How to be a Good Candidate for a College Scholarship

Paying for college through scholarships can be one of the best ways to achieve your education goals regardless of the walk of life you come from. The problem with scholarships is that the competition for them is fierce. So what should you do to be a good candidate for a college scholarship? Here are some tips on things you can do to improve your chances of getting a scholarship to help you pay for school.

Tip #1: Be studious

Academic scholarships are highly sought after so it's a good thing there are so many of them. You can improve your chances for getting an academic scholarship or any other type of scholarship that requires good grades by being studious. Study hard, get help when you need it, and get good grades and you could be rewarded for it. Academic scholarships are typically based off of your GPA and your college entrance exam.

The closer you can get to a 4.0 GPA, the better your chances for getting a scholarship. Do your best right from the beginning of high school to get straight A's. While getting a 4.0 may not always be possible, you can get close. If teachers know that you are willing to work hard for your grade, they will work with you if there is need for improvement. The more studious you are and the more you are willing to work at school, the better your grades will be. If you don't get good grades in high school, you may want to consider going to a junior or community college for a year or two and see if you can improve. Colleges generally look at your grades for the latest schooling you have accomplished when they are considering you for a scholarship, so if bad grades are an issue, go with a less expensive option than your first choice college and improve your study habits and grades before applying for scholarships from your priority school.

Your grade on your college entrance exam says a lot about you. Colleges use your entrance exam among other things to determine whether you would be a good fit for them or not. If you have an above average or exceptional score, you will be given priority consideration for a scholarship. Some colleges have a minimum college entrance exam score to even be considered for a scholarship. The college entrance exam you take will depend on the college you want to go to. Some colleges accept the SAT as your college entrance exam and some accept the ACT. The SAT is scored from 1 - 2,400. Over a million students take the SAT every year and on average, only 20 of them will get a perfect score of 2,400. A score of 2,100 or better puts you in the 90th percentile and generally gives you priority consideration for scholarships. The ACT is scored from 1 - 36, with 36 being a perfect score. A 30 or better usually allows you to be considered for scholarships, but a 33 or better will give you priority consideration. The nice thing about college entrance exams is that you can take them more than once and only your newest score is considered. That means that if you score lower than you would like on your college entrance exam, you can retake it as many times as you would like. There is a fee each time you take the test, but if you score higher and are given priority consideration for scholarships, then the fee is worth it.

Tip #2: Find your talents and refine them

One of the easiest ways to earn a scholarship is to be the best at something and being recognized for it. The work involved in being the best at something is the hard part. There are thousands upon thousands of scholarships awarded for talent, creativity, and ingenuity. Your job is to find your talents and refine them to where you stand out above the crowd.

Scholarships are awarded for everything from learning Klingon to winning a national science fair and everything in between. If you have a talent in sports, become the best and you could be rewarded with a full-ride scholarship to the college of your choice. If you are talented in art, create your masterpiece and enter it into art shows and you could be rewarded with a one-time scholarship of $25,000 or more and be offered a scholarship to a prestigious art school. If you are talented in music, dance, skateboarding, being a golf caddie, or any other number of things, work at it, refine it and you could be recognized and rewarded for your efforts with a great scholarship.

If you don't consider yourself talented in the normal things people consider talents, don't worry about it. Find something that interests you and become an expert in it. If you know everything there is to know about cameras and how they work, you could be recognized for it and be awarded a scholarship in film or photography. If something interests you, put in the effort to know everything about it or become very good at it and you will improve your chances for getting a scholarship a hundred fold. There are so many students out there who are just mediocre, or who only stick to what they study in school. Colleges are looking for students who will make something of themselves. If you do something great in the future, your educational institutions gain prestige. If they can envision you doing something great in the future because you are good at what you do now, they will give you a scholarship to entice you to attend their school.

Tip #3: Community service is key

Of all the scholarships out there, half of them you can't even be considered for if you haven't done any community service. There are scholarships awarded for community service itself, and there are scholarships that the qualifications have a community service element. When being considered for scholarships, community service is key. It can take you from just being considered, to being awarded.

Get involved with your community. There are opportunities everywhere. You could be a mentor, be a volunteer for city clean up, join a service club, volunteer at a homeless shelter or rest home, or get involved with your community in innumerable ways. Community service doesn't have to take much time either. A couple of hours a week for your entire high school career can really add up and can put you a cut above the rest of the scholarship applicants.

Some community service scholarships award thousands of dollars just for being a good person. If you are looking for a way to pay for school, community service scholarships could pay your way and then some. Get involved and get rewarded.

Tip #4: Be a well-rounded student

Most prestigious and lots of smaller scholarships require you show you have a balance in your school career of scholarly, athletic, and community service excellence. You don't have to be the best at any one thing, but you do have to be well-rounded. If you have outstanding achievements in all three areas, you are given priority consideration for scholarships. Colleges and universities like to have students attend them that are going to be involved in student life on campus. If you show that you are a leader in all areas, that you like to get involved, that you can balance study and play well, then you are probably going to be rewarded for it. Being well-rounded shows your school that they can rely on you to be a good citizen, that they won't be embarrassed by your behavior, and that you could be an ambassador to the community for them, so they see you as a good candidate for a college scholarship.

Tip #5: Toot your own horn, a little

Colleges and universities aren't always actively looking for students to give scholarships to. If you are too humble about your achievements, then you'll never be recognized and rewarded. When you are filling out scholarship applications, it's time to toot your own horn a little. A little humility goes a long way, but so does a good explanation of what you have done to deserve a scholarship.

Some awards that are worth getting you have to be nominated for. That means someone has to recognize what you are doing. This is particularly true with community service scholarships. You don't necessarily want to give an exhortation on how good you are, but if people ask, tell them what you are doing, invite them to participate or contribute to your cause. If someone asks you what you've been up to lately, don't respond with nothing. Let them know what you are doing and it may improve you chances for getting a college scholarship.