Many competitions require an essay outlining what the student has accomplished and what it has meant to him or her. The winning compositions are typically polished and personal, with earnest detail about what it's like to, say, overcome a crisis, or what it felt like to help build a home for the less fortunate.
You'll need plenty of time to work on applications and draft a compelling essay. It might help to study what prior winners have written. Scholarship sponsors sometimes post information about winners or even the entries on their websites. Or you can ask for copies of the winning essays. You may even want to ask a teacher or counselor to critique your essay. The Scholarship Scouting Report (Harper, $21.95) details winning entries for several dozen top competitions. Be sure to pay attention to eligibility criteria, contest rules, and deadlines. You don't want to waste your effort on an application that gets thrown out on a technicality.
The competition for the big national scholarships can be fierce. The Coca-Cola Scholars program, for instance, gets more than 91,000 applications each year for its 250 awards. The Internet is the easiest place to begin scouting for scholarships. FastWeb (www.fastweb.com) is the best-known scholarship search service, but users have to put up with lots of ads. After filling out a questionnaire, a student receives regular emails noting applicable scholarships and deadlines. Other search services include CollegeNET (www.collegenet.com) and the College Board (www.college board.com/pay).
Be forewarned: The big search services probably won't include local scholarships. While the awards may be small, the competition probably won't be as stiff as the national contests because there may be only a handful of applicants. Some places to tap for local scholarship information: your high school guidance counselor, your employer or your parent's employer, professional associations in the field you plan to study, unions (if you or your parents belong to one), and community and civic groups like the Elks, Jaycees, Kiwanis, Lions, or Rotarians.
While a majority of scholarships are earmarked for entering freshmen, plenty of awards are open to upperclassmen. So once you're in college, keep in touch with your school's financial aid office and your academic department to learn about scholarships open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
From the armed forces
Think it's tough to get into Harvard, Yale, or Princeton? Then try West Point (www.usma.edu), the U.S. Naval Academy (www.nadn.navy.mil), and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (www.cga.edu), which accept just 7 percent to 10 percent of their applicants. An applicant's grades, SAT or ACT scores, athletic ability, and leadership potential must be impressive enough to garner a nomination from a U.S. Senator or Representative. Students who are admitted to any of the service academies—the U.S. Air Force Academy (www.usafa.af.mil) and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (www.usmma.edu) are the other two—get a first-rate education along with military training. There are no tuition or room and board charges. Instead, the applicants pay for their schooling with minimum five-year service commitments.
Students might also want to consider the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Scholarship. Applications can be found online: the U.S. Army (www.armyrotc.com), U.S. Air Force (www.afrotc.com), and U.S. Navy (www.navy.com/nrotc). Students who are selected for the scholarships typically have above-average SAT scores, rank in the top quarter of their high school class, and have been leaders in an extracurricular activity or sport. The military pays most or all of the student's tuition and also provides allowances for books, fees, and living expenses. Many colleges with ROTC programs offer additional incentives that cover any remaining tuition and/or room and board. Upon graduation, the minimum service commitment is four years full time or longer for part-time service in the Reserves or National Guard. There are also ways to earn a college degree during or after a tour in the military, with Uncle Sam footing most of the bill.
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