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You Don't Need to Be a Straight-A Student to Win a Scholarship


Believe it or not but you don't need to have high grades or test scores to win a scholarship. In fact, there are thousands of awards that have nothing to do with your academics.

To help you uncover some of these scholarship opportunities ask yourself these questions:

1. What are your career goals? What kind of job do you want to have after college?
2. What are your hobbies? What do you do on the weekends?
3. What skills or talents do you have?
4. What extracurricular activities do you enjoy?


How do these questions help you find scholarships? Because your answers to these questions will help clue you in on where to look. If we were answering these questions here is how we would use the answers to find scholarships:

1. Based on a career goal we would look at professional associations that support these careers. For example, if we wanted to enter nursing then looking at website of the American Nurses Association would help us find scholarships for students studying nursing.

2. Most hobbies (from woodworking to hot rodding) have affinity organizations. For example if we loved hiking and nature outdoors then the Sierra Club may offer scholarship opportunities. If we were an avid amateur radio operator then the National Association for Amateur Radio would be a good place to start.

3. Neither of us are good singers. But imagining that we were talented in the arts such as performing arts then we would look at organizations that support the arts. Most communities have Performing Arts Centers and many offer scholarships to students in the community who are talented artistically.

4. Whether we are a member of the debate society or the Leo club, by checking with the national organizations we may uncover a scholarship. For example, members of the National Honor Society (NHS) can apply for scholarships from the national chapter of NHS as well as their local chapter. The same is true for many organizations and even Greek (i.e., fraternities and sororities) societies.

Never Give Up Looking for Scholarships

There are so many scholarships out there that everyone can find at least a few (often more) that fit their specific background, talents and achievements. And no you don’t need to be a brainiac to win. (Although if you are then don’t ignore those opportunities – think Mensa whose tagline is "the high IQ society.")

Happy scholarship hunting!