Readers of a certain age will remember those motivational posters that corporate America plastered around their cubical-filled offices in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. I always hated those things. So, when I worked in corporate America right out of college, I put up my own “demotivational” sign in my cubicle which read, “Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now.”
I’m a natural procrastinator. However, procrastination really is the enemy when it comes to winning scholarships. In fact, despite the fact that my son won his first scholarship as a high school junior, I often tell people that I wished we had started even sooner. I know that he would have won even more scholarships if we had.
When it comes to scholarships, I see two types of procrastination and both are costing students and families money.
Scholarship Procrastination Problem #1
Parents are waiting far too long to begin the process of encouraging their students to apply for scholarships. Just yesterday, I had a parent email me asking for help in funding their $50,000 college budget shortfall for their high school senior! While this student can certainly win some scholarships between now and graduating college, the truth is that they have missed the bulk of their scholarship opportunities.
There are many reasons why students should begin applying for scholarships as early as possible:
Obviously, the whole reason students apply for scholarships is to get money for college. It just makes sense that the earlier a student starts with scholarships, the more money they can earn. Check out this Scholarship GPS student who won a $5000 scholarship as a high school sophomore. This win brings her total scholarship winnings to $15,000!
Winning a scholarship is an excellent resume enhancer. This can be especially helpful for students trying to stand out in their college applications. This brings me to the next reason for applying for scholarships early…
The scholarship and college application processes are very similar. Colleges and scholarships often look for similar qualities in their candidates and even ask students to write similar essays. Students who have written scholarship essays and completed scholarship applications are far better prepared to apply to college compared to other students.
One reason students who apply for scholarships at an early age are better prepared for the college application process is that they have gained experience writing essays, especially essays about themself. The only way to become a better writer is to write. Scholarships give students an opportunity to become better writers. As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect.”
Do you want your student to succeed in college? If so, they should apply for scholarships. Students who put in the time and effort to apply for scholarships have “skin in the game.” They have made sacrifices to fund college, and thus take their college experience much more seriously than students who are using student loans or students who have their college paid for by parents.
Successfully applying for scholarships is a skill that takes time to master. During a student’s senior year of high school, they will have literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of scholarship opportunities. However, students who wait until their senior year (or worse, until the spring of their senior year) to apply for scholarships don’t give themselves the time it takes to master the application process. So, not only do procrastinators miss those earlier scholarship opportunities, but they are also less likely to win the scholarships they do apply for.
Scholarship Procrastination Problem #2
Too many students wait until the last minute to complete their scholarship applications. None of us produce our best results when we are rushed. Sure, spelling and grammar issues can be quickly corrected by computer (assuming the student remembers to do so), but it takes time to brainstorm ideas and eloquently express them in an essay.
While it is true that students who have been applying for scholarships for a longer period of time will have a body of essays that they can pull from for their last-minute scholarship applications, that doesn’t eliminate the other problem of waiting until the last minute…
Life happens. Students get sick, there are family emergencies, and websites go down. By waiting until the last minute, students run the risk of missing the deadline because of unforeseen circumstances. The last 24 hours before the submission deadline are when scholarship websites see the most traffic. More than once I have seen scholarship websites go down during that last-minute rush. Scholarship providers are under no obligation to extend the deadline, even if their website fails. In fact, here is the language one scholarship posts on their website: “[The scholarship provider] assumes no responsibility for an applicants last minute technical submission issues.”
Time Is Not On Your Side
There are two ways in which parents, guardians, and students can better leverage their time to earn scholarships to pay for college.
First, start applying for scholarships now. There are scholarship opportunities for elementary school, middle school, and first—and second-year high school students. While the volume of scholarships available to younger students is not as great as it is for seniors, getting into the habit of applying for scholarships at a young age gives students the practice they need to succeed later on. Plus, they might actually win some money to put away for college!
If you have a student in the high school Class of 2026, now is the perfect time for them to start their scholarship journey. In fact, there is a FULL TUITION SCHOLARSHIP that is open for high school juniors right now! The early application deadline for that scholarship is in about 4 weeks. That gives the student enough time to put together a solid application. Plus, there are other benefits to submitting by the early deadline, which you can learn more about in my interview with Amie Lucas, Executive Director at the Bryan Cameron Education Foundation here (the interview is from 2024. so please ignore the deadline dates mentioned in the interview):
If your student meets the requirements to apply for the Bryan Cameron Scholarship and you would like someone to coach them through the rest of their high school scholarship journey, check out the Class of 2026 Scholarship Navigator program. Space is limited, so don’t delay!
Or, if you have a younger high school student, check out the Scholarship Coaching for High School Freshmen and Sophomores program, so your student can get an even longer head start on funding their college dreams!
Secondly, encourage your students to apply for scholarships regularly. The most common question I get from parents is, “How much time should my student spend applying for scholarships?” Obviously, the answer depends on the student's age. For young students, just having them apply for one or two scholarships per year is fantastic. By middle school and the first and second years of high school, I’d love to see a student applying for a new scholarship at least every three months.
However, by the middle of a student’s junior year in high school, I think a good rule of thumb is that a student should spend EITHER 30 minutes per day or 3 hours per week working on scholarships. Of course, more is better. But for most students, this allows them to have enough time to still excel in school, participate in extracurricular activities, and have a social life.
Are You Too Late?
I do have some good news for those of you who are late getting started on their scholarship journey. While students should start applying for scholarships as early as possible, there are still scholarship opportunities all the way through college. In fact, I’m scheduling time with the parent of the high school senior with the $50,000 budget shortfall that I mentioned previously, to give them some guidance on how they can find and win scholarships.
So, the only time it’s really too late to apply for scholarships is once you have graduated college. So, no matter where you are in your educational career, start applying for scholarships today!
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