scholarship portfolio how to help yourself pay for college

SCHOLARSHIP Portfolio

How to help yourself pay for college

Today’s AgendaCreating A Scholarship Portfolio

Contents of A Scholarship Portfolio

A brag sheet/activity logUnofficial/ Official TranscriptsForm letter requesting a letter of

recommendationDrafting a personal essayFAFSAWorking on scholarships searches

Brag SheetSee handout/ attachment to begin a draft

of your brag sheet.

Accomplishments/Leadership/ Community ServiceYour accomplishments, leadership experiences, and

community service can be a critical tool in helping you showcase your strengths -- and separate yourself from all the others applicants with similar GPAs, class standings, and SAT scores.  

Take the time now to identify and document all your past and current experiences. College admissions officers often talk about the importance of being highly involved in a small group of organizations over an extended period of time, ideally with leadership in at least one of the groups. And remember to document specifics about your activities and the successes of the organizations -- such as if you helped raise money to assist hurricane victims. (And whenever possible, quantify those accomplishments.)  

Finally, don't forget all those hours of community service. Many colleges are placing a greater emphasis on encouraging students to reach out to the local communities -- and showing that commitment while in high school is important.  

Activity: Personal EssayTake 10 minutes to write about:

1) Your top 2 leadership/service activities of high school. What was most significant and why?

2) New activities you want to start working on this quarter/this summer.

Scholarship SearchesScholarships are typically available from several sources:

The colleges you will apply toLocal/ community scholarshipsNational scholarshipsCorporate scholarshipsPrivate scholarships

Scholarships cont’dColleges/ Universities1) Search on the website of these individual colleges/ universities2) Independent schools (non state schools):

www.icwashington.org/scholarships/3) Google: (name of community college) foundation scholarships

Easiest to winUsually reviewed by college instructors, staff, and alumni Targeted to students who have not typically accessed

collegeTell kids they must apply for this when they register for

collegeDue the year before they enter college usually (high school

seniors)

Scholarship Searches cont’dLocal/community scholarships

1) Search local organizations such as Kiwanis clubs, Rotary clubs, YMCA, ELKS club, Veteran’s associations, etc.

Scholarship Searches cont’d

National Scholarships Corporate Scholarships

www.fastweb.comBig name

scholarshipsNational

competitionsOften for high

achieving students

Large corporations such as Coca Cola, Nordstroms, Walmart, Target, etc.

Search their individual website or do a Google search

Scholarships cont’dPrivate Scholarships and search engines to

find themwww.thewashboard.org

Additional Resourceshttp://www.wsac.wa.gov/PayingForCollege/

FinancialAidProgramsWA based financial aid programsTarget students like working parents, Native

Americans, vocational/trade programs, and middle school students.