As students get into their senior years and begin applying for college, applying for scholarships is important. Scholarships are a form of financial aid awarded to students to further their education, helping students and families pay less money out of their pockets for school. Scholarships can also attract internships for some applicants. There are 3 most common scholarships which are need-based scholarships, merit-based scholarships and athletic scholarships. Just because you apply does not mean you will automatically receive money; you may have to apply to many before you receive a scholarship.

As a high school senior myself and applying for scholarships now the easiest ones to do are the no-essay scholarships. Though those are the easiest scholarships to apply for, there’s still a series of questions that you have to answer. It’s also easy to find scholarships through Naviance. Going through Naviance leads you to credible websites. I recommend applying for scholarships no matter the monetary value, because you may not receive money from the bigger monetary valued scholarships, so you can at least try for the lower valued ones. Some may feel that the college process is stressful and hard. I feel as though if you plan the time you’re going to use for either applying to schools, writing your personal statement, or applying for scholarships, the load doesn’t feel as heavy.

Coming from another high school senior, Natahniel Logan stated athletic scholarships give students the opportunity to play sports and get a career after high school. School is highly expensive and scholarships can cover most of the costs. When asked about sports scholarships, he said, “College recruiting has gotten tougher due to the NCAAs transfer portal, so it’s become more difficult for younger athletes to receive scholarships, but it’s been easier for me to get school money because I’ve received academic scholarships. Everyone should apply for some type of  scholarships before it’s too late, bottom line.” 

You should apply to the most scholarships you can.