7 fabulous scholarships you’ve never heard of
When most students hear the word “scholarship,” they assume they’ll need stellar grades or will have to turn over financial statements in order to qualify.
But, according to Amanda Hendricks, external scholarships manager for University of Phoenix, there’s an abundance of scholarships out there for aspiring college students that are not awarded based on GPA, socioeconomic status or even course of study. Instead of the more standard criteria, some of these scholarships reward writing skills — others, video skills and still others, wacky interests, such as reality TV shows.
Here are seven currently open scholarships, available to any student enrolled in an accredited institution next fall, that you might want to pursue:
Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship
Scholarshipexperts.com, a scholarship search engine company, offers a different essay-based scholarship each month. Best of all: The topics are pretty out-there.
“They have one coming up called the Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship,” Hendricks says. “The writing prompt is, ‘Your school has been overrun by zombies. All your instructors are zombies; all the students are zombies. How would you escape, and what would you take with you?’”
Award: $1,000
Deadline: Nov. 30, 2012
Viral Video Scholarship Contest
Handy with a camera? Video contest scholarships are becoming popular, according to Hendricks. This one, sponsored by Davis Law Group, a firm specializing in personal injury, challenges students annually to put together a public service announcement on the topic of safe driving and submit it on the YouTube™ website.
Award: $500, $1,000 and $2,000
Deadline: March 31, 2013
Beans for Brains Scholarship
If you’re good with knitting needles, this one is for you. Jimmy Beans Wool, an online yarn company, offers a total of five scholarships annually to talented knitters who can come up with the coolest knitting patterns. Applicants must write an essay as well and enter their submissions between March 1, 2013, and April 15, 2013.
Award: $2,250
Deadline: April 15, 2013
Reality TV Blogging
Those with a habit of tuning in to TV may be inspired to pursue this semiannual scholarship offered by satellite company USDish. This season, aspiring applicants are asked to write a blog entry on “how reality TV shows have changed the entertainment industry.”
Award: $1,000
Deadline: Dec. 15, 2012
Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship
If you have a talent for drawing or graphics, you might want to try your hand at the Create-A-Greeting-Card annual challenge, where students compete to create the best front page of a greeting card. “Submissions can be anything from a birthday card to a Christmas card or even just a thank-you note,” Hendricks says, “as long as it’s original art.”
Award: $10,000
Deadline: Jan. 16, 2013
Haiku Scholarship
Got a keen knack for knocking out artful haiku? You can win a scholarship from CableTV.com, just for coming up with the best poetic offering celebrating the dying breed of cable TV in the requisite five-seven-five-syllable stanza format.
Award: $1,000
Deadline: Oct. 31, 2012
American Fire Sprinkler Association Scholarship
Even students who don’t feel particularly creative can attempt to win one of 10 $2,000 scholarships awarded annually by the American Fire Sprinkler Association, an organization that promotes fire sprinklers, to high school seniors who plan to attend college in the fall.
Hendricks explains the applicant process, which has a deadline of April 3, 2013: “You read an online document about fire sprinklers and then answer 10 questions based on what you’ve learned. For every question that you answer right, you get a submission into the scholarship drawing. If you get 10 right, that’s 10 chances to be selected.”
And that is easy college money, should you be a lucky recipient.
Award: $2,000
Deadline: April 3, 2013
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