Scholarship Mythbusters

By Joe Messinger, CFP®

November 13, 2015

3 min READ

If you could earn $50 per hour, wouldn’t you? What are we talking about? We are talking about the process of finding college scholarships. The process isn’t easy. It might not be quick. But if you spent 20 hours searching and applying and earned a $1,000 scholarship, that’s $50 per hour. Pretty valuable when you look at it that way!

The fact is finding and winning scholarships is not always easy, but because students think of it as too hard, they do not even try. Plus, try asking a senior who just finished writing college admission essays to write MORE for several scholarship essays. You might have better luck winning the lottery. Share with them the $50 per hour and see if that changes their thinking a little.

5 myths about private college scholarships:

Myth:  Scholarships are only for low income students, perfect students, athletes or minorities.

Although scholarships exist for all those groups of students, many more are available for those with special skills, with volunteer or work experience, for certain areas of interest, or for membership in certain groups as well as many other reasons. Keep track of all the activities, special projects, etc. during high school. They’ll be useful later when searching for scholarships suited to your student.

Myth:  If you are in one of those categories in the first myth (low income, perfect, athlete, minority), the scholarship money will find you.

Actually, you will still need to get out there and look—it is not automatic.  Just like any scholarship they are highly competitive and your application has to stand out.

Myth:  You should start looking for scholarships in your senior year.

Wrong! Some scholarships are awarded as young as 13, and the earlier you get started the better. One scholarship site www.raise.me will award money for achievements throughout your high school career (if you choose to go to one of the participating universities).

Myth:  You need to pay someone to find the most scholarship money for you, and they have access to billions of dollars unclaimed every year.

The truth is many free resources exist on the internet to help you find scholarship dollars, and it is a myth that billions remain unclaimed every year. A good place to start is in your student’s own guidance office and through their online resources (like Naviance). Also check with the financial aid office of the colleges you are interested in.

Myth:  If you get good grades and have great test scores, it is easy to find a full ride scholarship.

While there are full ride scholarships available, the truth is only a few students win them. “Of students enrolled full-time at a 4-year college, only 0.3% get enough grants (including private scholarships) to cover the full cost of attendance.”

Finding private scholarships

Students, you have to do the work to win scholarships. Sorry. Know the deadlines and requirements for each application and set goals for yourself like “I will apply for at least 15 scholarships by holiday break.” You can’t control how many of them you will receive, but you can control how many you apply for.

Find the ones suited to you and realize the smaller value awards are often a lot less competitive and receive far fewer applications than large national awards. Winning five $1,000 scholarships is the same as one $5,000 scholarship! Students may have been raised to not boast or brag, but this is one time that they can and be proud of their accomplishments and what they have to offer the world!

How do you find these scholarships?

Here are some free places to look:

• As we mentioned above, start with your high school guidance counselor.
• www.fastweb.com is a great scholarship search website where you can create your own free account, and they will provide you with a whole list of potential scholarships.
• Scholarship Finder from CareerOneStop
• www.finaid.org
• Scholarship America hosts a variety of large corporate scholarships as well as local scholarship opportunities.
• The College Board also has a free scholarship search where you can plug in your specific qualifications to receive a list of potential scholarships.
• Did you know that the Columbus Foundation is the 7th largest community foundation in the country? They also have over 200 scholarships for Ohio Students!
• Looking for some unusual scholarships? Here’s a selection.

Need help writing the essay? Well, as financial advisors, we can’t help much there. However, you can find free resources on the internet with helpful tips and guidance like these from Fastweb: essay tips part 1 and part 2.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t win every scholarship you apply for.

They are extremely competitive. Be realistic and realize how competitive they are. Private scholarships like these will only be a part of your overall approach to paying for college. They are just a piece of the puzzle. Keep in mind that grants and scholarships from the colleges and universities themselves make up over 80% of total scholarship dollars today. Work hard to identify schools willing to pay for you to attend their school.

So, keep that $50 per hour in mind as you search for scholarships and wonder if it is worth it. Every little bit helps to fill in that puzzle and avoid too much student loan debt.

Originally published 11/2015
Updated 10/2020