Helping Your Child Apply for Scholarships: A Parent’s Guide to Success

High school students have plenty on their plate: school, homework, extracurricular activities, and more. As they draw closer to college, they must add college and scholarship searches to their already long list of to-dos. For many students, this is overwhelming; and as a parent, you’ll find that they need a little encouragement – and guidance. The Education Data Initiative reports that over 1.7 million scholarships are awarded annually, but only 7% of students receive them. So how can you ensure your child is successful?

Setup a Scholarship Search Strategy

Many students and parents begin the scholarship search assuming it’s all a matter of luck – or merit. But like any other prize, winning scholarships has more to do with the amount of work you’re willing to commit. Students need to start the scholarship search sooner rather than later. While most scholarships will start being awarded during the junior and senior years of high school, there are opportunities that are open to children as young as six! Starting the scholarship search early allows your family to invest more time and resources into the process, and spreading the application process out over the years sets you all up for better success. The more scholarships you apply to, the better your chances of winning; and a student who has been applying for years versus a few months may walk away with more scholarship money on hand. It’s also helpful to focus the search on scholarships your child qualifies for, which can be done by using Fastweb. Our free scholarship matching service enables students to see scholarships by state, field of interest – or major, academic performance, extracurricular involvement, employment, and more.

Help with Application Preparation

The best way to set your child up for success is to create an organized scholarship search and application system. This can be done several ways, but keeping tabs on their process will enable you to provide gentle reminders, ask for specific updates, and share opportunities that you find as well.

Organizing the Required Documents

While every scholarship is different, many require the same components: a form, essays, transcripts, etc. To save time on applications, keeping those often-used documents in one place, like a folder on your child’s desktop or a shared Google Drive, may be helpful. You may also want to keep a shared spreadsheet of scholarships. This spreadsheet can be updated as deadlines are posted, scholarships are applied for, and notifications are emailed. PRO TIP: Organize your scholarship spreadsheet by name, URL, deadline, application components, and a final column that indicates whether your child applied and the date they submitted their application.

Helping Craft a Strong Application

A strong scholarship application does three things: it follows directions, it’s submitted before the deadline, and it stands out from other applications. The first two seem obvious, but little mistakes can take your child’s application out of the running before they’ve even started. Another reminder your child may need is to tailor their essays and responses to each application. Their strong application may also be thrown out if they mistakenly reference another scholarship provider because they’ve recycled an essay. Any scholarship application that is tailored to the scholarship to which they’re applying will stick out as a worthy potential scholarship recipient.

Giving Encouragement During the Application Process

The fact that only 7% of students win scholarships tells you one thing: it’s hard to apply for and win scholarships! It is one of those life experiences that doesn’t appear to be paying off – until it does.

Staying Focused and Motivated

We have lots of expert advice at Fastweb: the more scholarships you apply to, the better your chances of winning. You’ll never win if you don’t apply! A dollar won is one less dollar you’ll have to borrow for your education. While these may seem like fluff, they’re true! When your child feels as if they’re putting in the work for no reason, remind them of what is true about applying for and winning scholarships. It takes perseverance and patience. It may also be helpful to encourage them that the bulk of scholarship money comes from colleges and universities. They will likely be awarded merit-based scholarships when they apply for admission. Outside scholarships are won to help them meet the gap between merit and financial aid and what a college costs. Finally, remind your child that applying for college scholarships doesn’t end after high school. There are thousands of scholarships for college students, so they can keep applying through their senior year of college.

Managing Rejections

They may meet rejection after rejection after rejection. Be positive and encourage them to keep trying. Most of our previous scholarship winners will tell you that they applied to hundreds of opportunities before they won. Giving up on the scholarship search may lead them to give up on other pursuits in life. Being persistent in the scholarship application process will instill great life lessons for them: consistency is key, and they should never give up on a good thing.

Understand How Scholarships Fit into the Financial Plan

Scholarships are just one component of the financial plan to pay for college. There are a variety of other sources to pull from, like: • Grants • Work study • Education tax benefits • Savings • Student loans Your child doesn’t need to win a full-ride scholarship to pay for school, although that would be nice too. But the reality is that help will come from other places as well. For instance, CollegeBoard reported that the average financial aid package for students consisted of $10,680 in grants, $3,860 in federal loans, $850 in education tax credits and deductions, and $90 in Federal Work-Study.

Common Scholarship Application Mistakes

Little mistakes can cost your child a chance of winning a scholarship. It cannot be emphasized enough that they should proof their application multiple times and ensure they’ve followed all directions. Scholarship providers will not look at any application that is submitted after the deadline, especially those that had to be submitted by a certain time, i.e. 11:59 p.m. It also makes their job easier when they find a scholarship essay that is riddled with typos, bad grammar, and incomplete thoughts. They will simply throw it out without completing their review! Give your child a better chance at winning a scholarship by reviewing their applications. You can be another set of eyes on their form, essays, and more. If they have questions or want further guidance, direct them to their guidance counselor or trusted teachers and mentors. They can offer advice and insights that you may not be able to. Finally, if they have questions about a scholarship application or how scholarship winnings can be used, direct them to the scholarship provider or financial aid administrators. These professionals would rather answer your questions beforehand than reject your child’s scholarship application because of mistakes.

The Parents' Role in the Scholarship Application Process

As a parent, you shouldn’t be filling out your child’s scholarship applications or writing their essays, but it also shouldn’t be a hands-off approach. Your child needs your help and encouragement. This can be accomplished by searching for scholarships too, proofreading their applications and essays, and encouraging them to persist when they receive rejection. The process will be easier for them if they feel someone is walking beside them through it all. Start your journey by signing up for your own Fastweb account. At Fastweb, you can create a Parent Account that enables you to search for scholarships on your child’s behalf. With this account, you can share scholarship opportunities that you think are a great fit for them. Sign up now.