Scholarships for High School Seniors Check 2021 Full List
10 Scholarships for High School Seniors: Many high school seniors will wonder if there are available scholarships for them as they take on a new adventure into college.
The assurance is that there are scholarship opportunities available for you.
Available High School Scholarships
As you are making plans on what college you want to attend and what major you want to study, be sure you add “applying for scholarship” to your college to-do-list.
In order to make the work easier and simple for you, there is a compiled directory of top 10 scholarships for high school seniors just for you.
These scholarships for high school seniors are generally flexible (so you’ll be able to use them at any accredited college you attend), and they also don’t have any geographical restrictions (so you’re eligible to apply no matter where you live).
There are thousands of scholarships out there for high school seniors, all with different eligibility requirements, deadlines, and award amounts, so it’s definitely worth your time to do some research.
1. The Fountainhead Essay Contest
Students compete for this award by writing an essay on one of three topics related to Ayn Rand’s book The Fountainhead.
The first-place winner will receive a grand prize of $10,000. Runners-up also receive awards. Each year a total of $22,500 is given out in prize money.
- Eligibility: Students in grades 11-12
- Deadline: Application Closed.
OFFICIAL LINK
2. Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest
Students compete for this award by writing an essay on one of three topics related to Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged. The first-place winner will receive a $25,000 prize.
Runners-up also win prizes, and a whopping $40,000 in scholarship money is awarded annually.
- Eligibility: High school seniors, college students, and graduate students
- Deadline: Application Closed.
OFFICIAL LINK
3. American Legion National High School Oratorical Test
Are you a good public speaker, or do you just want an excuse to hone your public speaking skills? Then this competition would be a good fit for you.
Students compete for this award by preparing and performing a three- to five-minute oration on some aspect of the US Constitution. You can view this year’s topics here.
The first-place winner receives $18,000, second place receives $16,000, and third place receives $14,000. There are also smaller awards for state winners. In total, annual award amounts can exceed $138,000.
- Eligibility: US high school students under 20 years of age
- Deadline: Varies by state, as contests are arranged by local American Legion departments. Get more information for your state here.
OFFICIAL LINK
4. Create-a-Greeting Card Scholarship Contest (Gallery Collection Scholarship)
This scholarship is pretty unique—and it’s great for students with some untapped artistic talents!
Students compete for this award by submitting a photo, piece of artwork, or computer graphic to be used on the front of a greeting card.
The winner will receive $10,000, and the winner’s school will also get an award of $1,000.
- Eligibility: High school and college students
- Deadline: Application Closed.
OFFICIAL LINK
5. Burger King Scholars Program
Applicants to this scholarship are judged on their GPA, work experience, extracurricular activities, and community service.
Award amounts range from those as small as $1,000 to those as large as $50,000.
- Eligibility: US high school seniors
- Deadline: Application Closed.
OFFICIAL LINK
6. Roland McDonald House Charities Scholarship
For these, award eligibility requirements will vary based on your local Ronald McDonald House Charity chapter. For example, some have ethnic eligibility requirements.
Deadlines and award amounts will also vary by location, but some of the bigger national awards can be as large as $100,000!
Check out our how-to guide to learn more about getting an RMHC scholarship.
- Eligibility: High school seniors, but other requirements may apply depending on the scholarship
- Deadline: Varies depending on the scholarship
OFFICIAL LINK
7. Jackie Robinson’s Foundation Scholarship Program
Applicants to this need-based scholarship are judged on their leadership skills and commitment to community service. To be considered eligible, you must identify as a minority student. As many as 60 new scholarships are awarded annually. The scholarships are four-year awards, and recipients can receive as much as $30,000 over four years.
- Eligibility: Minority high school seniors
- Deadline: Application Closed.
OFFICIAL LINK
8. Engebretson Foundation Scholarship
This need-based scholarship is pretty straightforward: it’s awarded to one student each year who demonstrates not only financial need but also impressive academic performance and leadership ability.
The annual award winner receives $5,000 per semester of college.
- Eligibility: Current high school seniors
- Deadline: Application Closed.
OFFICIAL LINK
9. Vegetarian Resource Group Scholarship
Are you a proud vegetarian? This might seem like a niche award, but the scholarship is very real! Applicants are judged on their “compassion, courage, and a strong commitment to promoting a peaceful world through a vegetarian diet/lifestyle.”
If you’ve promoted vegetarianism at school or in your community, you’ll likely be a strong candidate for this scholarship. The first-place winner receives $10,000, and two runners-up each receive $5,000.
- Eligibility: Graduating high school seniors
- Deadline: Application Closed.
OFFICIAL LINK
10. Davidson Fellowship Scholarships
Do you have an extraordinary achievement you’re particularly proud of? This scholarship is for students who have completed an impressive piece of work in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math, literature, music, or philosophy.
Scholarship requirements differ based on the type of project, with awards ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.
- Eligibility: Students 18 years of age and under
- Deadline: Application Closed.
OFFICIAL LINK
A General Application Guide
Interested and qualified candidates should note that the application is done online by visiting the above official links.
Note: Before you start this application, ensure you have clearly scanned copies of the following documents:
- – Passport photograph with white background not more than 3 months old (450px by 450px not more than 200kb)
- – School ID Card
- – Level Certificate
- – Birth Certificate
- – certificate of origin
- – Ensure the documents are named according to what they represent to avoid mixing up documents during upload
- – Ensure you attach the appropriate documents when asked to upload
- – Ensure to provide valid Email and Phone Contact for effective communication
Multiple applications attract a disqualification penalty from the Scholarship board
Tips for a Successful Scholarship Application
If you’re going to go through all the work of submitting a scholarship application, then you want to make sure you have the best chances possible of winning awards.
The following three tips will help you submit the greatest number of successful scholarship applications possible.
♦ CARRY OUT YOUR OWN RESEARCH
As you’ve probably noticed, many of the above scholarships are fairly generous national awards that’ll likely be quite competitive.
Unfortunately, you could be a strong applicant for many of these scholarships and still not win a big award. So what’s a student to do?
The reality is that there are countless scholarship programs out there that might be really good fits for your interests, location, background, identity, etc.
The more niche a scholarship program is, the better chances you’ll have of winning an award (if you’re a qualified applicant, that is).
So do some research on scholarship programs that operate in your area or are offered to students with your particular interests, experiences, skills, or passions.
In addition, you could branch out on your own by searching online for scholarships in your area. If you have a particular talent, skill, or interest, look for scholarships that are offered to students based on those criteria.
♦ APPLY FOR MANY
Applying for scholarships—like applying to colleges—is, in part, a numbers game. You wouldn’t apply to just one school if you wanted to optimize your chances of getting into a great college, would you?
Many scholarship applications ask similar questions and require similar information, so if you apply to one program, you might as well apply to a bunch. It’s free to apply for most scholarships anyway—all it takes is a few hours of your time.
Finally, take advantage of applications that submit you for consideration for many scholarship awards, such as the Horatio Algier Scholarship mentioned above.
♦ REMEMBER THE DEADLINES
Scholarship applications are all over the place—there’s no defined “scholarship season” for submission deadlines, but many are due before college application deadlines.
As such, it’s better to start your scholarship search sooner rather than later so you don’t miss out on any great opportunities.
The summer before your senior year is a good time to start making note of programs that you’re interested in.
Keep track of application deadlines by maintaining a spreadsheet that you update regularly.
This is especially helpful if applications require you to ask for letters of recommendation; you can make sure to give teachers and mentors plenty of advance notice to write you a letter.
CSN Team.
