College Admissions: Pacific Northwest Scholarships

Email to a friend Permalink

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Jodi Walder, GoLocalPDX College Admissions Expert

A scholarship aggregator is a site or service that puts together lots of scholarships in one place. Both Oregon and Washington have scholarship aggregators which make it easy to apply for multiple scholarships with one application. Take advantage of the opportunity and apply.

Oregon:

Oregon scholarships are compiled by the Office of Student Access and Completion (OSAC). This government site is full of great resources. The OSAC scholarship application is for incoming freshmen and current college students. You can access the application here. Over $18 million in scholarships are compiled here. Some are only good if you choose to attend college in Oregon, but many can be used by an Oregon student anywhere. There are scholarships available for use at four-year colleges, two-year colleges, and trade/tech training. It’s a relatively simple application with four short essay questions of approximately 150 words each:

1. Explain your career aspirations and your educational plan to meet these goals.
2. Describe a challenge or obstacle you faced in the last ten years. What did you learn about yourself from this experience?
3. Describe a personal accomplishment and the strengths and skills you used to achieve it.
4. Explain how you have helped your family or made your community a better place to live. Provide specific examples.

The most challenging part of the OSAC application is selecting the scholarships you want to be considered for. By filling out the application and submitting it by Feb 15, you are automatically considered for many scholarships, including any that are specific to your high school. In addition, you can select up to 20 other scholarships that are a good match for your talents and interests and add those to your submission list. Some scholarships have an extra, short essay required, so be sure to complete the full application as prompted. Don’t forget to upload or send your transcripts and standardized test scores to the OSAC. It tells you how to do so on the application.

Washington:

Washington scholarships are compiled at the WashBoard.org. The site connects Washington students of all types with Washington scholarship providers, for free. Whether you’ll be attending college in-state or out, you save time by entering your profile once and letting them find potential scholarship opportunities. It takes about 45 minutes to fill out your profile. The essay portion asks the following:

• A personal statement that shares your talents and gifts
• Five words that describe you
• Five skills you have
• List your talents and gifts

 

In addition, you can upload any documents required by the scholarships you are matched with. Those could range from a photo collage to recommendation letters to transcripts or extra essays.

To maximize your scholarship consideration, plan to have these completed no later than February 15, 2015.

Jodi Walder-Biesanz is the founder of Portland, Oregon-based College Admission Coach LLC which helps students identify and gain admission to right-fit schools where they will thrive academically and personally. Contact her at: jodi.walder@comcast.

Related Articles

• College Admissions: 5 Majors You Need to Choose Before You Apply
• College Admissions: 6 Reasons Seniors and Their Parents Should Fill Out the FAFSA Now
• College Admissions: 6 Tips for Writing Compelling College Application Essays
• College Admissions: 8 Things They Won’t Tell You in Freshman Orientation
• College Admissions: College-Related New Year Resolutions
• College Admissions: Common Application Prompt - Transition to Adulthood
• College Admissions: Common Application Prompt, Challenge a Belief or Idea
• College Admissions: Common Application Prompt, Learning from Failure
• College Admissions: Common Application Prompt, Perfectly Content
• College Admissions: Common Application Prompt, Share Your Story
• College Admissions: Disciplinary Disclosures On Your Application
• College Admissions: Following up after Applications are Submitted
• College Admissions: Get Started on Scholarship Applications
• College Admissions: How to Request and Get Fabulous Recommendation Letters
• College Admissions: Research and Internship Explanations that Get Noticed
• College Admissions: School Specific Research
• College Admissions: Student-Parent Agreements
• College Admissions: Ten Tips for Acing Your College Interview
• College Admissions: The Similarity Between Online Dating Profiles and ‘Why This College?’ Essays
• College Admissions: Twelve Gift Ideas for Future College Students
• College Admissions: Typical College Interview Questions
• College Admissions: What Do You Want Colleges to Know About You?

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink