The FRCC Foundation scholarship application for the 2016-2017 academic year opened on Dec. 1. As the FRCC Foundation’s program and annual fund manager, I have the great privilege of overseeing our scholarship program. When I am out and about speaking to potential scholarship applicants, I often hear students making incorrect assumptions about our scholarships, so I’d like to dispel those.
‘I’m not a good scholarship candidate.’
While students are often excited at the prospect of receiving a scholarship, they sometimes assume that they are not a great candidate to receive one. This could not be further from the truth! The FRCC Foundation scholarship application provides students with the opportunity to apply for a multitude of scholarships—all of which have unique eligibility criteria. This means there’s something for just about everyone! In fact, the FRCC Foundation Scholarship application gives students access to over 60 individual scholarship opportunities. We have scholarships for full-time and part-time students, scholarships specifically for students attending our three main FRCC campuses, scholarships for men, scholarships for women, scholarships for students pursuing science and/or math or for students pursuing a career in machining; and the list goes on and on.
‘I’m not a straight A student.’
Our scholarships are not just for straight-A students. While those are definitely available, many of our scholarships have GPA requirements that start at 2.0. I often tell students that the best way to determine if they are a good candidate to receive a scholarship, is to take the time to apply and see what happens!
‘I don’t have time to apply for a scholarship.’
Unfortunately, I hear that students are just too busy to apply, or that the process of applying is just too difficult. Again, this is just not the case. With the exception of the scholarship essay, our application is done completely online and takes less than 10 minutes to complete. The application is the easy part.
What is more challenging, and most important, is the scholarship essay. As part of the application process, all students are asked to submit an essay that is no more than two double-spaced pages in length. I always encourage students to spend a significant amount of time on their essay, as this is the most important part of their application. It is always a great idea to have a scholarship essay looked at by at least one or two additional people. It is also very important to be open to feedback. The people who are helping to review your essay before you submit it, really want you to succeed! The FRCC Foundation, as well as our many volunteer reviewers, can easily distinguish an essay that was hastily thrown together from one that was developed thoughtfully over a period of time. Since our average scholarship award is around $1,000, taking the time to really develop and craft your essay, is absolutely worth the extra time and effort.
The Foundation will be accepting applications until 3 p.m. March 1, 2016. All current, future, and prospective FRCC students are strongly encouraged to apply. Questions can be directed to the Foundation at (303) 404-5464 or the.foundation@frontrange.edu.
