Scholarships

How Do You Get Full Ride Scholarships?

Elizabeth Hoyt

September 03, 2019

How Do You Get Full Ride Scholarships?
Discover how, where and why students get full ride scholarships to college.
What if you could get a full ride scholarship to college? Full rides to college do happen and one of the more frequently asked questions that students want answered is:

How do you get full ride scholarships?

First, let’s explore where you can even find available full ride scholarship opportunities. There are many different types of scholarships. That’s why some students are awarded full ride scholarships because of their grades and others are given to students for playing basketball (or an entirely different reason all together).

Top Places You Can Find Full-Ride Scholarships

• Colleges & Universities
• In-State Programs
• Field of Study/Major-based Programs
• Large Scholarship Programs
• Military Branches
Now, let’s talk about why students get full ride scholarships. While there are a myriad of ways students can get scholarships, we’ll focus on the most common reasons for which students receive full ride scholarships to college.

Common Ways to Get Full Ride Scholarships:

Academic/Merit-Based Scholarships –

Many full ride scholarships are awarded to students based on these grade point average, standardized test scores and awards or achievements, like valedictorians, salutatorians or National Honor Society (NHS) scholarships. Discover: What GPA do you need to get a full scholarship?

Extracurricular Activities –

Are you really good at participating in something, like a team sport? Discover the most impressive extracurricular activities.

Need-Based Scholarships –

These are awarded to students who qualify based on their financial situation. Financial aid needs are determined by colleges, state/federal government or scholarship providers (depending on who you are looking to get financial aid or tuition assistance from).

Race, Ethnicity & Gender –

Race, ethnicity or gender are also common attributes scholarships are awarded for.

Other Unique Circumstances –

Unique circumstances, can qualify you for scholarships, too. For example, there are many scholarships just for veterans and/or scholarships just for veterans. You can even get scholarships for things like being bilingual or being from a small town! Note: these are some common reasons scholarships are awarded but, it’s important to note that full ride scholarships are not only limited to the examples above. Scholarships can, and are, awarded for just about anything you can imagine – you just need to find the right opportunity! Check out Fastweb’s Scholarship Directory to learn about more types of scholarships available on Fastweb. Next, learn how you can position yourself to qualify for full ride scholarship opportunities. If you want a full ride scholarship to college, you’re going to have to work for it! There are different strategies you can utilize to position yourself to qualify for a full ride college scholarship.

How to Improve Your Chances of Getting a Full-Ride College Scholarship:

• Start NOW - Begin your college scholarship search early in your high school career.
• Look at all college options - Research and decide which colleges you’d like to apply to and what their scholarship and/or financial aid programs look like.
• Boost your chances of qualifying – Cast a wide net by applying to five or more colleges; this will give you more options when it comes to financial aid.
• Keep your grades up - A lot of scholarships require a certain grade point average (GPA) to qualify and full ride college scholarships are no exception!
• Build a robust student resume - Get involved in student volunteer and extracurricular activities throughout your high school career.
• Try to remain consistent - It’s best to choose one or two extracurricular activities and remain active in them, rather than hopping between a lot of activities for short periods of time. Let’s be honest. Full ride scholarships aren’t exactly easy to get, which is why there’s another great option: multiple scholarships. Smaller award amounts added up can make a big dent in tuition. Don’t Think You’re Going to Get a Full Ride? DON’T PANIC! Why? Because finding scholarships is easy on Fastweb. It only takes a few minutes to find scholarships you actually qualify for. All you need to do is create a Fastweb profile and, from there, we will find scholarships in our database that match your qualifications. Yep, it’s that easy. Your profile will detail things like your GPA, test scores, colleges you’re interested in, and other items within your student resume (extracurricular activities, awards, etc.). And, of course, what you share is your decision. You can tell as much – or as little – about yourself as you like in order to create a profile. But, it’s important to note that the more details you provide, the better your scholarship matches will be. You can have a full list of scholarships you qualify for in the few minutes in takes to fill out your profile. you can have a list of scholarships for which you actually qualify. From there, it’s up to you whether or not you apply, and we highly recommend that you apply to all scholarships you qualify for in order to maximize your chances of winning.
Small awards pay off, too! Check out this highlighted scholarship opportunity:
$500 Invite a Friend to Fastweb Sweepstakes
Deadline: Last Day of Each Month
Available to: All Fastweb Members
Award Amount: $500 The Fastweb Invite a Friend Sweepstakes is open to registered Fastweb members who are legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and who are at least thirteen (13) years of age. You must log into your Fastweb account to obtain your personal referral link. For each person who registers for Fastweb via your personal referral link during the Promotion Period, you and your referral will entered as a pair into the monthly drawing. Learn more about the $500 Invite a Friend to Fastweb Sweepstakes. Have more scholarship questions? Find answers to these frequently asked scholarship questions and more on Fastweb:
How Can I Qualify for a Scholarship?
Can You Use Scholarship Money for Anything?
What are the Requirements for a Scholarship?

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