By: Carol Burton
North Carolina State University
Park Scholar
Applications
Make a list of all of the scholarship
applications you want to apply for and
when they are due
 Make sure you apply before the deadline

 It does not matter if you apply weeks before the
application is due or three minutes before, as
long as it is submitted before the deadline.
People do not look at when you submitted your
application as long as it was before the deadline

Have someone review over your
application to ensure you have met all of
the requirements
Applications continued…

Look for websites and talk to your
counselors about possible scholarships
you can apply for
 www.fastweb.com

Apply for EVERYTHING
 All scholarships help no matter how much
they are worth. If everyone had the attitude
that $500 was not worth their time, then it
raises your chances of winning the
scholarship
Be well rounded
Do not limit yourself to only playing in the
band or only playing football
 Seek leadership positions in these
organizations

 Whenever there is an opportunity to run for an
office position, DO IT!

Although it is nice to have one focus, join
various clubs and organizations

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Service Club: Key Club
Cultural Club: French Honor Society
Academic Club: National Honor Society
Sport: Volleyball
Common Application
www.commonapp.org
 An application that can be used for
hundreds of institutes
 This will allow you to spend less time on
your college application and more time
on your scholarship applications
 Some participating colleges:

 Davidson College, Duke University, Guilford
College, Meredith College, Salem College,
and Wake Forest University
Discover a Concern

Find something that concerns you and
get involved in the community to fix that
problem
 Example: My interest was children and their
future. I completed two service projects
relating to this interest. Thus, during
interviews, I can discuss my concern for the
future of children and what I am doing to
contribute to society.
Essays

With essay questions, make sure you
focus on one experience
 Example: Describe your leadership
experience
○ Talk about that one time you planned an
activity and how it impacted your life and
those around you
○ Go into specific detail about one experience,
not broad
Essays continued…

Think about your audience
 Most likely, professionals will be reviewing
your application
 Therefore, do not use teenage “lingo”
 They are giving you their time by reading
your application so don’t waste their time by
not putting 110% effort into it
Essays continued…

Make it personal
 Hundreds of students apply for the big
scholarships so make sure your application
stands out
 You want the audience to remember your
application so try to evoke an emotion out of
them
 Your goal is to create an essay so that your
audience becomes so excited that they want
to meet you in an interview…making it to the
next level
FAFSA
Free Application for Federal Student Aid
 Even if you do not think you are eligible
for financial aid, fill out a FAFSA form
anyway

 It doesn’t hurt to try

www.fafsa.ed.gov
GPA
Make sure you work hard throughout
high school to maintain a competitive
GPA
 Take higher level courses to raise your
weighted GPA
 Both weighted and unweighted are
important

 My unweighted was almost a whole point
lower than my weighted GPA
High Expectations
Set High standards for yourself and those
around you
 If you are hanging around people who do
not motivate you to succeed, find people
who will help you create goals
 Make sure your goals are high

 Don’t shoot for a B- on the test, work hard for
that B+
 Make sure your goals aren’t unreasonable
though, start slow and work your way up
○ If you are failing a class, go for a C, not an A+
because you will get discouraged if you
continuously fall below your goal
Interviews

Interviews are one of the most important
aspects of the application process
 You need a great application in order to
make it this far though
Make sure you be yourself in an
interview
 Tell stories when you answer interview
questions
 Interviewers are not there to scare you,
they just want to get to know you

Interviews continued…
Do’s
Don’ts
Be punctual
Be negative about your school,
friends, teams, or teachers
Introduce yourself to the
interviewers
Maintain eye contact
Think the interviewers know
everything that is in your application
Listen to the questions and think
clearly before answering them
Be scared if you do not know an
answer
Do not ramble, be brief and honest
with your answers
Slouch, chew gum, or yawn
Show confidence and interest
Prepare questions to ask the
interviewers
Thank the interviewers for their
time and consideration
Smile and have fun 
Interviews Continued…

Common Questions
 What do you know about this scholarship
 What is your biggest weakness
 What type of leader are you (introverted or

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extraverted)
What are your plans for your future
What was the most recent service project you
participated in
Who has influenced your life and why
What is the biggest obstacle you have
encountered in your high school career
What is your most embarrassing moment
Interviews continued…

Dress professionally
 Women
○ Dress pants or skirt (at least knee length or longer)
○ Nice shirt (keep it simple and one that does not show
cleavage)
○ Slightly heeled shoes and hose
○ Keep jewelry and makeup to a minimum, remember this
is not a beauty contest but a scholarship interview
 Men
○ Dress pants (black, khaki, or navy)
○ Button up shirt
○ Tie (if you do not have one, borrow one)
○ Jacket is optional
○ Dress shoes and socks
Join JROTC
(my dad told me to add this )
JROTC will give you the opportunity to
hold leadership positions
 You will have the chance to participate in
the community
 You will meet great friends
 You will have the chance to apply for an
ROTC scholarship

Keep Trying
There are thousands of possible
scholarships to apply for
 Never get discouraged when applying
for scholarships
 You will most likely be rejected for
several scholarships

 I remember having the cocky attitude that I
would definitely be selected to receive small
community scholarships…yet I was rejected
Letters of Recommendation
Find a few teachers who can validate
your academic and work ethics and
character
 Give your teachers plenty of time to
complete the letter

 If you rush them, the letter probably will not
be good
 Make sure to include your resume,
information on the scholarship, and a
stamped envelope
M
Network
Create connections with people who can
help you succeed
 Find teachers who you can use for
recommendations
 Find counselors who can inform you of
opportunities
 Find professors from colleges who can
explain the benefits of their college

Optimism

It is easy to lose an optimistic attitude
when applying for scholarships
 “My SAT scores are terrible! There is no
way I will be picked for a scholarship”
 Everyone has weak points but you must not
lose hope
 SAT, GPA, and Essays are all considered
equally in an application. If one area is
weak, make sure to make up for it in another
area.
Procrastination doesn’t get you anywhere
Deadlines are very important
 If you procrastinate on scholarships,
they will begin to pile up and you will be
overwhelmed
 Spend maybe 30 minutes a night
researching scholarships and working
on applications

Questions
Don’t be afraid to ask questions,
because people will ask you plenty of
questions
 Asking questions will show your interest
in the scholarship

Resume
Start making your resume as soon as
possible
 It is easy to forget important honors in
your life so adding as you go along in
life is the best way to ensure your
resume has everything
 Keep it down to a page! It is easy for
overachievers to list EVERY moment in
their high school career, but pick out the
most important activities and honors

SAT

Make sure you have a competitive score
 If you are weak in one area, make sure you
excel in another area to make up for your
weakness

Practice Vocabulary
 The Verbal portion of the exam is very difficult,
but knowing vocabulary will help greatly
○ Learn a new word everyday
○ Learn root words which will help you deduce the
meaning

Take the test as many times as possible
 For most people, the more you take the test, the
higher you score
Think Early

Although it is difficult, start thinking
about possible colleges you would like
to attend during your freshman year of
high school
 Visit these schools
 Meet professors and advisors
 Go to open houses and campus tours
 Learn about the school’s most prestigious
scholarships
Understand what is required for the scholarship
Finding out the motives of a scholarship
program will help you earn it
 You need to decide what you can
contribute to the scholarship program

 Scholarships are not just about getting free
money. They provide you with something,
so you should be able to provide them with
something too
Venture outside of your comfort zone
Venturing outside of your comfort zone
will give you great stories to tell in
interviews
 It will give you the opportunity to
conquer your fears
 This will also help ease your stress or
nervousness during the scholarship
process

Work Experience
Try to find work experience related to
what you want to major in
 This will show interviewers you are
responsible and able to cooperate with
other people
 It also shows your initiative and interest
to learn and become an expert in that
area

Xtracurricular activities
Make sure you have plenty of
extracurricular activities to stay busy
 However, you do not want to overwhelm
yourself to the point where your
academics suffer
 Find a balance between academics,
athletics, service, and social activities

Your schedule

Consider what you want your major to
be in college
 Finding out that you do not like a subject
when you are in high school is much better
than spending two years in that major in
college and wasting your time
 Example: I thought I wanted to be an
engineer because I liked math, until I took
Honors Physics in high school and realized I
did not want to spend the rest of my life in
that field
Your Schedule Continued…

Take plenty of higher level courses
including honors and advanced
placement
 Taking these classes will show your desire to
succeed
 Take the advanced placement tests in order
to place out of college courses
○ Yes, they can be expensive, but it is VERY
nice to get them out of the way
Zero in on the fine points
Double check everything!
 Make sure you have correct grammar
and appropriate word choice
 Use complete sentences and various
sentence structures
 Make sure you have completed all of the
required sections

 Completing optional sections is also a great
plus!