💰 Scholarship Sunday - #1
Sharing resources & scholarships to help you pay less for college
👋 Welcome Back, and thanks for spending part of your week with D3Direct!
Today, we’re piloting a new weekly series: Scholarship Sunday, where we share resources & upcoming scholarships to help future D3 Athletes pay less for college.
Let us know what you think of the format, and reply to this email with suggestions on how we can make this more relevant for you.
And now, without further ado, Scholarship Sunday #1 - with two upcoming scholarships to check out.
Not a subscriber yet? Sign up free today.
Resource of the Week
This podcast from the Wall Street Journal on college scholarships 👇
How One Student’s Mission to Save $350,000 and Earn a Free Ride to NYU Paid Off (WSJ)
While the applicant in the podcast was not an athlete, they were applying to a D3 school (NYU) and there’s a ton that D3 recruits can learn from the applicant’s strategies.
Here were the key points:
1️⃣ Start with Local Scholarships
As the applicant in the pod points out, these might not be as lucrative as national scholarships, but you’ll have a higher chance of winning because they’re more specific in their application criteria.
Here’s an example for women in Oregon & Washington:
🎯 Scholarship: the Otto Memorial Scholarship
💰 Amount: $2,500
📅 Deadline: March 1, 2025 (Winners announced April 1st)
📝 Eligibility: “Any female high school senior in Oregon (preferably in the Portland metro area) or Washington, who is pursuing STEM with a 2.75 to 3.5 GPA may apply for this scholarship opportunity.”
🔗 Apply Here: Otto Memorial Scholarship
2️⃣ Research School Financial Aid
How transparent is the school’s financial aid website about the money they give out?
Do they list award amounts by GPA or class rank like Southwestern (see below), or is it more of a challenge to find?
Clear information from the school can help families plan on financial aid in advance instead of being surprised like the applicant was in the podcast. Make sure to check this out in advance so you have an idea of how much school will cost when applying.
3️⃣ Negotiate Your Financial Aid Package
This applicant originally got $0 from NYU in financial aid.
Then she negotiated with the school and got a ~$34k scholarship.
While this may sound crazy, know this: College financial aid is not a perfect science and adjustments happen all the time. Here are some strategies to appeal for more aid:
4️⃣ Apply to National Scholarships
The applicant did a great job of sending out a TON of scholarship apps and keeping a spreadsheet to track them all.
Here's an upcoming scholarship to get you started in your process:
🎯 Scholarship: Engebretson Foundation Scholarship
💰 Amount: $10,000
📅 Deadline: March 1, 2025
📝 Eligibility: Details below:
Be a graduating senior from a United States high school
Plan to attend a four year college
Be in need of financial assistance in order to attend a four year college
Have achieved a score of 28 composite or higher on the ACT exam (or at least 1240 on the SAT)
Have achieved at least a 3.75 GPA or above and/or top 5% of graduating class
Have completed FAFSA
🔗 Apply Here: Engebretson Foundation Scholarship Application
Bonus Resources
We compiled State Financial Aid resources and Scholarships for all 33 states that have D3 schools - starting with Arkansas and ending with Wisconsin.
Thanks for Reading!
We’ll see you next Sunday with more resources & scholarships to help you pay less for college in Scholarship Sunday #2.
Until then, be well.
-D3Direct