You need to go beyond the normal everyday scholarships like the ones you apply for at the college itself (do apply to those ones too… but in this article I’ll tell you of some more to look at).

If you aren’t that 4.0 Valedictorian, you need to get a bit creative and look for some of the more weird scholarships out there.  Yep, there are some pretty weird ass scholarships out there that give money away based on some pretty strange criteria.

So, in this article I’ll let you know about some of the more weird college scholarships out there so you can tap into that money pool that most college bound students don’t even know about.  There are a ton of places to get these scholarships… so I’ll try to point you toward websites for the scholarships if I can… but use this article more as a way to get ideas on things to Google to find the scholarship yourself (hey, I’m a busy guy… I’d be spending hours trying to find all of these sites

Also, I found many of these unique scholarships on a great scholarship search site called Fastweb.  Fastweb is free, and when I went to college, I actually got 1 scholarship that I found on that site.  Create a quick account and find some scholarships.

Here we go.

• Are you the decendant of a confederate soldier of the Civil War? If so, this could earn you a cool $1000 or more in scholarships.  You can find these scholarships from organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy among others.  So, trace your family back to a confederate soldier, write the essay, and give yourself a chance for a quick grand.
• Are you an amateur radio (ham radio) lover? You can cash in big time here.  There are a ton of organizations giving out some pretty darn good scholarships to those who fit the bill.  The ARRL Foundation (don’t ask me what ARRL stands for) has a scholarship program that hands out $500 to $5,000 to amateur radio lovers… and their application isn’t all that tough.
• Left handed are you? Well, you’ve probably heard of this one… but there are a ton of scholarships for left handed people.  Why?  I guess they feel you left handers a unique enough to give you money… but, if I were left handed I wouldn’t complain one bit.  The best place I could find to search for left-handed scholarships was Fastweb and the College Board website.  Both are free.  I like Fastweb a bit better (that’s what I used)… so check it out.
• Make a prom dress out of duct tape… and win $3,000? Yep, Duck Tape brand duct tape maker started a scholarship contest they call the “Stuck at Prom” Scholarship Contest. To enter into this scholarship contest all you have to do is create a creative and awesome prom dress or suit out of Duck Tape brand duct tape, take some pictures… and send them in.  They pick the best few entries each year, and actually end up awarding more than $18,000 in scholarships each year.  This is one you can really have some fun with.
• If you don’t like duct tape, make it out of wool instead and win cash! Here’s another crazy weird scholarship that I came across.  It’s kind of the same thing as the Duck Tape contest, but this one is brought to you by Sheep USA… and you have to make an outfit out of wool.  You can earn a $1,000 scholarship for this win.
• Star Trek fans out there, practice up on your Klingon and win a cool $500. This one is on the geeky side… but hey, if you can speak Klingon… there’s nothing un-cool about winning $500.  Check that one out here.
• Consider yourself a tall person? If so, yep, there’s a weird ass scholarship for you too.  If you are over 6′ 2″ as a man, and 5′ 10″ as a girl, you are eligible for the Tall Clubs International scholarship of $1,000.
• Play the bagpipes? There is a Carnegie Mellon University Bagpipe Scholarship is out there for any bagpipe majors out there.  This probably only applies to 4 or 5 people in the whole U.S., but if it’s you… try to find the scholarship page (I couldn’t).
• Speak more than one language? There are a ton of scholarships out there for bi-lingual students.  Some of the scholarships are school specific, but there are some national ones that anyone who is bi-lingual should qualify for.  So, be sure to ask your college about any scholarships for bi-lingual students that may be out there… and do a good search online.
• Not the brightest tool in the shed when it comes to achademics? Most of us aren’t.  But, there’s hope for us with the AXA Foundation Scholarship for people that excel in areas other than scholastics.  They say if you have ambition, the desire to achieve, respect, and have the ability to succeed in college… they hand out scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $25,000 each year.  All in all, they hand out over $1.3 million in college scholarships each year.  Get yourself in the running… and do it fast before the cash is all handed out.
• Here’s one for you skateboarders out there. If you skateboard and have over a 2.5 GPA, you are eligible for a few scholarships at the Patrick Kerr Skateboard Scholarship.  Each year they give out four scholarships to skateboarders heading to college.  The top prize is $5,000 and the other three are $1,000 each.  So, now your parents can’t tell you that skateboarding gets you nowhere!
• Arabian horses anyone? Have an interest in Arabian horses?  That qualifies you for a $2,500 scholarship through the William Zekan Memorial foundation.  I had a tough time finding the foundation website… but check out Fastweb… I’m sure they’ll have it in there.
• Write an essay about a fire sprinkler, win a $3,000 scholarship. Wow, these keep getting more and more out there.  The American Fire Sprinkler Association Scholarship gives out a total of $20,000 in scholarships each year for high school seniors who write the best essays on successful fire sprinkler activations in your area or town.  This is one that truly anyone qualifies for… just do a bit of research, write the essay, and you’re good to go.  Check it out here.
• Members of the National Rifle Association.  If you are a member of the national rifle association and have gone through certain marksmanship programs, you qualify.  Just submit an essay on “Why I Became Involved in the Shooting Sports” and you are in the running for a $5,000 scholarship from the NRA.
• Bowlers… here’s your scholarship.  A scholarship called the Columbia 300 John Jowdy Scholarship is open to high school seniors who are active in bowling.  This scholarship is just $500, but they all add up… I can tell you from experience.
• A tad bit overweight in the New England area? I hate to say it, but this qualifies you for a $500 scholarship.  I wouldn’t use this scholarship as a reason to stay overweight though… get the scholarship then get healthy in college.

That’s about it for now.  This gives you an idea how crazy some of these scholarships are… but they give away real cash just like any other scholarship.

From my personal experience, most of my scholarship money came directly from the college from academic and atheletic related scholarships.

But, probably 25% came from weird and random scholarships kind of like the ones on this page.   I had a few $500 scholarships from organizations like the Rotary Club, the booster club for my high school, a local brewery (yep), etc.

Just shake the scholarship money tree and see what happens.

One scholarship that I almost didn’t apply for was an industry related scholarship in the industry my father works in.  The industry is construction equipment rental… and the scholarship was $1,000.  I won that one and it lasted for 4 years… so I raked in $4,000 just by getting over my lack of confidence and sending in the application.

So, use this little list as a jumping off point.  Sit down and write down anything and everything you can think of that may remotely turn into a scholarship.

Any hobbies?  Write them down.

Any talents?  Write them down.

Any health defects?  Write them down.

As I’ve mentioned before, one of the best places to start is online scholarship search engines like Fastweb.  You can make a free account, put in your demographic info so they can find scholarships that fit you, and start applying.  I did it and got at least one scholarship just from about 2 hours worth of searching on Fastweb.

Good luck.  If you know of any other weird scholarships, shoot me an email through the contact page and I’ll post it up.

Anyhow, yes, the title of the article is true.

Here’s the story of how I did it… and how you can find scholarships to help pay for college too.

Okay, I’m not going to tell you that I was a C student… screwed around in class… had no business going to college… etc.  If that was you, I’m going to be straight with you and let you know that it’s going to be a bit more difficult.

But, almost anyone who can get into a college is probably eligible for some scholarships out there.

Anyhow, here’s the process that I took that got me enough scholarships to pay for 100% of my college.

Setting the Foundation -

Ideally, you want to start in your freshman year of high school (I actually didn’t figure it out until my junior year) and make sure that you are laying the right path toward getting scholarships.

I know, your freshman and sophomore years are the years that you are at the bottom of the barrel and are trying to climb up in the social world of high school.  But, I’m going to tell you right now… getting good (or at least decent grades) grades does not mean you are a nerd.  That’s weak thinking if you ask me.

What is more cool? 

• Acting “cool” by not doing your home work, not trying your hardest, and looking like a “bad ass” to impress a few people.  And watching your friends go to college… while you sit at home because you either couldn’t get into a college… or you can’t afford it.

or

• Actually giving a damn about your future, doing your best, attracting attention for being known as a go getter, and actually getting into school… and maybe even not paying for college at all.

Hmmmm…

That’s a tough one. 

I was kind of more in the first group in my freshman and sophomore years.  I thought it wasn’t all that important that I get my GPA up over 3.5. 

But, I was lucky enough to have an older brother who was a senior when I was a freshman… and he was the guy in the first group all of the way through high school.  I love the guy… but guess what happened to him?

He couldn’t get into a 4 year school, got no scholarships, and ended up not finishing college while his friends (even the one that everyone coined as the screw off) made it through college to graduate.

That really lit a fire under my ass and made me realize that I could still have fun, be “cool”, and get my work done in high school all at the same time.

So, what did I do to set my foundation for getting scholarships and getting into pretty much any school I wanted?

1. I started to actually care and apply myself.  School is a heck of a lot more interesting when you actually try something and conquer it.  My grades have always been decent, but in my first two years of high school I let them slip a bit so I was around a 3.2.  At the end of my junior year I sat down and calculated what grades I needed to get in my senior year to meet the scholarship qualifications for the colleges I wanted to go to.  My main college choices all required at least a 3.75 GPA to qualify for their scholarships. My calculations showed me that I had to get straight A’s my entire senior year in order to get that 3.75.  The only problem is that I had never gotten straight A’s in high school up to that point.  For most people… that’s a problem.  But, for those who are determined to get what they want… it’s just a challenge.
2. I took the hardest classes I could find… not the easy ways out.  Colleges look at more than just your grades.  My best friend that I have known since I was 1 year old… well, his mom is the Registrar at a top college here in Oregon.  So, I talked to her about what colleges look for when giving out scholarships. One of her biggest answers was that they like to see that you didn’t loaf your senior year.  Most kids use their senior year to relax and take only the classes they needed to take to graduate.  Those are the people that usually don’t get too far in life.  So, I made sure that I still took as many classes as I could… and that the classes were the honors classes (or at least the highest level class I could possibly take).  Hey, I’d rather get a B in an honors class any day of the week than get an A in the low level class.So, don’t loaf.  Take the honors and AP classes.  Colleges like to see that on the resume and application.
3. Volunteering isn’t as bad as it seems… it actually is pretty fun.  Another thing that my buddies mom (the college Registrar) taught me was that you need to be (or at least look like) a well-rounded person. Ya, grades are fine and dandy… but when I later applied for Law School… I learned that grades really are like #2 or #3 on the list of importance.So, I went out and volunteered for stuff.  Don’t just go out and volunteer for any ol’ thing.  Do something that you’ll actually enjoy so you will stick with it a little longer. A few things I volunteered for were:
   
   1. Spent time w/ elderly at a nursing home once a week.  These people are lonely and just like to talk to people.  It really made me feel great every time I went too. 
   2. Volunteered as a baseball coach for little leaguers (this was hilarious!)
   3. Helped at the March of Dimes walk a few years in a row
   4. Helped run a canned food drive for Thanksgiving dinner baskets
   5. Did a toy drive for needy children
4. I joined a school club or two that interested me.  Extra curricular activities are pretty important to college admissions and scholarship comittees.  Baseball was always my thing, so I at least could put that I was on the varsity baseball team for 3 years (we won the state championship my junior year too!).  But, I also joined a club called FBLA. FBLA is a business club that helps you hone your business skills.  I joined it my senior year just to get another thing on my college resume… but I actually enjoyed it.  So, look at your interests… and see if there is a school club that you can join.  And… NO, it isn’t nerdy to join these clubs.  Once again, what is nerdy is sitting on your ass at home when you are 20 because you couldn’t get into college… or racking up $50,000 in student loans because you couldn’t get any scholarships. 
5. Almost there… I didn’t say it would be extremely easy to get ALL of your school paid for… did I?  Then, I went out and searched for scholarships that I even remotely qualified for.Believe it or not, there are some weird ass scholarships out there… scholarships for pretty much anything.  I found one for left-handed veterans in my search… but I didn’t apply for that one, DARN!  But, I did find a ton that I did qualify for.  
   Look Locally:  There are a ton of local and school centered scholarships out there for the taking.  I didn’t know about any of these before I went to my senior class counselor and asked her.  She happily handed me a whole stack of local scholarships that I could apply for.  Most of these ones aren’t huge… but they sure did add up for me.

   Look at the College:  Almost every college has some type of scholarship foundation that you can apply to.  I ended up getting about $1,500 a term from one foundation scholarship just by filling out the application and sending it in.  If you don’t send in the application, you are guaranteeing to NOT get the scholarship.Search Online:  This was one way that I found a ton of cool scholarships to apply for, and actually won a scholarship that paid me $1,000 a year for 4 years.  There are a ton of free scholarship search databases out there. 

   The one that I liked the best was Fastweb.  Here’s a link to search for scholarships for free.  Just fill in the questionnaire form so they can set up your free account and find scholarships that match you… and you’re on your way.

   FastWeb Free Scholarship Search <<

   Find as many scholarships as you can that you qualify for and apply to as many as you can without going crazy.  I think I qualified for something like 20-30 scholarships and ended up getting enough to pay for all 4 years of undergraduate, plus I usually actually got money back every term… so I made money going to college!But, I wouldn’t have gotten any of them… and I’d still be forking over cash to the student loan sharks if I didn’t have the confidence to apply myself and give myself a chance.

So, that’s my quick and dirty story of how I built my foundation for getting college scholarships.  No, it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world… but neither is paying student loans for 10 years or working at McDonalds because you couldn’t get into college.

The most important thing about setting your foundation for getting scholarships is to know that you don’t get anything you want unless you try.  So, if you truly want to go to college… and you really don’t feel like paying back $50-$75,000 in student loans… apply yourself now and set your foundation for successfully getting scholarships.

In other articles I describe how to go about finding scholarships, applying, writing your essay, and a ton more.

So, if you are in high school or are a bit older but are heading back to college… I’d suggest bookmarking our site.  Not only do we give you useful and actionable information… but we provide you with discounts and tools that will help make college life a whole lot easier for you.