Everyone wants to save money, and many students have the opportunity to do so through scholarships. Scholarships provide money to students, which they can then use to fund their college education. As the cost of tuition continues to rise, scholarships have become essential for those interested in pursuing higher education. According to Prosperity For America, the average amount of money a scholarship can potentially save is estimated to be around $7,400.
Yet, many miss out on such opportunities because they are unaware of scholarships or do not recognize them as crucial to college applications. Students end up paying more for tuition, unaware of the slew of available financial opportunities that they have access to.
And, if the student is able to qualify for a scholarship, or even multiple scholarships, they have the ability to reduce their college financial burden.
Scholarships can be awarded from many places such as family, big companies, local businesses, and even Edison High. Students have a variety of choices when picking scholarships to apply to. These include being awarded for merit, grades, test scores, portfolios, athletic performance, and volunteer work.
Scholarships can also be offered to select students from their colleges. Alyson Zhang ‘22 is a former EHS student, for example, who received financial aid from Stevens Institute of Technology.
“Stevens is a private school and so the tuition is a lot higher than most public schools,” said Zhang, “but they give a lot of money to women in STEM and other student leaders as well.”
One type of scholarship, other than those provided by colleges and corporations, is a merit-based scholarship, awarded based on a student’s academic performance. For example, juniors who score well on the PSAT/NMSQT exam can qualify for the National Merit Scholarship.
“Merit-based scholarships provide a fantastic impetus for students to achieve more in their academic and extracurricular lives,” said Agastya Kalagarla ‘24, who has been awarded a scholarship for his PSAT/NMSQT performance.
Oftentimes, students fail to apply early to scholarships, a simple yet crucial step in the scholarship process. By delaying their scholarship application, students miss out on this one-time opportunity.
“Meet your deadlines,” said Ms. Eleanor Rolon, a college counselor at EHS.
Scholarships are highly competitive, so it is important students present themselves early on to highlight their achievements, accomplishments, and personality.
“I’ve applied to one and I didn’t get it, but I didn’t put much work into it. It really depends on the amount of work you put in and if you actually apply for them,” said Julie Pien ’24.
While there are many available scholarships, the amount of time spent on an opportunity not guaranteed, is off putting to many.
“Applying isn’t simple. You have to write essays or answer prompts to apply,” said Pranav Dharayan ‘24.
However, there are ways to increase chances of receiving scholarship money.
“Apply for local scholarships. Apply to as many as possible. And, apply early on,” said Abdullah Rizvi ‘23, who has won scholarships through Edison High and his parents’ workplace, and received financial aid from Princeton University.
One way in which students can find scholarships opportunities is consulting with college counselors at their local schools. All it takes is scheduling an appointment, and students can be made aware of what’s going on with scholarships and other opportunities.
“Definitely get in touch with your college counselor, they can give you resources. There are a ton of resources online, whole books you can get that have just a ton of scholarships for the year,” said Alayna Petroski ‘24.
The scholarship journey can be taken by anyone, with a simple search on the internet. One such website for research is Going Merry, which provides a variety of scholarships. The Edison High website also has a database containing links to scholarship websites. Another source for help is the college counselors, Ms. Laurie Jammal and Ms. Eleanor Rolan, who are housed in rooms 101A and 101B for any college-related questions students may have.