Local Scholarships

Let's face it, college is expensive and (sadly) money doesn't fall from the sky. Many students are trying to investigate options for financing their college education. One great opportunity to help with some of your college costs are local scholarships. These scholarships are great because you are only competing against other WKHS students (for most of them) and, at most, against other students from the general area. These scholarships are all listed on the WKHS Counselor website and I strongly encourage you to take the time to check out all of the scholarships available and read them carefully to determine which ones you might be a good candidate for and therefore want to apply to try to receive.  There are a range of different due dates for the scholarships, but a large number of them are due before spring break.  Please remember that time flies and most of the scholarships have requirements such as essays or recommendation letters so it is important not to procrastinate and to get your applications completed on time.

I have also been receiving lots of questions from seniors related to scholarships.  The reality is that you need to read the details very carefully for what each scholarship is requesting and then give them EXACTLY what they are asking for in the application!  Does it ask for you to use a series of numbers instead of your name on your application and recommendation?  If so, you need to make sure your recommenders know that we have to change your rec letter accordingly.  Does it ask for you to include a resume or a transcript or a copy of your EFC number?  If so, be sure that you include all of those items.  Those are the types of details that make it really easy for scholarship selection committees to eliminate students from the running.  If you didn't care enough to follow their directions, why should they care to give you their money?

Students also have had many questions related to the transcripts that scholarships will often ask for and, again, pay attention to the details they are requesting.  If they want an OFFICIAL transcript, then you need to go through the same process that you used when requesting your transcript for the college application process.  If they are OK with an unofficial copy then you can download one off of Infinite Campus in the reports section.  I will caution some of you that your unofficial copies are not necessarily ideal if you decided to look crazy in your senior photos because your picture is on your unofficial transcript.  So, if this is the case for you, please come and see me so that we can talk about other options.

Good luck working on your scholarships!