Answers

There is no such thing as an "easy to win" scholarship. While there are some random local scholarships that you can find such as the "Elks Lodge #291 Scholarship" but for the most part, these are small in amount and still have quite a few applicants. Overall though, unless you are a standout student, it's best not to waste your time on national scholarships.


Another way to look at it is:


A) Apply for a $1,000 local scholarship which has 20 applicants. If you spend 3 hours applying, you have a 5% chance of getting $1000. Your "expected value" is $50.


B) Apply for a $50,000 national scholarship which has 25,000 applicants. If you spend 3 hours applying, you have a 1 in 25,000 chance of winning $50,000 meaning you have an "expected value" of $2.


It's a no brainer!

You should keep in mind that there are many scholarships which are automatically awarded to students who meet certain academic criteria. Many universities offer scholarships for the following:


1. High ACT / SAT scores

2. GPAs above a certain level (e.g. 3.9 and above)


That means that you'll do well by just working hard in school and getting great test scores. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't look into other scholarships, but rather that there are some scholarships that are "guaranteed" if you meet certain criteria that everyone can aspire to.

My HS website offered a lot of helpful sites, strategies, and information. Try there. Also, reaching out to one of your guidance counselors is even better.

My daughter got a lot of scholarships from clubs she was involved in. She got a booster club scholarship, a key club scholarship, and a jr beta club scholarship. Look into club scholarships. Also, I know of a friend's son who won a scholarship from his boy scouts group, which didn't previously award a scholarship--he asked about creating one; they did; he wrote an application; he won. Simple as that. So, talk to club organizers about starting one as well.

If you're a member of an ethnic minority group sometimes there are scholarships available to you so try to find those on fastweb.

There are a lot of merit-based scholarships which are determined by your SAT or ACT scores. One of my friends got a full-ride to a local state school because of his scores. It's a great deal!

Tell me about this easy scholarship when you win it. I want one too.

There are no easy scholarships other than those you are entered in without an application and you don't need to worry about those.