Middletown High School - Middletown City School District

What To Do After You’ve Won A ScholarshipThank You LettersThe first step you can take is to write a thank you letter. Whoexactly are you thanking? Well, you can thank a number ofpeople—the organization sponsoring the award, the scholarshipselection committee, even the program director who sentyou your award notification letter. It doesn’t have to be like aspeech at the Oscars, but at least thank the judges who spentcountless hours reading over thousands of applications. Takesome time to find out who the major sponsors are for that particularscholarship and address the letter to them. Perhaps writetwo or three thank you letters if there are multiple sponsors.Requesting FundsIf you receive an award notification letter in the mail, it willprobably include an instruction sheet on how to request yourfunds for the upcoming school year. There may be a form thatyou need to fill out with the contact information of the scholarshipoffice at your school and your student information. You may wantto double check with your school to find out where scholarshipchecks should be sent. Keep in mind that most universities havea financial aid office and a separate scholarship award office(sometimes known as student fiscal services). The financial aidoffice determines your financial aid award package, and thescholarship award office actually handles the money. You canfind the appropriate information by visiting the school’s Website or calling the scholarship office.Once you’ve sent in your form, checks will either be maileddirectly to the school or sent to you to take to the scholarshipoffice. In some cases, the checks may be co-written to you andthe school with the task of submitting the funds to the schoolas your responsibility. More than likely, the checks will be sentdirectly to the school and deposited into your account.If for some reason you do not receive any money, even aftersubmitting your information back to the organization by the requesteddate, you will want to call the organization and checkon your award status. Sometimes they do not have sufficientinformation like where to send the check. Do not assume thatthey just decided not to award you your funds. As the scholarshiprecipient, it is your responsibility to make sure they have the correctinformation in order to give you the correct award amount.Keeping In TouchFinally, an important aspect of winning scholarships is that younow have an entire network that is willing to support you. Thisnetwork, which comprises of organization members, community leaders,and others affiliated with the scholarship program, can offeryou a rich pool of opportunities like jobs, internships, mentors, andmore. Scholarship organizations like to know how their scholars doin school, what their hobbies are, and any updates about their lives.It’s a nice reminder for them of why they contribute to scholarshipsfor students to attend college.One of the best ways of keeping organizations up-to-dateon your college experience is to create a quarterly newsletter,or even simpler, a nice e-mail. Send it to the different organizationsand anyone you might have met at an awards banquet oreven your friends and family. By keeping in touch and remainingvisible, you can show the organization that you appreciate theirgenerosity and that you’re thankful for their support.Need help applyingfor scholarships? Makean appointment withMrs. Parker or Mrs. Brissingat the Collegeand Career Center.9 Scholarship Guide 2011/2012