This is the time of year when many seniors all across Westerville are applying to college and getting acceptances. But, many are wondering what happens next? One thing that comes to the mind of many Westerville South seniors is applying for scholarships. 

Senior, Ini Oyewusi, said, “I’ve been using websites to apply to them and sometimes I just look up random ones.” 

However, many students don’t know where to get started. Westerville South graduates, Nathan Gibbs and Karina Deere, as well as Mrs. Jennifer Stovall in guidance, shared their knowledge about applying for scholarships. 

The first question that comes to mind for students is when and where to apply for scholarships. Stovall said, “ Students can begin looking for scholarships even as early as 9th grade.  There are scholarship search engines that allow students to make a profile and then scholarship opportunities are sent to their email based on the information provided.” 

 Stovall said search engines like, “Fastweb.com, The Columbus Foundation, Going Merry, [and] Scholarship database (www.cappex.com/scholarships)” are all places students can look.

Both  Deere and  Gibbs graduated in class of 2020. Deere now attends Pace University in New York and Gibbs attends Capital University. Both Deere and Gibbs said Unigo was a good website to use when applying for scholarships.

 “When I initially looked into scholarships, I used websites such as ‘unigo’ where I filled out information and they would notify me of scholarships I was available to apply for,” said Deere.

Gibbs said, “… Unigo … has a ton of scholarship contests you can choose from, and some of them are really easy to apply for and don’t require super long essays or anything.”

The next question most students ask is how exactly to apply for scholarships. Stovall said students should, “pay close attention to [college scholarship] applications and deadlines…Reach out to unions, church groups, cultural groups, ect… check Naviance” and to look at community scholarships. 

“In December of every year, seniors are presented with information regarding scholarships offered by community members of Westerville.  Students have one month to complete these applications,” Stovall said.

This can all seem overwhelming to students, but Deere said the easiest way to get scholarships was utilizing South’s scholarships.  She explained, “…it was through the school and there are more ways to reach out for help with specific issues or questions.” 

Deere also said, “… I received more scholarships through the school because personally I was more involved with school events rather than the community.” 

Gibbs said the easiest way for him to get scholarships was because of good grades and high test scores. “I automatically received a large scholarship from Capital just from my grades and test scores, so I didn’t have to apply for any of the scholarships I received.” 

Many schools give out merit based scholarships to students like Gibbs who have academic achievements during high school. But, if students are worried about not having the best academic achievement, Gibbs also said, “There are definitely a lot of community scholarships to apply for, and outside of the main ones that just are looking at good grades and test scores, there are a few with some other requirements like athletics, majoring in certain fields, etc.”

Deere and Gibbs said the hardest part about applying for scholarships was filling out all the applications. Gibbs said, “ I spent hours filling out forms and writing essays for community scholarships.”

Deere said, “The hardest part about filling out scholarships were the essays themselves and the stress.” 

Deere’s advice to seniors or any students applying for scholarships would be, “When applying for scholarships, look for essay topics that are similar first so that you can reuse or tweak essays for multiple scholarships. Also, if you haven’t already started looking for scholarships, you need to start today before your end of the year assignments pile up and South’s scholarships end up taking up all of your time. So make sure to work on scholarship research and entries on a daily basis.”

“ Lastly, apply to as many as you possibly can. College tuition doesn’t truly hit you until you’re stuck paying for it or taking out a loan, so having as much financial aid as possible helps out so much in the long run,” Deere added. “I know it’s so stressful and requires a lot of work but scholarships are so important and will totally pay off in the future.”

If you have any more questions about how to apply for scholarships, Stovall said, students can see her with questions regarding financial aid and scholarships.