LOCAL SCHOLARSHIP PROCESS CLASS OF 2016
WHY SHOULD YOU APPLY? Last year, sixty-five local scholarships were awarded on Class Day! This year again, almost seventy local businesses and organizations have generously committed their financial support to you, our students. Scholarship amounts range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, which can be used to defray tuition costs, textbook, and school supply costs in college.
HOW DO I APPLY?
THE FIRST STEP: REVIEW THE DIRECTORY Review the Local Scholarship Directory. Pay careful attention to the criteria of each scholarship, for example: Scholarship John Aloia Memorial Scholarship Elementary School Teachers of Union 61 Robert E. Lee Memorial Criteria Student athlete, community service, extra-curricular activities Students majoring in education 2.75 GPA, Mechanical Engineering Major With a pencil, place a check mark in the box next to the scholarships to which you intend to apply on the directory.
THE SECOND STEP: PICK UP SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS Obtain applications for the scholarships you are interested in by: Completing scholarships online in Naviance and printing them out to bring to your appointment. OR Picking up hard copies of applications in the Local Scholarship file cabinet located in the College and Career Center in the guidance office. To locate scholarships in Naviance, sign in to your account and click on: The Colleges Tab The Scholarship List tab under Scholarships & Money Local Scholarships in the Browse by Category drop box The GO button
ACCESSING SCHOLARSHIPS IN NAVIANCE
ACCESSING SCHOLARSHIPS IN NAVIANCE
THE THIRD STEP: MAKE AN APPOINTMENT You must make an appointment ahead of time to submit your scholarships on one of three, designated scholarship application return days: Tuesday, March 15 th Wednesday, March 16 th Thursday, March 17 th Your appointment may be with your guidance counselor, another guidance counselor, or with Mrs. Blom. If your counselor does not have any openings, you will need to sign up with someone else. Be sure that you sign up for your appointment early! Scholarship appointment slots will be posted on counselor doors and with Mrs. Blom.
THE FOURTH STEP: GET YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS ON FILE As most scholarships require letters of recommendation, it is YOUR responsibility to touch base with your teachers and ask them to send a signed copy of their letter of recommendation to Mrs. Blom before March 17 th. Letters of recommendation by guidance counselors will be provided to Mrs. Blom ahead of time, so you do not need to ask your counselor to submit them. Be sure to check with Mrs. Blom to ensure that all of your letters of recommendation are on file before the March 17 th deadline.
THE FIFTH STEP: COMPLETE YOUR APPLICATIONS When completing your applications, pay attention to all of the details and necessary requirements, such as: The essay topic Family financial information Prospective college information Letters of recommendation Photographs Required parent signatures Official SAT Scores from College Board Scholarship committees have disqualified applicants because they did not complete the application correctly or answer the essay question. Counselors will provide your transcripts to the scholarship committees and will complete specific information on the applications that pertain to GPA/Rank, etc. during your scholarship return appointment.
THE SIXTH STEP: SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATIONS On the day of your scholarship appointment, Be on time. Have the applications completed with all of the necessary requirements, such as essays, parent signatures, photographs, etc. Have your scholarships organized in the order that they appear on the directory.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE!
NEED BASED VS. MERIT-BASED Some scholarships are merit-based and do not request financial information. Other scholarships are need-based and consider the financial information on the application to determine scholarship recipients. If you do not feel comfortable sharing your parents financial information with the scholarship committees, then you should not apply for financial-based scholarships. Without the financial information, the committees will disqualify your application. Also, do not falsify the financial information on your application.
SCHOLARSHIP REQUIREMENTS Make sure that your essay follows the topic or answers the question asked! Many students have been disqualified for including an essay that was irrelevant to the topic! Some scholarships ask for the name and tuition costs of the school you will be attending. If you have not made a decision yet, include the information of the school you would be most likely to attend if you were accepted.
IF YOU ARE A SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT You will receive a letter notifying you that you have won a scholarship (not the specific scholarship) in advance, which will be presented at Class Night in June. Please be present at Class Night if you are a scholarship recipient, as many of these memorial scholarships are presented by the family members/loved ones of those who have passed. Write a thank you note to the scholarship committee, letting them know how much you appreciate the award and how you will use the money.
IF YOU ARE A SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT Some scholarships will present you with a check on Class Night. Other scholarships may choose to send your check at a later date, after you have confirmed where you are attending, etc. If you do not receive a check on Class Night, you must keep the scholarship instruction sheet provided to you in a safe place. This will allow you to collect the scholarship funds after you graduate.
NON-LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS There are many scholarships that are offered outside of the local scholarship process. They are listed on the sheet that was passed out today. The applications for these scholarships are available on Naviance and in the College and Career Center, but are not submitted with the local scholarships at your scholarship appointment. You are responsible for collecting the necessary scholarship materials and submitting them to the scholarship committee by deadline.
MAKE USE OF FEBRUARY VACATION The upcoming school vacation is a perfect time to work on (and hopefully) complete your scholarship applications, so make the most of it!
Accuplacer ON ANOTHER NOTE March 10 th afterschool in the library. Students attending QCC, a Massachusetts Public University, or many private universities will need to take this exam in order to register for college classes. Save yourself time and effort by taking it here at Tantasqua! Sign up at the end of the presentation here or in Guidance prior to Friday, February 12 th!
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