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!