It’s easy to overlook the small scholarships. Schools and organizations advertise these monster scholarships that will pay full tuition, housing, even stipends. And virtually every student that is even remotely eligible will apply. But the small scholarships are often overlooked because teens don’t think they’re worth the effort.
But kids and parents should definitely pay attention to these. These small scholarships, offered by civic organizations, churches, and so forth, may not have many applicants. They may also be limited to certain geography, membership, race or gender, which further limits the candidate pool.
These small scholarships add up, and the math is simple. Ten $500 scholarships equals $5,000. And some of these small scholarships are annually renewable. If you use the scenario above, over four years the sum total of awards is $20,000. Not too shabby for a bunch of little scholarships.
You can reference my previous post for some ideas on where to begin your scholarship search, In it, I mention the places to look outside of the colleges for these small scholarships. Sure, there’s a lot more work involved in finding and applying for these scholarships. But it’s for certain that your son or daughter will not win if they don’t apply for these scholarships.
In sales, this is often referred to as hunting elephants or hunting rabbits. Sales people love to get the big commissions from huge sales. They call this hunting elephants because when you shoot an elephant you get to eat for awhile. The problem is that elephants don’t happen along everyday, and these big sales are few and far between. Closing the small sales, which is more like hunting rabbits, takes more work but can add up over time because rabbits are everywhere.
Now is the right time for seniors to begin their scholarship hunt. As you do, put in the time and effort to work on these small scholarships. Not many of your friends will do so, which stacks the odds highly in your favor. And who know – while you’re at it, you just might stumble upon an elephant also. Then you can feast on both.
Discussion Question – What are some little-known scholarships that you would suggest to readers?
