By College Toolkit

College Toolkit talked with school counselors to help unravel the mystery of winning a scholarship. While there may be no "magic formula," we did uncover some useful advice for making yourself a great scholarship (and college) candidate.

Tip #1: Get involved in something you are passionate about

Every school counselor we interviewed had this piece of advice: "Be yourself."

Do not think of this process as trying to fit into some "scholarship winner's" mold. Pursue activities that you enjoy doing and participate in organizations that are passionate about. You are much more likely to stick with an activity if you enjoy doing it.

There are thousands of organizations out there looking to give money to high-achieving students, whatever the activity may be. Not every scholarship requires that you participate in a sport, that you be on the school newspaper, or that you play an instrument. Being the National Yo-Yo Champion will likely impress many scholarship committees.

Tip #2: Quality Over Quantity

Pick a handful of activities and do them well. Most scholarship committees are not interested in seeing that you participated in dozens of activities for 5 minutes each, but would rather know that you dedicated considerable chunks of time to a few activities.

Scholarship committees want candidates who have made significant progress towards a goal or who have achieved something meaningful. By really immersing yourself in an activity, you demonstrate t...

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