October 31, 2019 - Drew Arndt
Would you rather spend years paying off your student debt or hours applying for scholarships? It is quite a simple answer, but why don’t more people apply for scholarships? Some of the reasons include that most people feel as if the reward is not worth their time or they do not know where to find them. Today I am going to tell you a few tips that will guide you in the right direction and hopefully towards receiving a scholarship of your own.
Local Scholarships
The first tip I have is applying for local scholarships. Local scholarships are offered from the UWL foundation, clubs, organizations, small businesses, and many other places in communities. Applying for local scholarships offers a greater chance to receive the award since fewer people have the opportunity to apply for these than for state or nation-wide scholarships. In some occasions, you may even be the only applicant for the scholarship!
Smaller Award Scholarships
Applying for scholarships with a lower reward may seem like a lot of work for less money, however these scholarships are often the least competitive. Also, even though a $100, $200, or $300 scholarship might not seem like a huge dent in your overall tuition, these are great resources to use for paying for books, supplies, and living expenses. Lastly, a good way to view these types of scholarships is to look at it like a job: if you put two hours of writing into a $200 scholarship and get it, the reward is $100 per hour of work. This can make the scholarship more rewarding.
Don’t Avoid Essay Scholarships
We are all familiar with scholarships that require nothing other than entering our information for a chance to win a large amount of money. These are great if you win, however these scholarships are the rarest to earn. I recommend applying for scholarships that require essays, even if they are 1,000 or more words. The reason is, these scholarships often turn most people away due to the amount of work it seems like it is. However, since you didn’t avoid this task, it gives you a greater chance to be awarded the scholarship.
Overall, scholarships are a very important tool for many college students. I recommend everyone applying and trying to make their college education as affordable as possible. One last great strategy is holding on to each essay you write so that you can use them as references for future essays. This way, you don’t have to start completely from scratch each time you apply for a scholarship. And last but not least, UWL has a great resource in the Scholarship Resource Center that will help you find scholarships that are best for you as well as help you with your essays.
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