Less than 10 percent of college students receive scholarships each year. How can you be one of the lucky ones?
With SAT testing being cancelled across the country, students are having many opportunities for funding take away from them. Forget having a good SAT score to give you the edge, many will have no score.
But the key to getting a college scholarship may not just be in the application and grades. Focus on how you choose your scholarships, suggests Edtech Founder Jared Friedland.
Having worked with students for over 15 years on the SATs and college admissions, The Playbook CEO gave his advice on how students can still be successful in their funding applications.
While some scholarships are designed for all students in general, many are intended to help students who fit certain criteria “which can range from gender to ethnicity to geographic location and even to arcane interests,” says Friedland.
As an example, he points out that the National Grocers Association of America has a scholarship relating to asparagus.
If you come across as someone who applied with no real thought or a connection between you and the scholarship, you are unlikely to win any money, he says. “But if you come across as someone whose passions reflect those of the scholarship donors, you are likely to be seen as a strong contender.”
While hundreds of thousands of students have had SAT tests cancelled, there is still a percentage that are sitting theirs. For those relying on their scores for some financial aid, Friedland reminds students that the first score you get, isn’t the final one. Unlike grades, SAT scores can be overwritten. Scholarship directors may look at the best combined score from each test, giving you a “superscore”.
“If you take the test a few times and prep on your own or with a company, you stand a far better chance of maximizing your score and thus your odds of landing a coveted scholarship.”
Adults may be having a hard time adjusting to remote working, but for students and teachers, navigating the world of virtual learning can be equally as challenging.
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