Get that cash: Seniors seek scholarships for college

With the early application deadline approaching on Nov. 1, OH seniors are also seeking scholarships, which is crucial for many. Helpfully, there are scholarship opportunities (some up to $50k) for which students may apply.

“I have applied to currently around 15 scholarships through different websites, College Board, and ones that my counselor recommended. I plan on submitting for many more when I have more time to fill out the applications,” said OH senior Taylor Yackley, who is already planning for her future as she is pursuing nursing.

Students may have already planned ahead and figured out the college they want to attend. With this choice comes great responsibility for financial issues such as the cost of tuition, housing, books, and extra curriculars.

“College is very expensive. Financial aid oftentimes will only cover a portion of college costs. Scholarship applications may take a few hours to complete, but if you are awarded the scholarship, you just made hundreds to thousands of dollars by spending your time applying,” said OH counselor Emily Wiencek, someone who has assisted many students with the college process.

There are hundreds of scholarship and financial aid opportunities available. You can find many of these under the colleges you are interested in or with your counselor.

Scholarships that are available as of right now are the merit-based scholarships. These scholarships are provided by the universities and are often rewarded for academic achievements and success in students. Most of these types of scholarships only require you to have a minimum GPA of 3.0.

“The merit-based scholarships can be tens of thousands of dollars but local ones may range from $100 – $1000 per scholarship,” Wiencek says.

Merit scholarships are simple to apply for and the reward is absolutely worth the shot. Students can apply for these scholarships where they usually seek scholarships, such as counselor’s offices, Naviance online platform, scholarship web pages, and even university websites.

If students are involved in an honors society, they are also in luck, as many scholarships are available for people involved in these programs.

“And then there’s a couple of specific ones, like honor society scholarships [[…]] That’s a list that we keep updated throughout the year,” OH counselor April Ponte said.

Students may also want to check out the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship. With a reward of as much as $55,000, this scholarship reward can be a “holy grail” for people who are seeking financial aid. It is required to have a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.75 to be eligible for this scholarship.

According to both OH counselors, students don’t have to score big with a merit or huge organization scholarship; students may consider smaller local scholarships that are often featured in raffles or events. These prizes can vary from $100-$1k.

“Even if a student got a scholarship of like $500 [[…]] it might not seem like a lot, but that could cover the cost of paying for any books or materials you need for a semester or even for a year,” Ponte explained.

Every student deserves the chance to be able to save money on their road to college; there is an opportunity for everyone no matter their GPA, SAT, or financial status.

“I’m applying for all of these scholarships because, frankly, college is really, really expensive. Even with larger merit scholarships, college still is tens of thousands of dollars,” said senior Taylor Tackley.

“Scholarships are the best way for me to go to college, as well as the best way for me to make a smart financial decision to which college I will go to,” she added.

Ariel Raygoza- Photography Editor

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I am a senior at OHS, I am currently involved in the Panther Credit Union, 42Fifty, and Youth and Government. You can contact me at 30881537@students.sd308.org.

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