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

As a person who has worked for years with both The College Board (the owner of the SAT) and the testing firm of Harcourt Brace, I can tell you that test bias alone does not account for these huge differences. They may cause 10% or more, but they do not cause the 40 to 50 point differences that we most often see with Native students. Why do these huge differences occur? It is because Native students in general do not read anything outside the classroom.

We recommend that students start in their sophomore year taking the PACT or the PSAT, and that they take it several times as juniors and several times as seniors. CTD will pay for the costs of these tests. Just send us an e-mail with the facts (your name and address, where you attend high school, class level, the cost of the test, when it will be given, what you got on a previous test, what your GPA is, what your intended major is, where you plan to attend college, your tribe and blood quantum, what you plan to do to improve your test scores, the reason you need assistance with paying for the ACT or the SAT, and the amount needed.).

If it is a repeat test, tell us what you are doing to improve your score.
There are basically five things students can do to improve their scores. They can start to read books, and they can cram for the test. They can retake the test. They can take one of the test preparation courses if they can afford it. As an alternative, Kaplan, Princeton, and other cramming/self-study courses are available, and we have found that most high school libraries have one or more of these courses available. They can take college prep courses in high school if they are juniors or below.

We know that students who have a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and who usually score a 20 instead of a 25, can improve their scores considerably. We have had students to go from 27 (83rd percentile) to 32 (99th percentile) in four attempts. The cramming, the stress, the strain, and the work involved will pay off when you win lots of scholarships and get into the college of your choice.

Many Native students do not read at all outside the classroom. We have published a book called “Reading for College.” We will be glad to make any chapter in the book available to students, parents, counselors, and teachers for student use, at no charge. All we need is an e-mail address or an address to send it to you. Give us some indication of what you are interested in (history, general science, classics, aviation, biography, Native American Literature, etc.) And please ask your librarian to order the book for your use.

To summarize how we can help, CTD can pay for (1) your travel to the nearest college library if your high school does not have a set of directories, (2) your cost for taking the ACT or SAT if you cannot afford it and (3) your admissions charges for college applications if you cannot afford it. We will also review your list of scholarships and tell you if your search has been adequate or not. And we will help you with your essay. Send it to me at CTD4DeanChavers@aol.com for a critique. Put your name on each page, put your name in the file name, and send it as a Word document only. Please do not send it as a Zip, PDF, or other document file. It is better to send it as an attachment.

RECOMMENDATION:
Do not pay anyone to help you with any part of this process. Do not pay an online service to find scholarships for you; do it yourself. Do not pay anyone to help you write your essay; CTD will help you free of charge, and we are the best there is.

RECOMMENDATION:
Do not throw away a scholarship if you miss the deadline. You may be able to apply for it next year. Unless it says “for high school seniors only,” you can apply later. Students who don’t know about scholarships until their junior year in college can still be successful in winning a significant number of them.

RECOMMENDATION:
Develop a resume as soon as you start your senior year in high school, or earlier. If you need help, get it from your high school English teacher or counselor, or from us.

RECOMMENDATION:
Always convert your raw scores into percentiles or Normal Curve Equivalents (NCE’s). Almost no one knows where a 25 on the ACT or a 1200 on the SAT falls on the 1-99 scale, but almost everyone will know the difference between the 45th percentile and the 85th.

RECOMMENDATION:
Start taking the ACT or the SAT in the fall of your sophomore year. If you cannot pay for it, CTD will pay for it. Take it four times as a junior and four times as a senior or until you score a 32 or higher—whichever comes first.

RECOMMENDATION:
Start reading heavily immediately!. Start today and keep it up for life. In college you will be required to read five to ten (5-10) books per week. If you are not doing this already, you will be in danger of being totally lost in college. We do not want you to become a statistic.

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