Scholarships can be a huge relief for students and families because scholarships do not have to be repaid like student loans. Instead, scholarships provide students with financial support without the burden of debt. Every year, millions of students can graduate with significantly less student loan debt and are better prepared to focus on their studies and internships rather than stressing about finances. The Edward Taylor Coombs (ETC) Foundation is one of many organizations that help students eliminate financial worry while empowering them to be leaders in their communities.
Since 2012, the ETC Foundation has awarded over $1 million to over 175 students. Scholarships are not just for helping you through school but also are meant to empower your future.
Know Where to Look
The first step to finding a scholarship opportunity is to know where to look for scholarship opportunities. There are scholarship opportunities available for every type of student; whether you are an academic achiever, an artist, a student athlete, a community volunteer, or someone with an unusual hobby, there are scholarship opportunities for you. Here are a few scholarship search tips:
Start with your school counselor: Your school counselor is one of your most valuable resources in the scholarship search process. They often have access to exclusive listings for local scholarships, many of which receive fewer applications than national awards. This means your chances of success can be significantly higher. Counselors can also help you organize your applications, review your materials, and guide you to more scholarship search tips and community opportunities that align with your interests and goals.
Check nonprofit and foundation websites: Organizations like the ETC Foundation support students with a passion for leadership and service. Many foundations offer scholarships for specific demographics (e.g., ethnicity), interests (e.g., athletics), or local communities.
Use scholarship databases: Websites like Fastweb, Niche, Going Merry, and the U.S. Department of Education’s StudentAid.gov portal let you filter scholarships by criteria that match your profile. These tools are at the heart of many successful scholarship search tips because they save time and help tailor your search.
Look locally: Community foundations, civic groups, religious organizations, and even local businesses often offer scholarships that are easier to win than national awards. This is one of the most overlooked scholarship search tips, but it can yield great rewards.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Once you find your scholarship(s), the next step is to create a winning application. This is when you should share your story with the scholarship committee and let them know why you deserve the scholarship.
Edward Coombs, who encouraged the creation of the ETC Foundation, was not only a successful athlete and scholar, but was also remembered as a young man who positively affected the lives of others through his actions and character. As you think about how to create a winning application, think about how to demonstrate that you possess the qualities of well-rounded excellence like Edward Coombs.
Some of the most important ways to make your application sparkle include:
Be true to yourself. If there is one thing that stands out about you, use your essay to tell your personal story rather than just listing the accomplishments in your resume. Scholarship judges want to know about you personally, what drives you, and what your objectives are. Personal storytelling is one of the most powerful scholarship search tips to help your application rise to the top.
Follow instructions from each scholarship guidelines. Do not just send in the same application for every scholarship that you apply for. Make sure to tailor your submission
to fit the mission and values of the foundation granting the scholarship, and your essay and CV to reflect their goals and your academic achievements. Demonstrate your leadership skills. Include any community activities, team captain responsibilities, mentor programs, and etc. to show the contribution you make to society through your volunteer activities.
Before submitting any application, make sure to proofread and correct any typographical errors. It could cost you a scholarship to have mistakes in your applications that can be easily corrected. One of the essential scholarship search tips is to slow down and carefully review everything before you hit send
Talk with your teachers, mentors, and family members before sending in your application for a scholarship or to ask for their opinion about what you have submitted. .
When submitting letters of recommendation, find someone who has known you for an extended period and can write a letter that describes your abilities and attributes in detail. Give them at least two weeks paraphrased notice of the scholarship and the specifics of the scholarship.
Reapply and Repeat
The best secret to successfully obtaining a scholarship is simply to apply again and again. Most scholarships are offered on an annual basis, and several are even renewable. A lot of successful scholarship recipients typically apply for dozens of scholarships over time before they receive one or two scholarships. This is one of the most important scholarship search tips you can follow.
Think about it the same way you would approach applying for college: You do not just submit an application to one college and then give up applying to colleges. Persistence will always lead to success.
Mixing approaches is one of the smartest scholarship search tips for students today. Here are additional scholarship search tips to keep your momentum strong:
Create a spreadsheet or tracker to log your scholarship search. List the deadline for applications, the requirements of the scholarship, and your submission date, and any notes on what you have completed or not yet completed.
Set small achievable goals, so you do not experience burnout. For example, try to apply to one or two scholarships per week.
Re-use your essays for applications to scholarships that ask for similar information. Instead of writing a new essay for every scholarship you apply for, consider adapting your previous essays to suit the needs of each scholarship.
Celebrate small successes as well. Even if you only win a $500 scholarship, it still helps with tuition, books, and/or living expenses. Evidence from state-level grant/scholarship programs reveals that as grant/scholarship support increases, average student debt decreases- showing that consistent aid, even modest in amount, can meaningfully reduce long-term financial burden.
And don’t forget to revisit organizations like ETC each year to see if you’re eligible again. Staying organized and proactive are two of the most effective scholarship search tips you can apply year after year.
Final Thoughts: You Can Do This!
It does not take perfection to win scholarships; you only need persistence, organization, and a little bit of courage. Always keep in mind that every student has to start somewhere. Even small steps can lead to great accomplishments.
By taking advantage of these scholarship search tips, you will reduce your financial burdens and have opportunities for growth as a student, leader, and member of the community. Each application gives you the opportunity to reflect on who you are and what is important to you.
The path to college can seem intimidating, but you are not alone. Between school counselors, mentors and organizations such as the Edward Taylor Coombs Foundation, you have support.
