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Scholarship Application Tips in Turbulent Times
These scholarship application tips will help students in difficult situations and when times are tough.
One is, “I give up. It’s too hard. What’s the point?”
The other is, “I’m going to power through this.”
With the confusion and uncertainty that surrounds all of us right now because of the coronavirus, college-bound and current college students are floundering and dealing with issues that did not even concern them last month. This includes how to apply for scholarships when schools are closed and traditional methods of obtaining the required documents that go with them are currently unavailable.
Here are several scholarship application tips that will help students during this turbulent time in all of our lives.
Letters of Recommendation
Students can email teachers and ask them to provide a digital copy of a previously written letter that can be printed out for mailed-in scholarship applications. For online submissions, the letter can be attached or uploaded. Pay careful attention to the guidelines for online submissions, as many specify exactly how digital documents should be submitted. For example, “first name-last name-scholarship name” in the name of the document and how it is saved before uploading.
If a letter has not yet been written, email is also the way to contact teachers, community leaders, coaches, and other adults that students believe know them well enough to write a personal letter of recommendation. Students should attach their scholarship resumes and let the writer know the name and theme of the scholarship. (Such as the Spirit of Generosity Scholarship open to students who volunteer)
Students with a close relationship to their letter writer can pick up the phone and call to explain to the writer what they need, but an email will still be necessary to include more information and to have exactly what they need as a clear resource for their writer.
School Transcripts
Many school transcripts can be obtained electronically using whatever online platform the school uses, such as Naviance or Parchment. This method should still be available right now.
If a school does not use an online resource, students need to reach out to their high school counselors and see if their transcripts can be attached to an email. These will be unofficial transcripts, but in light of our current situation, I would advise students to use them when applying for scholarships with a note stating why official sealed transcripts could not be obtained at this time.
Scholarship Essays
With schools closed, classes going online, and the cancellation of most events, this does give students a ton of extra time to write their essays.
A student that I personally know shared this,
I have had a large stack of scholarships that I’ve been working on for quite some time now. They are all due Friday, and I finally got them done. Feeling pretty good amongst all the bad.
That is an amazing and encouraging way to use this time to your advantage and I am so proud of this high school senior for his positive mindset. (Way to go, Collin!!!)
Deadlines and Due Dates
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The uncertainty of the next few months has made many colleges change decision deadlines, but students should not count on scholarship providers to do the same. Some may give students extra time or relax their applying rules, but so many businesses and organizations have been impacted by the coronavirus that they may not even be thinking about taking the time to make changes to their scholarship awards at this time.
Instead, students need to use this extra time to their advantage and apply for as many scholarships as they can. Find my very best 10 scholarship tips that helped my own boys win so many scholarships right here:
Scholarship Application Tips in Turbulent Times #coronavirus #college #scholarships Click To TweetIf I can help you in any way during this time, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Email me at info@how2winscholarships.com or Facebook message me.
Parents, for more support and a safe place to ask your college and scholarship questions, feel free to join my private Facebook group Scholarship Help and College Talk for Parents.
To the Class of 2020, you are STRONG, RESILIENT, and AMAZING. Your hard work will not go unnoticed by anyone. Take this crisis one day at a time and know that your future is still as bright as ever.
For my fellow parents, I don’t need to tell you how this is such a hard time in the lives of our kids, but as a mom who has personal experience with students struggling with anxiety, remember to keep a close eye on your kids and how they are dealing with all of this extra stress. ♥♥♥ Monica Matthews
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Monica Matthews is the author of How to Win College Scholarships. She helped her own son win over $100,000 in college scholarships and now shares her expertise with other parents and their students. She truly has “been there, done that” in regards to helping parents and students navigate the scholarship process.
Her method of helping students in finding college scholarships, writing unique and compelling scholarship essays, creating amazing scholarship application packets and more, have taught desperate parents to help their own students win thousands of scholarship dollars.
Monica’s scholarship tips have been featured on many prominent websites and she has been dubbed the “Go-To” expert on college scholarships.
