By Matthew Libersky
Posters like this one advertise scholarship opportunities outside the guidance office. Photo by: Matthew Libersky
For many students, the chance of winning scholarships has the potential to dramatically affect their choice of college. Most seniors start looking for and applying to these scholarships in the late fall and early spring, and receive the verdict in May.
There are a variety of scholarships available for students to apply to. They range from those given by employers to employees’ children, to sports and academic scholarships open to whoever wishes to apply.
One of the most “prestigious” scholarships available to Indiana students is the Lilly Endowment Scholarship, which provides full college tuition to its winners in an attempt to increase the percentage of Indiana students receiving college degrees. A number of Plymouth High School students have won this scholarship.
“I love when our students win the Lilly,” Guidance Counselor Mrs. Stacy Scheetz said. “We always surprise them with a party.”
There are also scholarships for playing sports in college — senior Erin Kinney is thinking about getting scholarships for playing golf in college.
She said that if she does decide to play in college, she will rely on any scholarships she gets to go to the college she plays at.
Senior Deven Berger also found out that he can get a $5,000 scholarship to Indiana Wesleyan University for his SAT scores and GPA. “I am not really relying on them, but they do help. [However,] any scholarships that I receiving won’t change my choice of college,” Berger said.
“Some students come to see us a lot,” Mrs. Scheetz said. “I direct them to the ones we get, but there are a lot of places for students to search on their own. There are so many different scholarships. Students [often] actively search for them.”
In several cases, the prospect of winning scholarships serves as a much-needed softening of the blow that is paying for college. “I plan on paying for college myself,” Barron said. “So, any scholarships would just help me out in the end to cut out a few hundred, or thousand, dollars off of my final college bill.”
“[I have participated in a few],” Kinney said. “I might as well get as much money for college as I can.”
Barron has a slightly different view on the reason for trying to get scholarships. She said that she thinks their purpose is to recognize students for all of the hard work they’ve done throughout high school.
Berger did not think that scholarships should be used as free money that people do not need, but rather as ways for people who can not otherwise afford college to go.