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3 Easy Strategies to Increase Your Scholarship Eligibility

Scholarships can be big game changers for many students in paying for college. Increase your qualifications for scholarship eligibility with these tips!

Scholarships aren’t only for top academic or athletic students. Criteria for scholarship awards from sponsoring companies, organizations, and foundations can vary dramatically. Their applications and requirements will typically reflect what the sponsor honors, appreciates, or celebrates, and these private scholarships can typically be used at any educational institution. During your scholarship search, you will come across some awards that are referred to as “fixed criteria scholarships," which may have requirements related to race, religion, physical features, gender, nationality, or geographic location. With fixed criteria scholarships, you’ll either be qualified to apply or not. Fortunately, there are other categories of scholarship awards in which you have some control over your eligibility. They include academic achievement, career focus, and extracurricular impact. Here’s how any student can strategically take action to improve their candidacy for awards in these key areas. 

1. Academic eligibility: Seek opportunities to increase your GPA

Many scholarships require a minimum grade point average (GPA) to qualify. There’s a scholarship myth that you must have an extremely high GPA in order to qualify for awards; that’s not true. In fact, many scholarships only require a minimum 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale—which is easily attainable for most students. Becca’s Closet scholarships are a good example of awards with low GPA requirements. But the higher your cumulative GPA is, the more opportunities will be available to you, so take some action to raise your GPA as much as possible. Ask for extra credit projects from any teacher or professor who allows it. Ask if it’s possible to rewrite a paper/essay or retake a quiz, test, or exam if the grade you initially received is low. If your strength is public speaking rather than writing, ask if you can present an assignment to the class for extra credit. Remember that every class you have impacts your overall GPA, so if you’re struggling in a class, ask for extra help. Increasing your overall GPA can open new doors to more scholarship awards.

Related: 10 Tips to Improve Your High School GPA

2. Career focus eligibility: Explore your career interests

There are many scholarships for students who are pursuing specific fields. These scholarship opportunities are offered at the high school level as well as the undergraduate, graduate, and advanced professional degree levels. For example, The Trotter Project’s scholarships are awarded to high school seniors as well as current college students who are pursuing careers in the culinary arts or hospitality industries. To increase your eligibility and stand out among other candidates, become a student who has gained additional insight into your career field. Consider volunteering in your chosen field each week for a few hours. You could also interview several people in your chosen field, seek out a mentor, or even intern for a company or organization. By taking on these actions, you’ll become a candidate with demonstrated initiative in pursuit of a given career.

3. Extracurricular impact eligibility: Be a leader outside the classroom

Many students are involved in activities outside of the classroom, including sports, jobs, clubs, community service, and artistic and creative organizations—but there’s a huge difference between a student who joined a club and a student who led one. Leadership skills are developed over time. Start developing those skills now by seeking out opportunities where you can learn from other student leaders. Organize, run, or make something happen that would not have happened without you. Students with demonstrated impact in a club, group, or community will stand out in the scholarship application process from those who simply joined and participated. The International Scholarship for Women, for example, awards women with a proven dedication to empowering other women through volunteerism and civic work.

Related: Leadership in High School: What Does It Mean?

By choosing to strategically increase your efforts in your academic, career, and extracurricular eligibility, you can stand out from other candidates and qualify for more potential scholarship opportunities. Good luck in your scholarship search!

To start finding scholarships you’re eligible for, use the Scholarship Search tool right here on CollegeXpress.

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About Jean O'Toole

Jean O’Toole is an educational consultant and author of the bestselling book Scholarship Strategies: Finding and Winning the Money You Need. Over the past 15 years, she has helped tens of thousands of students in the United States. Individuals collectively have been awarded millions of dollars by applying Jean’s scholarship strategies. In 2008, Jean co-founded Connections101, a company specializing in providing motivational tools for scholarship searching. It is her goal to empower students to design their paths to their future without college debt. Visit Connections101.com for more information, and follow Jean on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

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Oral Roberts University

Tulsa, OK


Jeff Parsons

Jeff Parsons

Counselor

Thank you so much for this valuable information about these opportunities. I truly appreciate the CollegeXpress communications and use them to keep my high school seniors informed about their opportunities!

Damian Rangel

Damian Rangel

September 2021 Mini Scholarship Winner, High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress has helped me tackle college expenses, which will allow me to put more of my time and effort into my studies without the need of worrying as much about finances.

Monica

Monica

High School Class of 2023

Being a sophomore in high school, I never really worried about college. I thought it wasn't important to worry about until senior year. Through this program opportunity I came across, I realized how important it is to start looking at colleges early and start planning ahead. CollegeXpress has opened my eyes to what colleges require, what colleges are near me, and what they offer. The daily emails I get from CollegeXpress really help me look at the different options I have and what colleges I fit into. Without this website, I would not be taking the time out of my day to worry about what my future will be nor what opportunities I have. I could not be more grateful for such an amazing and useful website. It's thanks to CollegeXpress that not only me but my family now know how much potential I have in to getting into these colleges/universities that we thought were out of my reach.

Maya Ingraham

Maya Ingraham

October 2021 Mini Scholarship Winner, Class of 2022

CollegeXpress has given me more confidence in my college process. With easy-to-access resources and guidance such as the CX Weekly Roundup, I have been able to find the best colleges for me. Most importantly, there’s a surplus of scholarship opportunities for every student to support their education.

Amari Toussaint

Amari Toussaint

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress helped me narrow my school choices down from 10 schools to four and then two. It also gave me information on a school I had never heard about or thought about attending until now, which is the school I will be attending in the fall. I am thankful for CollegeXpress and its helpful tools.