You’re responsible to research scholarships and financial assistance, but we want to help whenever possible. Here are some tips and resources we’ve found useful.

 

We recommend that parents and students start researching and applying for scholarships as early as the beginning of the junior year. Many scholarships have early deadlines. For example:

 

• Tennessee Promise Scholarship: applications by November of senior year

• FAFSA for Tennessee grants (Tennessee Hope Scholarship, etc.): March of the senior year

• National Merit Scholarship Competition: take PSAT in the junior year (if graduating in four years).

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Tennessee Promise Scholarship

This offers two free years of college. To qualify, the student must meet a series of requirements with strict deadlines. For more information and this year’s deadlines, go to: www.collegefortn.org/tnpromise/.

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Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

(Automatically enters student for the TN Hope Scholarship)

For specific FAFSA deadlines, select the funding year and state on their website: studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa.

 

Tennessee Hope Scholarship

This is awarded to homeschooled students who apply for the FAFSA, make an ACT composite score of at least 21 (or SAT equivalent), and have been enrolled with a homeschool program for a full school year immediately prior to graduation. For more information and this year’s deadlines, go to: www.collegefortn.org/tennessee-hope-scholarship-3/.

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Note About Forms

If a form requires verification by a counselor or school official, please complete the student/parent portion, sign your part if required, and then send the form to Gateway for verification and signature by a school official. Let us know where and how (mail, fax, or email) to send the completed form.

 

Other Scholarships and College Information

For more college funding, research available scholarships paying particular attention to their requirements and deadlines. See the sites below:

 

• www.collegefortn.org/tennessee-financial-aid/

This is the official site for financial aid in Tennessee.

 

On the three sites below, make a free account for an excellent scholarship and college search.

• www.scholarships.com

On this site, you can mark your favorite scholarships and the ones you’ve applied for. It also has a scholarship deadline calendar.

• www.collegescholarships.com

This site will suggest scholarships based on your profile. It also has information on scholarship applications and college searches.

• bigfuture.collegeboard.org/

If you've taken the SAT or PSAT, you already have an account with access to more features including saving scholarships you’re interested in. The college search can be tailored to your test scores.

 

The two sites below offer a scholarship search and many other resources.

• www.fastweb.com

With an account, you’ll see a continuously updated list of matching scholarships. You can mark scholarships you’re interested in or have applied to and get email reminders of deadlines. This site also has an internship search and career planning resources.

• www.supercollege.com

This site’s database can be tailored to your profile. It also has lots of articles and answered questions about college applications and college life, as well as a list of  helpful books for the college bound student.

 

The two sites below offer other great scholarship resources.

• www.guaranteed-scholarships.com

This is a list of scholarships that are guaranteed if you meet the criteria (no limits on number given out). They’re listed alphabetically by offering institution.

• securingdegrees.org

This is a paid resource that offers personal support and coaching to achieve full funding for all of college.

 

Helpful Strategies

Submit your requests early to make sure you meet scholarship deadlines. Remember that preparation of transcripts and other paperwork takes time. We try to complete requests in the order they were received, and others may be ahead of you.

 

Note the ACT/SAT score needed for the scholarship/financial aid and colleges you are interested in. To give yourself the best opportunity to achieve a high score, take a practice ACT/SAT or the PSAT, and make your first attempts early in high school to allow time for multiple attempts.

 

If the scholarship requires an essay, make sure yours represents your best writing and includes real-life experiences (if appropriate).

 

Participate in community service and/or volunteer opportunities, and keep records that can be used in a portfolio. 

 

Portfolios

When highly competitive colleges or scholarship committees evaluate applications, they may prefer students who appear to be well-rounded, successful, and likely to make their mark in the world. An impressive portfolio can make the difference.

 

Begin collecting material for a portfolio early in the student’s high school career. A good portfolio documents abilities, successes, and interests, which may not be represented on an academic transcript. It showcases character, skills, talents, hobbies, accomplishments, honors, volunteer work, and involvement in the community. It’s also helpful for it to indicate an interest and aptitude for the major a student plans to pursue or the field related to a specific scholarship.

 

A portfolio can be a website, or digital or physical files. Some college and scholarship applications include space for portfolio information or a website link. A portfolio may also physically accompany a transcript submitted to a college or scholarship committee.