Ask me about consulting!

Do you need help? I'm always available for personal consulting over Skype, phone, or e-mail. I can edit your essays and help you create a knockout application!

Do you want more guidance than just my scholarship book? Try my 400-page scholarship course developed for Minnesota College Funding Strategies! It is full of worksheets, checklists, lessons, and humor too -- all to help you become a scholarship winning machine!

Scholarship Myth #10: Apply for as many scholarships as possible

Myth: Apply for as many scholarships as possible. 

This is a certain way to get you burned out. Instead, be careful about where you put your energy and time, evaluating each opportunity and scholarship to make sure your time is used as well and efficiently as possible. Which are you likely to get? Which are you not? Ask questions and evaluate responsibly just as you’ll do later on as you apply for jobs, choose classes in college, and so much more.

Scholarship Myth #9: Most scholarships are reoccuring

Myth: Most scholarships are reoccurring. 

Most scholarships are actually one time. You have to persist again and again to get scholarships, but that's awesome, because it teaches you perseverance! There's a whole art to winning scholarships: know which scholarships are reoccurring, which require you to apply again, which you can't apply for at all. If it worked and you won it once, it might work (and you could win) it again the next year!

And remember that for life -- keep track of your successes and repeat them if possible!

Scholarship Myth #8: Scholarships are 100% free money

Myth: Scholarships are completely free money. 

Not always. Sometimes you need to pay taxes on them if they qualify as income—and sometimes they do! Tax credits and deductions can also help you make money, and you don't even have to write an essay for it! Talk to Minnesota College Funding Strategies or the IRS to work you through this process. Learning about taxes now will help you for years to come!

Scholarship Myth #7: Be involved in as much as possible

Myth: The more activities I’m involved in, the better. 

We worship burnout and overcommitment in America, but thankfully, many scholarships don’t. Be involved in many activities you love, for sure, but it’s just as impressive to be extremely talented and involved in just a few activities as it is to be in a dozen or more. Don’t burn out now just to please someone else—and don’t do it in the future, either. Focus on what you love!

Scholarship Myth #6: You have to have amazing grades

Myth: You have to have amazing grades. 

There’s more to life and scholarships than grades! Scholarship providers want to fund real, passionate people. Many scholarships are topic oriented and have nothing to do with grades, and some even specifically require you to have a low grade point average! Don’t let grades or “perceived” success hold you back, whether here or later on in life!

Scholarship Myth #5: You have to be a great writer

Myth: You have to be a great writer. 

Writing scholarship essays isn't like your traditional Comp II essay, so even if you don't like those essays, you can still be successful in the scholarship essay. This means you don’t need to be the most talented writer, but you do have to be persuasive, organized, passionate, and understand your subject. This alone will get you far in the writing world, no matter what you have to write!

Scholarship Myth #4: You can be clueless about your life.

Myth: You don’t have to know what you want to do with your life. 

Scholarship providers are looking to fund passionate people who know why what they’re doing is their heart passion and is going to change the world. That means, if you're clueless, you're not going to be doing yourself any favors.

Knowing those two points -- why what you're doing is your heart passion and is going to change others -- in any job, activity, or hobby for the rest of your life will make you an invaluable asset, so find out what your passions are now!

Scholarship Myth #3: It's Easy to Get Scholarships

Myth: It’s easy to get scholarships. 

Nope. Winning takes time and effort, like most good things in life—but it is efficient. Meaning, applying for scholarships is time consuming, but it's worth the time. This is unlike many things in life that are both time consuming and not worth the time!

Telling the difference between the two and knowing what is truly efficient and worth your time is a valuable lesson. Scholarships teach you how to make those distinctions, which is a skill that will help you for the rest of your life!

#2 Scholarship Myth: Rely on Your High School/College

Myth: You can find all the scholarships you need at your high school/college.

Just like FastWeb, you need to take advantage of those lists but not rely on them, as they won’t fund all of college for you. These lists are very limited, not to mention have a lot of people from your school applying for them!

Don't rely on those list, because finding your own scholarships teaches you a skill you’ll use for the rest of your life: learn from others but never let what others have done limit you.

#1 Scholarship Myth: Go to FastWeb

You'd be better off never going to FastWeb than relying on it 100%. There are simply too many applicants on the site! Not only will relying on it not get you enough money, it teaches you to rely on others for funding your college and life. You need to take the responsibility to find scholarships on your own. Learning this will help you beyond college!

Be a person worth investing scholarships in

Do you realize you're an investment to scholarship providers? You are, and you need to prove to them you're a good one.

In your essays and application materials, if you just talk about your awards, your 13-point life plan, or your intended college degree, you’re not going to get many scholarships. Why? Because everyone can come up with a life plan and goals, and everyone can choose a degree.

Make sure you have everything exactly in order with your 13-point life plan. But don't let it control you -- show how helping you will help others and be an investment in the community. (Image courtesy of http://1389blog.com/2011/06/25/caturday-trollcats/).

Instead, scholarship providers are giving scholarships because they want to help people—and so they want to help people who are going to help other people. Show them how investing in you is going to be a tremendous return on investment, so that by helping you, their money will actually be helping the world.

That way, they'll want to help you fund college through scholarships.