You may not have the best GPA on campus, or great records of volunteer work, so when the word scholarship arises, you probably brush it off and figure you don't stand a chance.
That's not a very good attitude at all.

Financial Aid Assistant Director Sharon Parks hosted a Scholarship Workshop on January 22 in the Parks Building, where she explained that "Not as many people apply to scholarships as you would think."

Parks encouraged all to apply for scholarships; a low GPA does not mean you're out of the running. A great application can still win with a low GPA.

Many students are confused on the topic of receiving scholarships as well as financial aid. A student can max out the amount of financial aid they can receive. If their unmet need is not met by the financial aid, and they win a scholarship, they will receive enough money to meet the unmet need. A student may only receive part of their scholarship if they received lots of financial aid. Low income single parents will have a higher unmet need than younger students who are on their parent's tax information.

If you do receive financial aid and a scholarship, usually the financial aid will pay for your tuition and books, while the scholarship can be used for transportation, daycare, food, more books, etc. That extra money definitely couldn't hurt.

APPLYING

Applying for scholarships is easy but time consuming. Make sure you put time and effort into the written portions. This is your chance to tell someone about your life and why you deserve to be supported in your college endeavors.

Allow yourself plenty of time to get the applications done long before the deadline. Be sure to turn the application in on time. Many committees
won't even score a late application.
If you don't want the committee to see a bad transcript from a previous college or irrelevant credits you've taken, then don't list the school or grades on the application. The committee will look for a transcript from the school and if it's not sent in then your application will be considered incomplete and not scored.

Order transcripts in advance. It takes a while to process the request and send the transcript out, especially if you've been out of school for a while.

If you have a couple bad quarters where you did not perform to your capability, then explain that in the application. Explain a new baby, death, crisis, illness, etc. that arose and affected your academic performance.
Be sure to write legibly. If you're using a computer then be sure to spell-check.

Save your application! That way you can come back and simply tweak it in order to send it out to different scholarships, or the same one the next year.

Writing a lot does not necessarily impress. Sometimes a shorter, more to-the-point answer is preferred over a long answer that repeats itself four times. Don't rush through it though.

Make sure you know what the question is asking, and be sure you are answering the question; ALL parts of the question.
Before you send in an application, get a teacher to review it. The Writing Center also will look over your application for you. Their professional opinion will help you make a better application.

Some scholarships will require an interview. These can be incredibly nerve-wracking. Don't fret! The interviewers just want to hear you be you.

WINNING

Once the deadline comes, the committee will log in all the applications. Then the committee will meet and go over applications. Many times a donor will want to decide on who receives their money, and they will decide upon a winner. Choosing a winner could take 3-4 weeks, or longer for national scholarships.

A large scholarship will generally be broken up between a student's three quarters, and used to pay for tuition and books first.

The scholarships given away by the college are usually only given to incoming or returning students.

Donors may give their scholarships to the same student the following year if the student has displayed exceptional performance. Sharon Parks said that donors often form a special bond with their student and perhaps will invite them out to lunch or send them Christmas presents.

Julie Milburn has won four scholarships in less than two years totaling $9,000. She's won local Everett scholarships including the Everett Rotary, a foundation scholarship from the college, and twice the Everett Zonta.

"I wouldn't have been able to complete college without those scholarships," she said. "Don't be discouraged over the little bit of work.it's completely worth it."

Julie's been attending EvCC since Winter 2007 and will graduate this spring. She is majoring in law enforcement with hopes of working for the Department of Social Health Services or a juvenile detention center. Julie also works and is a single mother.

She suggests starting with local scholarships. There's a smaller pool of applicants to select from, so you have a better chance of winning. Also, join clubs! There are so many at the school, and it looks very good on applications.

SCHOLARSHIP RESOURCES

Everett has a general scholarship application that you can find on the EvCC website.

Unfortunately the due date for the Winter/Spring 09 scholarships has already passed. Contact the Financial Aid Office for information on Fall 09 scholarships.
EvCC scholarships do not go unclaimed. If a student is not picked from the original pool of applicants then the school will request more applicants in order to award the scholarships.

Finding the right scholarship for you is easy. There are so many different scholarships on campus, local and national levels. The Internet is a great resource for scholarship opportunities. Beware of scholarship scams though!

www.everettcc.edu/resources/financial/fa
The EvCC website provides information on school scholarships offered at the school as well as offered elsewhere. There are lots of links to minority scholarships, and other backgrounds. As well as links to private scholarships.

www.wfaa.org
Washington Financial Aid Association website. It has information about financial aid deadlines and scholarships links.

www.finaid.org
Website contains aid calculator and scholarship information. It has a great compilation of unusual scholarships as well. There's one for tall people, little people, a duct tape contest and they get weirder.

www.fastweb.com
A large scholarship search website.

www.seattlefoundation.org/scholarships
The Seattle Foundation has over 50 scholarship funds given away in more than $600,000 annually to students of every background.

The Student Programs Board will hold "Scholarship Secrets" with Samson Lim on Tuesday Feb. 3, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in Parks Conference Rooms ABC. The workshop will help students with finding, choosing and applying for scholarships.

For more information please visit the Diversity and Equity Center, or the Financial Aid Department, both in the Parks Building.