I was in Houston last week at the National College Access Network conference in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and felt overwhelmed and inspired at the same time. The conference organizers, scholarship sponsors, and pre-college program staff were all there to learn from each other and share industry insights. What left me feeling strange, was the fact that the hotel workers, shuttle drivers and airline employees seemed to be in a stage of disbelief and semi-relief. They wanted our business and wanted to work (to earn money for college, for some of them!) but they still did not have gasoline and electricity in their own neighborhoods and homes. School in Houston was scheduled to start that week.
Tragedies like this are a part of nature and I know of several people who chose not to go to the conference. I chose to go because I knew that our area was relatively safe and I knew that when the work dries up it makes a dire situation worse. At least the Houston area residents who were college students and parents with jobs as event planners, waiters, storekeepers and more could keep on making a living. Three people personally said to me, “thank you for coming, we were afraid they would cancel.”
I know this blog entry isn’t about how to win scholarships as usual but I felt compelled to share this story because it’s about perseverance and hope–two traits of successful college-bound students.

(This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008)

I recently read an article on Fastweb about why students should apply for contests, prizes and sweepstakes to help pay for college. The gist of the article was that the odds of winning a traditional scholarship are very slim and you should apply for every opportunity that could lead to money. What I wondered after reading it was, “Does anyone know the odds of winning these contests compared to traditional private scholarships?”
I am a sucker for travel contests such as, “Win a six day trip to Europe!” but I am not counting on winning those contests to pay for my family vacation. I still plan a vacation with my family, select the date, save the money and go. Yes, it would be fabulous to go to Europe, or Figi, or Brazil for free, but we don’t put our future vacation in jeopardy by counting on being the winner. You should think about scholarship “contests” and “prizes” in the same way. Yes, it would be great if you won, but what are the odds…and are you mistakenly applying for random contests, desperately seeking dollars, instead of truly investing in a solid scholarship search and submitting high quality, compelling applications?
The time you spend entering sweepstakes should be in addition to, not a replacement for, your time spent finding and applying for scholarships. I also think that some of the contests are fun and can be creative outlets but I urge you to check out the competition for any scholarship and think about how you will fare compared to your peers.
If you are applying for every sweepstakes or contest that is offered I hope you have a “Plan B” for paying for college, you know, just in case someone else wins.
P.S. I was cutting coupons last night and saw a scholarship contest for children. You have to submit a recipe for peanut butter sandwiches and you could win a $25,000 scholarship. My daughter definitely wants to enter, but in the meantime we’re still saving for college. If you would like to enter, please visit: http://www.jif.com/promos/contest/default.asp

This post was orinally published on September 9th, 2008

I’ve been a traveling fool the last few months and wanted to share a resource with you.
I was a guest speaker at the National Society of Collegiate Scholars leadership convention. This is a group of high-achieving college students committed to scholarship (in the academic sense), service and leadership. The organization is very well-managed and provides a lot of perks for its members including the convention, local chapters, scholarships and more. Check them out at www.nscs.org if you are looking to be amongst a group of your really smart peers.One thing I learned at this event is even students at the stop of their game — they have the grades, they have the leadership, they have the community service — need help understanding how scholarships work, where to find them and how to apply.
My panel of experts included “Dr. J” the scholarship advisor at Rollins College and Mr. Jackson, from the U.S. Fulbright program. What everyone agreed is that no matter how smart you are, how “well-rounded” you might be, if you want to get a competitive edge in winning scholarships you must start early.Dr. J. emphasized the need to re-craft your essay for every scholarship, not relying on one generic essay to suffice for each application. Mr. Jackson talked at length about the Fulbright program and how many of the national, uber-competitive scholarship programs start the application process a year in advance!If you consider yourself to be a “good student” or even a “great student” the fact is, for private scholarships, you still need to apply. You have to follow the same process as everyone else and you have to figure out how you are different than your competition. If you apply for a merit-based scholarship keep in mind that everyone else applying probably has the same or better GPA as you do. What else can you talk about? Organizations like NSCS might help you figure that out. 

This entry was originally posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

Okay – so allow me one minute of self-indulgence here. My book was released at www.amazon.com ahead of schedule, just before the Fourth of July!As of noon today Amazon has only three copies left (more on the way) and I just answered a phone call about my aunt, who bought a copy in the U.P. (that’s the Upper Penninsula of Michigan if you’re not a yooper). Go yoopers! I’ll be visiting the U.P. sometime this fall, once I work out travel arrangements.Speaking of travel, I’ll keep you posted on my whereabouts. If I am in your town, please stop by. I always enjoy meeting students and parents. For the latest information, be sure to sign up for the Scholarship Street News at www.scholarshipstreet.comGotta go…mailing out books today!

This entry was originally posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008

Congratulations to David Cook, last night’s winner on American Idol.
American Idol is a close example to how the scholarship world works and I think it helps students understand that “everyone” in not a winner. One person wins. The other contestants may still be successful and I hope they learn from the experience to improve their approach or delivery in the future but the bottom line is ONE person wins.
To recap the journey for those who don’t watch American Idol:
Tens of thousands of hopeful singers apply or audition
A chosen few make it to Hollywood week, based on the decisions of the judges
The cast of characters is further winnowed to 24 contestants, again by the judges
And, then, America votes week by week, eliminating the people with the lowest number of votes.
In the case of scholarships, America is not voting, but the elimination process is very similar. First round is eliminating people who applied but don’t even qualify. Next round is judging the applicants on who best matches the criteria. The next round is reading the applications carefully and assigning some type of ranking system (using a judging criteria) to distill the list of top candidates. At this stage, much like Davd and David, you have very highly qualified people. If you have two scholarships to distribute you could award both but if you have only one scholarship how will you determine who is the best of the best? As a scholarship judge, you might ask for an interview, an additional essay question, you might more closely examine the supoprting documents. It’s tough and scholarship committees often wrangle with this decision (unless a clear, unequivocal winner emerges).
Remember that the scholarship committee can only judge you based on the information, audition or image you have presented to them – make sure it is your best!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

What an amazing week!
I tried a new way to gather scholarship success stories for the website and was inundated with responses. I heard from a woman who owns a pest control company (The Bug Lady) who also oversees a scholarship fund, a woman who raised $100,000 in scholarship money to attend college and now is headed off to law school and an organization that helps moms pay for online education. The stories just kept coming in. Of all the people who submitted stories, only one of them represented a scholarship that I already knew about (Dell Scholars).
What I learned is that the people who give out the money are very passionate about their causes. The people who win the money are very passionate about pursuing scholarships. In both cases, they never give up to make their voices or their stories heard.
If you have a scholarship success story that you would like to share, please email me:
kim at scholarshipstreet dot com (in the proper format, of course).

This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

Good morning. If you haven’t made plans yet for how you will spend your summer, please check out volunteer opportunities. These opportunities will not only add strength to your community but add strength to your scholarship resume.
With permission from professor Bill Coplin at Syracuse University, I offer this excerpt from his article College Bound? 11 reasons to try doing good, which is targeted at college students but has good advice for high school students, too.
College Bound? 11 Reasons to Try Doing Good – Bill Coplin, PhD
“Community service is not just good for the hearts of college undergraduates, it is also good for every part of them, including their wallets. Here are the top 11 reasons that undergraduates should consider community service an essential part of their education.Number 11: It is an inexpensive and effective way to get dates, or at least make friends. Volunteering — instead of attending awkward mixers, lame icebreakers and the dreaded singles bars — is so cheap and useful that 20- and 30-year-olds have established volunteer organizations in Washington, Stowe, Vt. and Minneapolis, Minn., called Singles Volunteers. No awkward blind dates or fix-ups or rejections based on superficial criteria.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

This entry was originally posted on Monday, April 14th, 2008

Don’t wait until you get a financial aid package from your prospective schools to decide if you are going to apply for any scholarships. The fact is that if you win scholarships, the school will most likely replace the loans that you qualified for with your newfound scholarship dollars. Some people are disappointed to hear that, but I think it’s great. You probably can’t even imagine what it feels like to graduate without loans. Neither can I. I have student loans that I’ve been paying for more than a decade…those scholarships would sure come in handy now!

 
This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008