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Scholarship Information

The 5Ws of Scholarships:

WHY Apply for a Scholarship?
There are two very good things about getting a scholarship:

  1. It will help you to pay for your postsecondary education.
  2. It is a mark of distinction, an honour that demonstrates your merit in some regard. Scholarships look good on your resume.

WHO Should Apply for a Scholarship?
There are an incredible number of scholarships available. A significant number of them have very specific eligibility criteria and don’t require extremely high marks. There is a good chance that you are eligible for more scholarships than you are aware of. So it is definitely worth it for every student to follow the 4 step application process.

WHAT Kinds of Scholarships Are There?

  1. Academic – awarded solely on the basis of performance in a subject, or some combination of subjects. Nearly all universities offer this kind of scholarship to entering students and many universities award them automatically to any student who surpasses a certain cut-off average (say, for example, 89.99%).
  2. Merit – this type of scholarship goes to people who demonstrate both very high academic ability and exemplary personal characteristics. The definitions of academically able and exemplary character vary from one scholarship to another. In general, the larger (and more prestigious) the award the higher the standards for each component.
  3. Athletic – Most universities provide some form of reward for outstanding athletic achievement, but in general, athletic scholarships to US universities are far more generous than exist for Canadian ones.
  4. Financial need – when a scholarship is determined solely on the basis of this criterion it is called a bursary, and again, many universities offer them. More frequently, financial need can be a consideration that helps to determine who is awarded one of the other kinds of scholarship listed above. In some cases, it isn’t a consideration at all. In others it’s a very important one.

WHEN Do I Start?
Now, of course. But the rest of the answer depends on the grade you’re in:

  1. Below grade 12 – Use the Tips for Getting the Most Bang for the Buck, and only steps 1 and 3 of the 4 Steps
  2. In grade 12 – Use the 4 Steps (and the Tips for Getting the Most Bang for the Buck if you haven’t already done so).

WHERE Do I Look For Scholarships?
See the 4 Steps

HOW Do You Find Scholarships?
Use the 4 Steps.

Guide to Scholarships
There are many hundreds of thousands of scholarships in existence and all of them have a specific type of student in mind. Within these hundreds of thousands of scholarships there are thousands of different criteria that determine scholarship eligibility (for example, there is a scholarship for the children of Calgary Public School teachers. There is also a scholarship for people who enjoy sailing. And so on). These facts have two important implications:

  1. You probably qualify for some scholarships, no matter what kind of scholar you are (as long as you are actually passing!).
  2. You don’t have time to look at all the scholarships that exist to find out which ones you do and don’t qualify for.

So, you should look, but you need to be smart about it. To make your life simpler, I have created 4 steps to assist you in finding scholarships:

4 steps to finding scholarships:

1. Use Search Engines
2. Check for school based awards
3. Check your connections
4. Apply to Education Matters/Rutherford