Category: #SeniorsCorner

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Tips For Applying For Scholarships

What’s better than money? FREE money! There are different companies and people around the world that understand not just how expensive higher education can be, but also how important it is. To help this, they offer students scholarships to help offset these costs. (Hint, hint, we offer a really good scholarship too!) As far as applying for scholarships, here are our tips! 

  • Never assume you are too young or too old. You can find scholarships as young as 7th or 8th grade or even clear into your Ph.D. 
  • Write out a general essay that you can adapt to each scholarship you apply for. 
  • If you are employed, check into your company to see if they offer any scholarships or school reimbursement 
  • Get started early! If you procrastinate on deadlines, you may miss out on great opportunities. It also looks good to scholarship boards to see those that submitted early versus those that waited until the last minute. 
  • If you have specific questions about the scholarship, reach out to them and ask! More often than not, they are happy to answer your questions. 
  • Apply for as many as you can find. If all you have to put in is time to apply for scholarships, it’s worth the money you’ll receive. 
  • Make sure you read all of the requirements and qualifications for a scholarship and double-check that you’ve done everything before submitting. Many people are turned away from a scholarship because they do not have all of the materials needed when submitting. 

Check out this video!

Good luck applying! Be confident in yourself and your qualifications. What other tips would you add to this list? 

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A List Of Our Best Interview Tips

supporting teachers

Let’s talk interview tips! A lot of you students out there are most likely going through some sort of interview process over the next year, whether it’s for a job, getting into a college program, or something else. Here are our best tips for you! 

  • Research the company or program before the interview. Specifically, search for their mission statement. Having a decent knowledge of the company can give you an advantage in the interview. It can also help if they pose the question, “do you have any questions for us?”
  • Wear professionally appropriate clothes. 
  • When asked about your biggest weaknesses, don’t do the cliche “turn your weakness into a positive” by saying something along the lines of “I care too much.” Interviewers know this trick and are often turned off by it. Instead, own your weaknesses and let them know it’s something you’re working on. 
  • Be personal and approachable. 
  • On the way to the interview, turn on your favorite song, and jam out! It’s good to let loose for a little bit before going in, it can help you stay calmer and be yourself. 
  • Follow up the interview with a thank you card or email. 

We would love to hear your tips on interviews! What do you do before, during, and after to prep? Good luck with all of the applying and interviewing you’ll be doing over the course of the year, we believe in you! 

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The Aftermath of Awarding $55,000 in Scholarship Funds

The past couple of weeks since announcing our scholarship awardees have been a incredible whirlwind. Most of it has been a joy as we have enjoyed the enthusiastic responses from students and their families. Some has been unfortunate as we had do deal with some plagiarism, which is always taken very seriously at HonorsGradU.

We especially love it when it works out to surprise our recipients with the news.

Xelah Baca, creator of BHS Recycle, received the news from her mentor during an awards ceremony:

And I was able to fly down to surprise Anthony Neil Tan with the news that he was selected as our top recipient during his senior awards night for his creation of the Maker Hub Club:

Check out the newly updated Past Winners page to view all 5 students’ prototypes, reflection videos, and colleges. We look forward to sharing more about the background of these 5 outstanding students this summer, and to seeing Anthony’s project grow with another fully funded iteration. Thank you again for your efforts to design a better future!

For you incoming seniors, be sure to stay tuned for the details at the end of the summer on our 2020 scholarship program!

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto

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Announcing Our 2019 Design A Better Future Scholarship Awardees!

This is our seventh year of running a scholarship sponsored by Honors Graduation. Over the past two years, we have offered a program in which students develop a community-improvement project based on the model of design thinking.

We were inspired by the ambitious, generous, and innovative projects from this year’s applicants. The vision of these high school students gives us so much hope for the future. Our scholarship committee is pleased to announce this year’s 5 recipients:

Anthony Neil Tan, top recipient to receive an additional $5,000 toward another iteration of his project: Maker Hub Club

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G66HfL5aUto

Xelah Baca: BHS Recycle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adLwwzwhkFo&feature=youtu.be

Elizabeth Hansen: Composting For A Cause

https://youtu.be/VLQQjCqQZ2k

Sruthi Kundur: Stay Healthy, Be Confident Hygiene For Women

Cobi Reed: Envisioning a Better Future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1C-Z4c0gOg&feature=youtu.be

Congratulations to our awardees! Watch for additional updates, including on our Past Winners page.

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto

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Our Scholarship Finalists Have Been Emailed!

For those students who applied for our this year’s Design a Better Future scholarship program, we are pleased to announce that we have selected 10 finalists.

These outstanding students have been emailed some follow-up questions about future potential iterations of their project, as well as how they might continue local impact post graduation. Please check your email inboxes ASAP to respond to our questions so that we can make our decision on our final 5 awardees. We plan to make that announcement next week on Monday, May 20th!

Thank you to everyone for your participation. We are extremely impressed at the efforts and passion we have seen in this year’s group.

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto

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Join Us For Our Scholarship Webinar Q&A on March 2!

Do you know any high school seniors? Would they be interested in earning a $10,000 scholarship by engaging in a community improvement project?

If so, please help spread the word about our upcoming Q&A webinar with applicants to help support them in their projects! Unlike many scholarships that call for an (often recycled) essay, our Design a Better Future program asks much more of students in working to give to their communities. We want to be there to help guide them in any roadblocks or questions that arise in their work.

The webinar will take place on Saturday, March 2 at 11 am MST. Two of our scholarship committee members, Mary & Lindsay, will field questions & lead the discussion. Register here to receive a reminder and the link to our Zoom meeting!


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Announcing the 2019 Scholarship!

I’m excited to announce the 2019 scholarship here at HonorsGradU, sponsored by Honors Graduation.

We were overwhelmed at the ways high school seniors worked to improve their communities last year, and so we have decided to continue the design thinking community improvement format. Once more this year, there will be another five $10,000 tuition scholarships awarded, with the top recipient receiving another $5,000 toward another iteration of his/her project.

Check out the new requirements and information here, and please share with any high school seniors planning on attending an accredited college in the United States next fall.