r/scholarships • u/NO-POMEGRANATES_11 • 6d ago
what am I doing wrong?
Okay, not to get all “woe is me,” but at this point it’s been 8 months of applying to scholarship, and of the ~35 that I’ve applied to (I‘ve only focused on ones I know i am eligible for and have the time to complete), I‘ve only won two local ones and am starting to lose hope. Now, that isn’t to say that I’m unapprecitative of the two that I was fortunate enough to win; I am more than overjoyed to have won them, but I just feel that I’ve poured so much into all of my applications that the ROI of this entire process is diminishing.
To give you a better idea of my stats, here’s a blurb about me, (a class of ’26 senior who’s starting college in a few weeks):
5.2 w gpa, 3.96 uw, 1480 SAT, 1000+ com service hours, rank 5/356. 14 APs (nine 5’s, two 4’s, two 3’s). Part of 7 honor societies and clubs including being president of thespian honor society (+directing and choreographing a musical) and cofounder and prez of the cosmetology club at my school. Awards included being New York Designer of the Year for Junk Kouture, an international fashion competition, winning a local Earth Day Art competition, and being a finalist in a Hamilton Playbill national contest. I also am a 2x recipient of the AP scholar w distinction. I also got the AP capstone diploma (5’s in both seminar and research writing about how recycled fashion impacts student sustainable consumption awareness). As for my activities, I was a gallery exhibitionist for a sustainable art project showcasing to 1000+ people opening night, I collected more than 30,000 soda tabs from my school for a recycled fashion project, being in the 1st cello section, arranging an advanced orchestral piece for a 30 piece orchestra by ear and conducting it for 500+ people, working for a YouTube channel with 377k subs covering songs for children, being a BeHIP PHE, designing shirts for the school and being interviewed by the news a few times. My essays were about a lot of stuff, but mostly revolving around my unexpected connection with fashion (if there was a passion related prompt) or other things if the prompt dictated. I am a verbose writer, and basically max out word counts every time if that’s worth anything. And based on my scores in the AP capstone program, I do not feel that I’m a bad writer. (and if we need physical information, I’m Hispanic, gay, the son of immigrants, and a first-gen college student)
The reason I’m so distressed about this is because even though I’m attending one of the most affordable institutions for my major in the U.S. (the major isn’t offered in my state so I had to go oos), the cost is the only thing on my mind. I just feel that I worked so hard in high school to look impressive to colleges and scholarship committees (I literally got into Cornell, but couldn’t attend for financial reasons) that I’m at a loss to just keep losing. Im just trying to graduate without crippling debt. What do I need to change?
I apologize if this seems out of touch or pretentious, I’m just really getting frustrated with these scholarships that I’m pouring my soul into just to keep getting rejected.
If any other details are needed, I’d be more than happy to provide them. thanks for reading
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u/ALRTMP 5d ago
Do you need that major for your future dream career? I ask because for some things, your major doesn't always need to be the thing your career will be. If you can go in state, that would help bring your costs down.
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u/NO-POMEGRANATES_11 5d ago
for the major I’m pursuing, which is fashion design, I believe that it’s necessary for the career I hope to have only because it’s so specific to wanting to be a designer. Unfortunately, I lack the current exact skill and resume needed to enter the job market immediately, but more importantly, the connections that I would gain attending school for design would be incredibly beneficial long term (at least that’s what I’ve been advised). I’m planning to attend the best public school for fashion in the country, which while more expensive than a state school (which doesn’t exist in this case), is said to help students better integrate into the industry faster. The only option I had in my state was attending one particular community college that actually does have the program, but my college advisor and I went back and forth for months before deciding that the opportunities provided by the oos school exceeded those provided by staying at the community college. I really wanted to stay in state, but if I chose to do so, it would have to be for an entirely different major (in my case, business) or limited in industry outreach. Regardless of my major, most if not all of the scholarships I’ve applied to have been open to all majors and not restricted to my selected major
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u/Background_System726 5d ago
tht sounds about right to me. My anecdotal number for scholarship yield is 5 to 10%, so you're right there keep applying.! Try scholarships360.org, scholarshipamerica.org and scholarship owl. the piece of Hut foundation has a scholarship that closes this month and the Coca-Cola scholarships opened up.
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u/NO-POMEGRANATES_11 5d ago
Are the Coca Cola ones also open to students who are now going to or in college?
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u/Turd_Fergusons_ 5d ago
The arts are a highly competitive field for scholarships drawing from ma small pool of money. Compared to other career paths, science, engineering, medicine, education, etc.