College is increasingly expensive, both public and private, in state and out, costs are rising for students. While many colleges do offer some financial aid, and some have full-ride scholarships, these are only available to some students, leaving many struggling to afford steep tuition prices. Independent scholarships are small, but the money in them is far less contested, and they are a great source of funding for college.
In this article, we’ll explore the world of independent scholarships, and show you how to find and apply for them. Paying for college is always a challenge, but these scholarships can make a big difference. Let’s get started!
What Are Independent Scholarships?
Most scholarship funding comes from federal grants and colleges themselves. These grants are often for thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, and are very heavily competitive. A comparatively very small amount of funding comes from independent scholarships. These are scholarships run by anybody who isn’t the government or a university.
These scholarships must be found and applied to separately, and are often for small sums, a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. These are offered by businesses, charities, trusts, non profit foundations, and local organizations, often with the explicit purpose of furthering their mission. A student interested in studying agriculture may find scholarships for students in exactly that scenario offered by a farmer’s association, for instance.
Because these scholarships are so small, they are often overlooked. These funds can add up however, and can significantly ease the burden of paying for college expenses. You may need to apply to a great number of these scholarships to do so, but since competition is less, it is easier to win some funding this way.
In addition, scholarship awards can be listed on your resume and under honors on the Common App, and are seen as a great third-party endorsement of your credentials when applying to colleges (and other scholarships). In this way, being awarded one scholarship can help you win even more.
How to Find Independent Scholarships
This is the steepest barrier, especially for the more niche scholarships. These are often not well known or publicized, and is a major reason why they are less competitive. There are a number of ways to find these scholarships:
Your High School Counselor
Part of your counselor’s job in advising students is being aware of local college scholarships, those offered by businesses and charities in your town. You will generally compete with other students in your school for these scholarships, as most will not be well publicized outside of your geographic region. At the same time, they are often not a great source for scholarships offered outside of your immediate area. Depending on how overworked they are, they may also not have much time to devote to scholarship help, as many school counselors are overburdened, through no fault of their own.
Scholarship Databases
There are a number of aggregator services which collect independent scholarships. These often require you to create an account to use, and will harvest your data, but are a reasonable source of scholarships. Their internal search functions are not always the best, but can let you narrow down scholarships that you are uniquely qualified for.
Due to their ease of use, however, scholarships in these databases are often more competitive, as many students use them to find independent scholarships. These are still less competitive than college-level grants, but more so than other options.
Research
This is the most difficult option, but also the most fruitful. Begin by writing down a list of all your traits; academic interests, activities, demographics, career aspirations. Then search for scholarships for each. There are a lot of niche scholarships out there, often not well advertised, and you would be amazed at what you qualify for.
Finally, your parent’s employer may have scholarship opportunities for employees and their families. This varies greatly by field and profession, but it’s worth seeing whether any are offered. These are again often small, but every bit helps.
How to Apply for Independent Scholarships
These scholarships all have their own applications, each with its own components. In general though, they require:
- Transcripts
- Resume
- Standardized test scores
- Letters of recommendation
- Essays
This parallels, in many ways, what you are asked for when you apply for colleges, and the traits scholarships are looking for are often quite similar. In general, they want the following from applicants:
- Academic proficiency: Scholarships want to fund students who will go on to put the money to good use, and who are well positioned to succeed in college. Your academic performance is a marker for this.
- Need and/or merit: These scholarships are based in some way on your demonstrated need or merit for the scholarship, and you must meet their benchmarks in each case to win it.
- Fit for the mission: Scholarships are awarded to students who fit the mission of the group awarding them, and they want to see through your application how you fit in with their ideals.
As with college applications, the biggest difference you can make is with your essays, as this is where you can address the scholarship committees directly, and show off how your own background speaks to the mission of their scholarship.
As with college essays, however, you will be able to reuse many of the essays you need to write. While each scholarship has their own mission, many have similar ideals. Essays on your academic interests, community involvement, and your passions and values are all common, and will only need to be mildly edited between applications.
The goal for all of them is to make sure they speak to the mission of the scholarship. Some of these are general, seeking to support broad causes, while others are incredibly narrow. Scholarships aimed at specific academic fields or extracurriculars should revolve heavily around your participation in those.
Letters of Recommendation
Some scholarships want letters from teachers, others from mentors, and some want both. You should have a broad pool of potential letter writers, ask them early, and let them know requests for letters will come in periodically as you apply for scholarships. Make sure to ask at least 6-8 weeks before letters are due, in order to have respect for your letter writers’ time.
For advice on getting great letters of recommendation generally, see this article.
Interviews
Some scholarships have interviews as part of the application process. These are generally only offered to finalists, and are somewhat similar to college interviews, though they are far more impactful to whether you end up getting the scholarship. These are generally only used by more competitive scholarships.
When to Apply for Independent Scholarships
These scholarships open irregularly, though they cluster in the fall and spring of your senior year. Some are open to younger students, others during the summer. Whenever you begin researching scholarships, we recommend creating a spreadsheet which records when each is due, and what it requires, in order to keep track. This is especially true if you are applying to many scholarships, as details often get lost otherwise.
The scholarships available in the fall can conflict with your college applications, though this is another reason to begin your college applications early. You can reuse the stories and frameworks from your college essays; scholarships won’t see them, and reusing work you’ve already done is just good sense.
Final Thoughts
College is expensive, and we’ve written before about finding financial aid and scholarships. There are a lot of aid dollars out there, the trick is finding them. We hope this article has given you new insight into the world of independent scholarships, and what is required to apply for them.
Of course, scholarship applications are a lot of work, and can cause plenty of stress. At Ivy Scholars, we’ve mastered the organization needed to tackle every aspect of college applications, from keeping your essays on track to managing due dates, and the same holds true for scholarships. If you want to hear how we can help you with both, schedule a free consultation today. We’ve helped hundreds of students achieve their collegiate dreams, and are always happy to hear from you.
