Scholarships

UCLA Alumni Association.  For students going to UCLA next year.  $4000-$17,500.  Be sure to apply for both the Freshman and the Bunche scholarship—you’re eligible for both!  DEADLINE Feb. 21st.  Letters of recommendation required.

Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA).  $1,000.  DEADLINE: Fri., Feb. 22nd.  Recommendation required.

CORE’s Que Llueva Café Scholarship for undocumented students. $500.  DEADLINE: FEB. 23rd.

Cal Alumni Assoc. Achievement Award.  $6,000 + laptop.  DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 24TH.

Buick Achievers.  $2,000-25,000.  For students interested in engineering and business and a particular interest in the automobile industry (you like cars!).  DEADLINE: FEB. 28th. (U.S. citizenship required)

HSF/ Procter & Gamble Orgullosa Scholarship Program. $2,500.  Must major in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math field.  DEADLINE. FEB. 28TH.  (U.S. citizenship required)

The Rotary Club offers several different scholarships for LAUSD students.  Read about them and print an application here.   Follow the "Scholarships" and "2013 Rotary College Scholarships" links.   You can apply to more than one scholarship using the same application! DEADLINE March 1st.  $1,000-8,000. 

Soul2Seoul.  $2,000.  For students helping to improve relations between different groups.  PRIORITY DEADLINE: Mar. 1st.  Apply online at soul2seoul.org.

Delta Sigma Theta Scholarship for African-American students.  3.5 or higher GPA required.  DEADLINE: March 8th.

Delta Kappa Gamma Scholarship for women entering Teaching.  $500 – 1000.  See Mr. Abarr for an application.  DEADLINE March 12th.

Erika J. Glazer Family Scholarship Fund for AB 540 students.  $1,000 to $8,500/yr.  Must attend CSU Los Angeles or Dominguez Hills.   DEADLINE March 12th.

UTLA Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Scholarship.  DEADLINE March 12th.

The Change a Life Scholarship.  $5,000.  3.5 GPA and at least 1500 on SAT or 21 on ACT.  Must have taken AP courses.  Apply online by MARCH 14TH.

The Alliance / Merck Ciencia Scholars program is a great scholarship and internship program for students pursuing careers in Science, Technology (Engineering or Medicine), or Math.  Total package is worth up to $42,500.  DEADLINE: MARCH 15th.

Kohl’s Cares Scholarship.  $10,000.  DEADLINE March 15th.  Given for exemplary community service.  You must be nominated by an adult—give them the web site address so they can nominate you ASAP!

LA Assoc. of School Psychologists Memorial Scholarship (LAASP).  For students interested in the field of education.  $500.  DEADLINE March 18th.  See Mr. Abarr for more info.

Council of Mexican American Administrators.  $2,000.  DEADLINE Mar. 21st.   Open the attached file.

UTLA Sue Embrey Community Activist Scholarship.  For community service.  DEADLINE Mar. 21st. 

Telacu Education Foundation. $500-3,000. View or print the 2 attached files.  Priority given to applicants attending partnering colleges—be sure to check these on the last page of the program description! Priority given to science, math, engineering, or business majors.  DEADLINE Mar. 22nd.

Los Angeles County Commission for Women.  For girls who participate in a community agency like Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Club, DCFS, etc.  Read more to learn about requirements.  $1000.  DEADLINE Mar. 22nd

Trenza Scholarship. $500. For Chicana / Latina seniors.  DEADLINE Mar. 29th.

California Credit Union. $1,000. DEADLINE: Apr. 1st.   

UTLA Ruben Salazar Memorial Scholarship. Application plus poem or essay.  DEADLINE Apr.5th.

Five Pearl Scholarship for African-American females.  $1000.  DEADLINE Apr. 5th.  Open the file below.

CALSA Scholarship. $1,000.  You must get a recommendation from Principal Gomez and a teacher or counselor. DEALINE: Apr. 7th.

Friar Tux Shop Scholarship.  $500.  Selection criteria: combination of the applicant’s academic success, school or community involvement, and financial need.  DEADLINE: April 15th.

UTLA Ruelas Memorial Scholarship.  DEADLINE Apr. 19th.

Adelitas Scholarship for girls.  $300-800. DEADLINE Apr. 19th.  You must attend a Sat., May 4th conference at Pomona.  Open the two files below.

META Scholarship.  $500-$7500.  DEADLINE Apr. 30th.  Apply online.

Chen Foundation Scholarship.  $2,000.  Must major in math, engineering, or a science and attend a CSU campus.  Minimum GPA of 3.0.  DEADLINE: Apr. 30th.

UTLA Stonewall Scholarship.  Helps gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students stay in school and educates non-gay youth to be more accepting of their peers. The UTLA Stonewall scholarship provides financial assistance to deserving LAUSD high school students of all sexual orientations to further their educational goals.  DEADLINE: May 3rd.

South Central Scholars is  more than just a scholarship agency.  They provide informative workshops and great information on their web site regarding financial aid, scholarships, and admissions tips.   Highly recommended! Complete their online intake form to get connected with their services.  The scholarship application for seniors will be available in April.

The community service organization youTHink has compiled several good lists of scholarships, including scholarships for African-American students, scholarships for Latino students, and scholarships for AB 540 students.  (Scroll to the bottom of the page to view the scholarship lists.  You might also want to check out their other college services described on the page!)

Some scholarships require U.S. citizenship or permanent residency. Some do not. AB 540 students should carefully check this before applying, and also explore scholarships through the link "College Resources for AB 540 Students".

This site has a good list of scholarships, including scholarships for 9th-11th grades!

Great list of scholarships compiled by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund!

 

Scholarships versus Financial Aid

Financial aid is based on need (your family's income), while scholarships are based on merit (they are competitive, and you have to win them).  In general, financial aid is much easier to get.  You just complete a FAFSA in January of your senior year, and you will probably get enough financial aid to pay for a community college, a Cal State, a UC, or even a private university (if you're a strong student, a private university might give you the very best deal)!

There are thousands and thousands of scholarships available, but all of them are competitive.  Applying for scholarships takes time, and you are not guaranteed to win, but if you have the motivation, then go for it!  It is true that millions of dollars in scholarship money are given away every year.  Once you have saved copies of your letters of recommendation and personal statements, it can be fairly easy to do additional scholarship applications.

When you apply to a college, you can win scholarships directly from that college based on your application (especially if you're a strong student--remember, scholarships are competitive!).  Your college may require an additional application if you want to compete for scholarships (read the general application carefully, or contact the Financial Aid office at that college if you're interested).  Either way, one of the easiest ways to win scholarships is directly from the college you will attend.

You can use these resources and websites to do your own scholarship search:

The Roybal-Allard Scholarship Booklet.  Open the .pdf file attached below. This is one of the best scholarship booklets available!  It is organized by month of deadline.  Be sure to look at the bottom of the file for scholarships that don’t have a deadline and for those that have multiple deadlines!

Scholarships for Minorities and New Americans.  Another huge list of scholarships.  Open the .pdf file below.  You can search for terms of interest (e.g., “medicine”, “law”, etc.).

Scholarships for Minorities.  Still more scholarships!  Open the .pdf file below and start researching!