student for academic success. You’re also probably worrying about how to pay for college. While we can’t help you with your shopping, we CAN help your student find and win scholarships.
Our books are filled with advice and strategies for finding and applying for scholarships. The Scholarships for Women ebook has over 250 scholarships with links to the sponsoring organization’s application page. Organized by deadline, means your daughter won’t miss scholarship opportunities. Priced at $4.99 and $7.99 these are two valuable resources that you may want to include on your back-to-school shopping list.
High school is the best time to begin the scholarship process because it’s the one time in your college-bound student’s life that they are eligible for three major types of scholarships:
- High School Seniors
- Entering Freshmen
- Undergraduate Students
Some parents may be thinking, that’s great, but HOW do I motivate my teen to find and win scholarships? It’s simple. Sign your student up for one of our Scholarship Boot Camps or Scholarship Coaching and we’ll provide the motivation, support, and tools necessary for your student to actively engage in the scholarship application process. Classes start September 30th and October 2nd and meet for 1 hour a week. Although we recognize that high school students, and seniors in particular, have a lot on their plate, NOW is the time to start working on scholarships because most scholarship deadlines begin in October and finish by April. If your student has completed their Scholarship Portfolio, then he or she can use the Winter Holiday Break to crank out those all-important scholarship applications.
Scholarship Boot Camp 1: Launch Your Scholarship Business
With this 8-week course teens will understand the value of funding their college degree with scholarships instead of student loans—applying for scholarships will pay $66/hour! The goal is to graduate debt-free so they can live their lives without the burden of monthly student loan payments (and they won’t end up living back at home). They’ll unleash their inner entrepreneur and learn the steps necessary to launch a scholarship business, promote their “brand” using social media, and build their scholarship team. In addition, they’ll develop the skills to:
- Find genuine scholarships
- Conduct searches to yield high-value results to save time wading through long lists of irrelevant “matches”
- Become a scholarship and financial aid lingo guru (especially helpful when signing documents or negotiating with the Financial Aid Office)
- Find free and valuable online resources such as blogs and podcasts
- Save time by knowing the best (and worst) scholarship search engines, web portals, and mobile apps
- Identify and reach out to real-life scholarship resources
- Recognize and avoid scams and dead-end contests
Scholarship Boot Camp 2: Create Your Scholarship Portfolio
The Scholarship Boot Camp 2 begins with a one-on-one interview to identify your student’s goals, and create an action plan to meet those goals. Students will receive work to complete before camp starts. Each week, they’ll learn how to build a scholarship team, use social media resources to find and win scholarships, and develop all the documents needed in their Scholarship Portfolio so they can apply for scholarships immediately. They’ll also get answers to scholarship questions, receive feedback and professional editing on their portfolio documents, and map out their next steps. At the end of two months, their Scholarship Portfolio will include:
- Two Essays
- Sample Application
- Resume
- Requests for Letters of Recommendation (leading to real Recommendation Letters)
- Transcripts
- Test Score Documentation
- Cover Letter
- Personal Statement
- Photograph (Headshot)
- Thank You Notes to Your References
So we urge you to stop pestering your teens to apply for scholarships and give them the tools they need to jump start the process. We not only teach them how to find and win scholarships, we gently hold them accountable for making progress (so you don’t have to).
Got questions? Leave us a comment or send us an email.
If you’re a High School Guidance Counselor, drop us a note. We give free scholarship presentations to parents and teens.