| Most parents and students would love to pay for a | | | | grammar or misspellings, will be put into a rejection |
| big chunk of college tuition through scholarships. The | | | | pile before anyone who has the authority to grant |
| fact is, not all students take applying for college | | | | scholarships takes a look at it. |
| scholarships seriously for a variety of reasons. | | | | ---Make lousy grades. Even athletic scholarships are |
| Here are some sure-fire ways to make certain you | | | | based somewhat on a student's grades. The better |
| don't get a scholarship: | | | | your grades, the better your chances for obtaining |
| ---You don't apply. Whether you believe your grades | | | | any kind of scholarship, including arts and athletic |
| aren't good enough or you're not a stellar athlete, | | | | ones. Competition for scholarship money can be |
| thousands of high school students don't apply for | | | | fierce and committees are more likely to award a |
| scholarships simply because they don't think they'll | | | | scholarship to a good student over someone else. |
| ever get one. The fact is, you'll never know unless | | | | The bottom line is that colleges are learning |
| you try. Don't be embarrassed to fill out an | | | | institutions, not sports arenas. |
| application, because you never know what will | | | | ---Don't get involved. If you want to be overlooked |
| happen in that committee room. You may be the | | | | by the scholarship committee, don't volunteer, don't |
| only student who writes a good essay, or one of a | | | | participate in extracurricular activities, don't become a |
| few who submit a proper package. Don't let fear of | | | | valued member of your community. Committees look |
| rejection stop you from applying for any scholarship | | | | for well-rounded students and will look favorably on a |
| you qualify for. | | | | student who has a wide variety of interests and may |
| ---Miss the deadline. Believe it or not, one of the top | | | | even award that kind of student over one with |
| reasons that scholarship applications are rejected is | | | | better grades. |
| because they are not submitted on time. Don't think | | | | ---Don't care about grammar or spelling on your |
| that the committee will make an exception for you; | | | | application. Sloppy applications with misspelled words |
| they won't. If you don't get it to them on time, it | | | | and bad grammar will be put in the rejection pile. |
| automatically goes into the rejection pile, before the | | | | People who care about such things usually ask |
| committee even starts their deliberations. | | | | someone to look over an application before sending it |
| ---Don't follow the directions exactly. Most scholarship | | | | off. |
| applications are screened before they ever get | | | | Students who don't take the scholarship application |
| before the decision-making committee. Any | | | | process seriously don't get scholarships. It's that |
| application that is missing items, that is rife with bad | | | | simple. |