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Welcome back to the Send Your Kids to College blog! We invite you to follow our new page on Linkedin, and ensure you follow us on Facebook so you can get all of our latest tips and updates! As you may or may not know, the 2023 Young Achiever’s Scholarship will open up for applications in only 7 days, on January 1st. In preparation for that, we wanted to take some time today to speak about a few tips that WNY students can take into practice that will certainly increase the likelihood they receive additional money in the form of a college scholarship. If you live in Erie county, Niagara county, or Genesee county, you ARE eligible if you’re graduating in the class of 2024, 2025, or 2026.
Here are 6 tips for WNY students to practice to help earn a scholarship for college!
Meet the Deadline
Most scholarships have a deadline. There’s nothing complicated about this one. If you want the scholarship, you’re not going to get it if you don’t apply, or worse, turn in your application LATE. Getting used to working on a deadline is good practice for younger students, because once they get to college it will be their responsibility to meet assignment deadlines, or they’ll be back home on the couch in no time!
Prepare Early
If you’re not early, you’re late! Sure, meet the deadline, but the earlier you start applying for scholarships the better because if you start early, you’ll only get better and better at the college scholarship process. If you gather all your materials and brainstorm your plan of action, you can apply to multiple scholarship sources, and increase your likelihood of earning FREE money for college! BONUS SYKTC TIP: Scholarship Essay Writing Tips
Don’t Ignore Small Scholarships
Many people think of “scholarship,” and think of a full-ride to go to college for free. This is a common misconception. Every dollar counts, and if you don’t have a family who will have money to contribute to your college bill, you’ll certainly appreciate every penny you saved on scholarship money later on down the road. Small scholarships are still FREE MONEY!
Letters of Recommendation Help
Part of getting started early should include thinking about who would be a good person to consider to write you a letter of recommendation. These people should be respected, upstanding members of society who you feel can see your brightest traits, and who will be willing to write you a letter. Not everyone has time to take an hour to craft a letter, especially if you wait until the last minute, but oftentimes people will respect the fact that you reached out early. Let them know, they have a deadline, but give them a good amount of time to come up with a good letter for you.
Get Comfortable Writing
If you want a scholarship, you’re probably going to have to write an essay. Think carefully about the question being asked, and if you have an opportunity, certainly consider asking the scholarship provider any questions you have. Make sure your grammar and spelling are sharp and consider who could be a good person to give you a final edit/review. Perhaps whoever helps you with a letter of recommendation can also give you a little final lookover of your essay. The bottom line is, you need to write, and you’ll enjoy your future college experience if you’re comfortable writing.
Use Send Your Kids to College (or another organization!)
This one is a bit personal to students and families in WNY, but there are other organizations all over the country just like us who provide great insight and tools to help. Don’t take everything on alone! We have professionals here at our organization who can help prepare with tutoring, test prep, scholarship questions, the college application process, and much more! If you have any questions, just find a good, trusted source who can help!
We hope this helps our friends here in WNY, and beyond! Don’t forget to apply for the 2023 scholarship starting January 1st!