I spend a lot of time on Money for College Students discussing financial aid possibilities and scholarships for high school students that have not yet begun college. I’d like to take this post to elaborate on available scholarships for current college students, as your financial aid need doesn’t just suddenly disappear when you begin college.
Scholarships for current college students can be both easier to win, and harder to win, depending on the program. One of the advantages of applying for scholarships once you are in college is that there are often more scholarships available that are specific to your major. For example, if your major is economics/finance related, there are scholarships out there that only students from that major are eligible for. These sort of scholarships are much less competitive than scholarships that anyone can apply for, which means you will have a greater chance of winning them.
On the other hand, now that you are in college, I feel that scholarship committees expect more out of you as an applicant. Not only should your scholarship application essay be even more vivid than the ones you wrote in high school (e.g. they need to do an even better job of showing the scholarship selection committee who you are as a person), but you also need to continue your record of extracurricular activities and community service (well, that might not be as important, depending on what scholarship we are talking about). Luckily, having a perfect 4.0 GPA isn’t necessary to win these types of scholarships, but you should still try to maintain at least a 3.5.
In some future posts, I will elaborate on a few scholarships for current college students that you should definitely consider applying for. In the end, remember that one’s specific to your major/background will be the easiest to win, and that scholarships covering a “broader” spectrum will be much more competitive.
Dec 16, 2009
