Everything You Need to Know About Scholarships on bold.org as a High School Student
Who doesn’t want extra scholarship funding for college? With rising tuition costs, unpredictable financial aid awards, and few merit-based scholarships offered at top universities, affording college is increasingly stressful for incoming students. Looking for external scholarships can be difficult, as is figuring out if you’re a strong candidate for the options out there. In this blog, we’ll explore one strong resource — bold.org.
We’ll start off with an overview of how to search for scholarships, then move on to discuss the features of the site, including what makes it unique, how to find scholarships on the site, and our review.
Where can I look for scholarships as a high schooler?
When it comes to finding scholarships, the search can seem overwhelming at first. But don't worry - there are tons of opportunities out there for high schoolers like you! A great place to start is by checking with your school's guidance counselor. They'll have info on local and national scholarships, as well as ones specifically for students at your school.
Another place to look is with organizations and companies in your community or that are tied to your interests, cultural background, or field you want to study. For example, if you're really into visual arts, art schools and design companies often have sweet scholarships. The key is using your personal strengths and passions to your advantage when it comes to funding your education.
It's also a good idea to get the ball rolling early by looking on scholarship database websites that let you create a profile and can match you with scholarships you might be eligible for. Let’s discuss one of these options in more depth — bold.org!
What is bold.org?
Bold.org website that offers tons of scholarship opportunities for high school and college students like you. But Bold.org isn't like other scholarship sites - it collaborates directly with all kinds of organizations, companies, donors and individuals to create over 2,000 unique scholarship opportunities that you won't find anywhere else online.
So how does it work? First, you'll create a profile on Bold.org sharing details about yourself, your goals, accomplishments and activities. Then you can browse through their exclusive scholarships and apply to the ones that feel like a good fit for you. Bold.org's team will review applications and create a shortlist of qualified students to potentially win each scholarship. From there, they'll work with the donor to select the winners. It's a cool way to potentially earn money for college while connecting with some amazing organizations!
How do I apply for scholarships as a high schooler on bold.org?
Applying for scholarships on Bold.org is pretty straightforward once you've created your student profile. Your free profile showcases your background, experience, and skills to scholarship panels. When you’re ready to start applying, you can sort opportunities based on categories like gender, race/ethnicity, intended field of study, state of residence, career goals, and academic merit. For some, you may need to fill out a pre-qualification survey to see if you match the scholarship criteria.
If you qualify, just click "Apply" and submit the required materials like your transcript, resume, and personal statement. Some scholarships on Bold.org also require you to submit an entry that showcases a specific skill or talent. For example, you might have to write a short essay, create an artistic portfolio, or film a video talking about your goals. You may also need to write an application essay discussing why the scholarship is a good fit for you. Don't stress about these entries though! The site will provide clear instructions, and it's a great chance to get creative while sharing what makes you unique. Just be yourself, follow the guidelines, and put effort into your submission.
Your application and entry get managed right on your Bold.org dashboard, where you can view statuses and updates on the scholarships you've applied for. If you're selected as a winner, Bold.org will automatically apply those scholarship funds to your tuition - no extra paperwork needed! It's an easy way to potentially earn money for college while showcasing your unique talents.
What is unique about Bold.org scholarships?
The most standout feature of Bold.org is its high number of niche scholarship opportunities, particularly focusing on less-common career paths and specific life adversities. Though this does limit the number of relevant scholarships for applicants using the site, it can be a rare opportunity for those who qualify!
With scholarships for students of military families or single mothers, students affected by breast cancer, physically disabled students, undocumented students, Bold.org helps fund the education of those who overcame difficulties as they worked towards earning a college education.
Students seeking specific career paths that have less institutional support, such as dental hygiene, auto repair, or veterinary studies, can find great opportunities for extra tuition funding via Bold.org as well.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Specialized scholarships: A unique feature of Bold.org is the niche scholarships available, which seek out students fitting specialized criteria. For example, while a growing number of scholarships focus on supporting disadvantaged students, Bold.org adds more specificity to the mix. Similarly, many discipline-specific scholarships focus on broader areas such as STEM or the arts, while Bold.org scholarships fund less-common career paths.
Reduced competitiveness: Related to the point above, since many scholarships have narrow criteria, qualifying students have a much higher chance of winning the award. Some particularly unique scholarships have only 50 applicants, which gives you a far greater chance than more popular scholarships with tens of thousands of applicants. Since all of these scholarships are exclusive to Bold.org, using this lesser-known site will also boost your odds.
Cons
Limited or niche scholarship options: While Bold.org offers exclusive scholarships you can't find elsewhere, many have quite narrow criteria for who can apply. As noted in the ‘Pros’, this can be highly advantageous for those who qualify. However, many of these scholarships won’t be applicable to the average student. So, the overall number of opportunities may be more limited compared to general scholarship search sites.
Low financial awards: While every dollar won through a scholarship is a dollar saved, it can still feel tedious to put hours into an application with limited funding. With many awards in the $500 - $2,000 range, some may find it worthwhile to apply to more competitive scholarships with higher payoffs.
Extra application requirements: Many Bold.org scholarships require submitting supplemental materials like essays, videos or portfolios showcasing specific skills/talents, which adds extra effort to the application process. Since many scholarships on the website have limited funding, this can be a frustrating experience.
Our thoughts
Bold.org is definitely a scholarship platform worth checking out if you're a high school or college student looking to fund your education. With its unique approach of partnering directly with organizations, donors and companies, Bold.org is able to offer scholarships you legitimately can't find anywhere else online.
The application process is straightforward - create a profile highlighting your background and talents, then apply for the Bold.org scholarships that feel like a good fit. You may have to put in a little extra effort submitting written, artistic or video entries, but it's a great way to showcase your creativity and passion.
At the same time, the specificities of Bold.org means there's a more limited number of total scholarship opportunities compared to general search engines. And the narrow criteria for many scholarships can make it more difficult to find awards that fit your needs.
Overall, Bold.org seems like a valuable supplemental resource as you put together your scholarship game plan. Checking what unique opportunities they have available could potentially pay off in a big way. It's absolutely worth the few minutes it takes to create a free profile and browse their scholarships. Who knows - your "bold" application could be exactly what resonates with a donor!
If you’d like to boost your scholarship application by adding an independent research project to your profile, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs!
This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced research and develop a research paper on a subject of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1000+ high school students so far and offers 600+ research specializations for you to choose from.
You can find the application link here
One other option – Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you are interested in doing university-level research, then you could also consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, a selective online high school program for students that I founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.
Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
Image Source: Bold.org logo