Catching The Dream

HOW TO FIND AND WIN SCHOLARSHIPS
By Dean Chavers, Ph. D.

The following minimum numbers apply to the various fields. Students can easily exceed these numbers:
Engineering 60
Medicine 45
Business 40
Social science 35
Education 35
Performing arts 30

FINDING SCHOLARSHIPS

There are four ways to find scholarships: (1) on the Internet, (2) using scholarship directories, (3) from your university, and (4) in your community. Motivated students will use all four methods.

THE INTERNET: The best and most comprehensive website is www.fastweb.com. Another excellent comprehensive site is www.scholarships.com. In addition to these two, there are hundreds of other sites. Some list one scholarship, and others list many. A student can always Google something like “Scholarships for Native Americans,” or “Scholarships for Engineering,” and go through the many sites that will appear.
But this method is counterproductive, highly inefficient, and frustrating. It is much better to use a comprehensive site. And contrary to conventional thinking, Native students should not look only for Native scholarships. The reason is simple; there are fewer than 200 Native scholarships in the Fastweb database, and only seven of them have real money. Native scholarships represent less than one-tenth of one percent of all scholarships.

The seven large ones, in order of money given away each year, are
1. Gates Millennium ($2 million)
2. American Indian College Fund ($1 million)
3. American Indian Science and Engineering Society ($500,000)
4. Catching the Dream ($400,000)
5. American Indian Education Foundation ($300,000)
6. National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution ($100,000)
7. Association on American Indian Affairs ($40,000).

After these seven, the amounts are very small. You should apply to all scholarships, including the small Indian scholarships that pay $250 a year. In four years, that $250 is $1,000, not a bad payoff for half an hour of work.
The key to success in using the Internet is to have an adequate list of keywords. In addition to using Native American, American Indian, Indian, female/male, woman, and minority, students should use these eight master words to help them come up with a list of keywords. The eight master words are:
1. Honors
2. Awards
3. Clubs
4. Elected positions
5. Appointed positions
6. Work experience
7. Hobbies
8. Your major.

Students should send us their list of keywords before they run Fastweb so we can tell them whether or not we think it is adequate. It will also help greatly if the student sends us a resume.

These honors, awards, etc., apply at school, in your community, and at church. Elected positions are such things as class secretary, class senator, and student body president. Appointed positions are such things as editor of the yearbook, baseball team manager, etc. If you are not in any clubs now, join something. What you do now will follow you for the next 50 years. I am 69 years old, and I am still sending out resumes.

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