photo courtesy of SLOHS counseling 

Knowledge is power. But when knowledge costs an arm and a leg to receive, San Luis Obispo High School students new power is learning how to apply and receive scholarships.

   A daunting word. Scholarships are not as hard as they are made out to be. Some being as little as a name, address, and school of attendance, and boom five hundred bucks.

But the biggest tip anyone can take away from this article is; apply to every and any scholarship, the more you apply the higher the chance of receiving a scholarship is.

According to savingforcollege.com, one out of eight students receives a scholarship, so it’s not as far-fetched as students may think.

“I  recommend having a resume and a list of volunteer service and community service logs. Punctuation and spelling matter. Remember, most scholarship readers are older when handwriting and formatting were critical,” said College and Career specialist Colleen Martin.

  For those seniors who just finished applying to colleges, and tired of filling out applications after application, thinking they were done when they submitted their last one, we sympathize with you.

But know as burnt out as you may be, applying to scholarships is so worth it.

Free money and leaving college with as little debt is the main goal. For those seniors who are going to Cuesta and don’t think scholarships apply to you, you are so wrong. Scholarship money can be spent on books, housing, food, and even clothes if justified by yourself. 

“Keeping schools and majors broad is a good idea- staying true to your interests. Never embellish or fabricate your accomplishments or interests to get a scholarship,” said Martin, on how accuracy plays into scholarships.   December is the best month to apply, as many scholarship deadlines are ending on the first of January. It’s recommended to apply to at least one scholarship a day, for the best odds of receiving one.

“I would have every senior and even juniors browse thoroughly through the SLOHS counseling website under scholarships,” said Martin in response to the question of how to start applying to scholarships. 

  In hopes to get more SLOHS students involved in applying to scholarships, here are some good websites outside of our own one on SLOHS, that offer resources to help students apply to scholarships. Good Luck!