Accessing scholarships offered through Naviance

Photo courtesy of dusd.net // Seniors interested in accessing scholarships should familiarize themselves with Naviance.

Naviance provides many scholarship opportunities that some students are unaware of. On the naviance homepage under the tab “colleges”, there is an option listed as “scholarships & money.” Once you click on this link, you can view scholarship matches, scholarship lists, scholarship applications, and national scholarship searches. Each tab will give you a greater chance of finding a scholarship that meets your criteria.

Scholarships give seniors an opportunity to gain money towards college. Every scholarship has its different requirements whether it be ethnicity, GPA, gender, etc. There are about 250 scholarship applications available on Naviance.

Under the tab “view scholarship match” there is a list of scholarships that our school has entered. It tells you what the scholarship is called, it’s matching criteria, and deadline. Under matching criteria, there may be some that say “no restrictions found.” That means that our school hasn’t entered any requirements that we don’t match.

When going on a scholarship site, there is typically information on the scholarship and what it offers. There will also be a list of requirements in order for someone to be qualified for the scholarship. If you meet the criteria, you can begin filling out the scholarship. Some scholarships ask you to write a essay on a particular subject so make sure that you’re prepared and that this scholarship is right for you.

In the beginning of the school year, every senior should’ve received a scholarship packet. If not, visit westhillweb.com. At the bottom of the home page in bold, it says ‘Scholarships’. If you click on the attachment, it should bring you to a Westhill scholarship program and a common application for scholarships. Filling out the whole packet will be beneficial, because you can then give it to your guidance counselor for help narrowing the list down to find the right matches for you. There will be questions that you might have to ask your parents to answer, but at the end of the day it’s all worth it.