There are tons of scholarships for athletes out there, and some of them are harder to get than others. Most people know about the Got Milk? Scholarship, but few realize just how many financial aid programs there are for aspiring college athletes. If you are thinking about playing a sport in college, you may qualify for one of these awards. The key in getting one of these scholarships is to know where to look and how to apply for one. The tips below should walk you through the basic process so you can obtain all the money you need to pay for your education.
Common Requirements for Athletic Scholarships
Every scholarship is different when it comes to the application requirements, so you need to look over the requirements for an award you want to apply for before you spend a ton of time on it. Here are some of the most common things scholarship committees look for in award winners:
- Academic merit (good grades, high test scores, etc.)
- Financial need (not always)
- Athletic abilities
- Leadership qualities
- Community service participation
- Extracurricular activities
Athletic scholarships are about a lot more than being able to play sports well. It's nice to have great player stats, but scholarship committees want to see more than that. They want to sponsor people who can be role models in the community, so you are going to need more than a fast run and a good pair of hands to get something like this. The more well-rounded you are, the better off you will be.
Where to Find Athletic Scholarships
Finding athletic scholarships is not a tricky process because there are a ton of them out there. If there is a certain school that you want to play college ball for, the easiest thing to do is to contact them about your scholarship opportunities. If you just want a general scholarship that could be used at any school, you could look through a site like Scholarships.com or FastWeb.com. Those sites provide great references to scholarships you may be able to qualify for. Talk to a financial aid adviser in the college you want to go to, and he or she should be able to point you in the right direction.
How to Apply for Athletic Scholarships
You should be able to complete most of your applications online, but there may be a few of them that have to be filled out on paper or in person. Some athletic scholarships require short essays, and others are awarded purely based on grades and skills. If you do have to write an essay for an application, it will probably be about how sports have made your life better and what you could do with financial aid for college. You just have to read the prompt that you get from the application, and then you can create the essay that fits the needs of the scholarship.
With the sheer amount of athletic scholarships available in the world, there is no reason for you to avoid applying for them. You have the potential to pay for your college education if you just look around at your options. Work on your academic skills as much as you work on your athletic abilities, and then you will have a much better chance at securing the aid that you need. With a little effort in the right places, you should have no trouble finding the money you need for college.
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