Strategic Scholar Podcast

In this episode, Nicole Duvall communications director at the American Fire Sprinker Association discusses their annual quiz scholarships. The application should take less than 20 minutes and winners are chosen randomly. The high school scholarship has about 50,000 competitors and the college scholarship has about 25,000. High School seniors that graduate can apply to both.

Tackling a lot of scholarships can be very difficult, especially if you have classes and a job. However, I found that batch processing scholarships helps complete the process faster. This means completing several scholarships around a particular theme in an effort to reuse sources. This episode discusses two very similar scholarships and how batch processing can help complete them or scholarships like them.

DoSomething.org is on a mission to inspire young people to participate in their communities, give back and ultimately make a difference. In addition to helping students, the organization hosts about 25 scholarships a year. Marissa, who does marketing for the organization offers advice to students working to be great applicants. “It really comes down to the right intentions,” she said. “We want … to get young people excited to be agents of change. I would say that … the best way to not just win the scholarship but to be a leader in your community and a great volunteer is to just have the right intentions… We want people who want to make a change.” DoSomething.org hosts three to five different campaigns with scholarships every month, and participating generally consists of four steps:  Sign Up on the website for a campaign at DoSomething.org/scholarships. The organization will send information related to the mission and how the experience should work. Next, the issue is explained so applicants can understand t

This episode explores four common grammatical errors. 1. Passive Voice 2. Split Infinitive 3. Comma after an introductory phrase 4. Avoid prepositions at the end of a sentence. Regardless of rules, clarity is the overall goal.

D.J. Nunez, president of IAPMO, discusses strategies for the IWISH scholarship, which is hosted annually. He said he hopes to see quality research and creativity in this year's applicants.

Mark Kantrowitz, Vice President of Strategy and Publisher at Cappex, discusses student debt, and provides practical tips for students looking to apply to more scholarship opportunities. “Financial aid is like speaking another language,” he said. “We boil it down to what you really need to know.” He recommends students to understand the different between the sticker price, net cost and net price. The sticker price is the total cost of attendance including room and board, textbooks and transportation. This number can be intimidating especially when some universities charge in excess of $60,000 annually in tuition and fees. In contrast, the net cost subtracts the financial aid costs, but Kantrowitz explains that this number doesn’t always provide the most accurate picture because net cost generally includes student loans.  “Loans don’t cut college cost, they spread out over time, and they increase costs because they have interest,” Kantrowitz said. “I prefer net price.” He explains this number is the total gift

 January 23 marks the first day of individual tax filing season. This is a great time to talk about the two educational tax credits; The American Opportunity Tax Credit (previously known as the HOPE tax credit) and the Lifetime Learning Credit. These two have very different eligibility requirements, and familiarizing yourself with the credits will be beneficial during tax season.

The new FASFA requires prior-prior year in 2017. This episode we talk about the benefits and disadvantages of the new system. We also discuss tools that make the form much faster.

One fast route to disqualification is failing to follow the directions meticulously, especially when a scholarship has as many directions as this week's feature scholarship. There are a few things to note as you read the directions such as deadline, demographic, and submission specifications. This episode we discuss strategies related to directions and how to tackle this great scholarship opportunity.  

Brainstorming is an important, and often overlooked, part of the writing or creating process. It is easy to just run with the first idea rather than explore a variety of options. This episode outlines six brainstorming strategies, and highlights the Frame Your Future scholarship competition.

This episode discusses five steps to editing essays: reading the content aloud, cutting irrelevant information, analyzing words, evaluating research, and keenly reviewing the introduction and conclusion. This week's feature scholarship is a topic scholarship and it is hosted by expert exchange.

Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institution and GE host an annual $10,000 scholarship for high school seniors. One component requires applicants to succinctly express career and educational goals. This episode we discuss four steps to conduct in the goal-making process.

Retention rate is an important number for colleges, and applicants for the scholarship hosted by Transtutors must write an 800-word essay on their perspective on why students drop out, and what can be done to prevent it. Retention rates are based on the number of students who return the the university after the first year or first semester. This scholarship can be tackled using a variety of strategies including highlighting several different reasons students drop out, conducting an in-depth analysis on one reason or looking at common universities or school-types that have lower retention rates. Take Action: 1.) Improve research skills by finding quality peer-reviewed sources. 2.) If you are in high school, create a college plan to reduce the statistical probability of dropping out. The deadline for this scholarship is Feb. 15 and the award is $1,000.

Every one has busy seasons, but it is important to keep scholarships a priority. Otherwise, it is easy for one week of not applying to a scholarship to turn into two weeks. The goal of this episode is to encourage you to consistently work toward your scholarship goals even while finals are looming ahead.

There are some fun scholarships out there, and you may be qualified to compete for some pretty interesting ones such as duck calling competitions, dorm waivers for twins, or just writing about how the world would be different without the internet.

This scholarship is hosted by papercheck.com and is a $1,000 award. The scholarship requires a 1,000 word minimum essay convincing others to volunteer in their communities. This episode discusses strategies on how to write a persuasive essay that will keep the judges engaged and that will flow logically. Again, this episode also continues to emphasize the importance of volunteering for scholarship opportunities.

GIVA Scholarship is an experience-focused scholarship due Dec. 1. It requires applicants to discuss their dreams, career goals, personal ambitions and how they plan to change the world. This episode discusses how to tackle this scholarship strategically.

Experience-focused scholarships are all about telling a good story. It is your story that wins scholarships. It doesn't require extensive research like topic scholarships, but it does require reflections and deep thought. This episode features three different experience-focused scholarships all linked with a common theme.

This episode explores three different topic scholarships opportunities to tackle before the end of the Fall semester. Topic scholarships require research, writing, and editing. The purpose of the scholarship marathon is to encourage students to get out there and start applying.

Creative content scholarships include graphic design projects, poetry, photography and video. These scholarships can take many hours to complete, and applicants should pursue creative content scholarships that complete strengths.