As a high school senior, the year is coming to an end. From the beginning to the end of the year, it has been all about college and what’s to come next. This has been one of the most stressful times as a student, including all the work that comes with the classes I’m in right now as well. It is a very exciting experience to start finding out what college you’re going to, what awards and scholarships you’ll receive and who you’ll be with. However, the whole scholarship process added on much more stress than was needed – scholarships are hard for students to receive and they need to be easier to find and easier to apply for so students are able to receive as much help as possible.

Having school for seven hours a day, going straight to work and then straight home with very little time to finish things due the next day, I also had to incorporate time to write and fill out applications and scholarships for college. Spending that extra time on scholarships was needed, but also an excessive amount of time. Writing an essay doesn’t take one to two hours. It takes at most a day if you work hard enough in that amount of time. 

Everyone says to make sure to fill out scholarships and make sure they’re done in the right time frame. Why? Because, they’re beneficial for you all throughout college if you receive one. But, scholarships for anyone applying are really hard to actually receive and say you won. There are a large variety of items that are required for the scholarship and if they apply to you, you are able to apply, if not you have no chance of receiving that scholarship. Students already spend a lot of time with school and work. There needs to be a way for students to be able to receive help from these foundations without making it difficult or more stressful for them, scholarships need to be easier and more applicable. 

The chances of a student receiving a scholarship that 500 people have applied to are nearly 0.2%. Is that number worth the stress and amount of time? Not only is that for a college student, but worldwide according to educationdata.org. Over 1.7 million scholarships are awarded to people who apply and only 7% of college students receive that money. That is not a large number. You have to meet the criteria and fit perfectly into the category of writing they are looking for. That’s not an easy thing for everyone to do. 

Students who need financial help won’t be able to receive that, even if they applied to over 15 scholarships the chances of being awarded a scholarship are low. This can be very hard on students which is why there needs to be an easier way to fill out and receive scholarships.

https://educationdata.org/scholarship-statistics#:~:text=Over%201.7%20million%20scholarships%20are,billion%20in%20scholarship%20money%20annually.