Scholarship Season & The Milteen Advantage

Just a few months ago, I walked across a sunny stage to receive my high school diploma. And, as it will be for many of you as well, those steps marked my switch from focusing on high school to focusing on college. And, well, college is expensive. 

“Scholarship season” for me was the third quarter of my senior year. Dozens of scholarships went live and terminated each month, and it was exhausting (but so worth it!). I managed to apply to about 25 scholarships, and I was successful in 10 of them, being awarded around 15k in monetary assistance for my future plans. 

This article will largely outline my polished process for scholarships from a military-teen perspective, which is the result of learning after losing hours of my time (and going slightly insane) while looking for and completing scholarship applications. Take these tips however you desire. 

PREPARING FOR SCHOLARSHIPS

Before you even think about filling out scholarship applications, you have to know all about yourself. If you’re at the start of high school, then this is the perfect time to get started. If you’re a junior… well, now’s the perfect time to catch up. 

So, and I cannot say this enough – WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN!!! 

Extracurricular activities (sports, clubs, organizations, etc) – the name of the activity, if the activity is part of a larger organization (like school), the dates you’re a member of the organization/activity, awards you've received through it (including the date of the award), and the weekly/monthly time commitment

*Quick note – know which activities are school vs. community; scholarships might ask you to list them in separate areas on their application. 

Community service (volunteering and service events) – include the name of the event (if applicable), the date of the event (start and end dates if it’s over a time period), the hours you served, and the organization the event is run through

Awards – name of the award, date receiving the award, and the organization the award is through

Leadership positions – the name of the position, the name of the organization, the dates you’ve held the position, and a quick list of the duties of your position

Examples (in their respective order):

• Jazz Band – Leavenworth High School – August 2022 to May 2026 – Excellent Musicianship Award from Ottawa Jazz Festival in February 2026 – 4 hours per week during the school year

• Leavenworth County Humane Society – every Saturday in May, 2026 – 2 hours each day; 8 hours total

• AP Scholar Award – August 2025 – College Board

• Editor-in-chief – BLOOM – August 2023 to April 2026 – managed the writers and editors for the blog program for Bloom, an online military teen program

Writing everything about you down provides efficiency – it helps you remember everything you’ve done, and it helps you be consistent across many scholarships. Some scholarships want incredibly specific information, so knowing all the details will prevent you from having to go back and look at it over and over again. 

FINDING SCHOLARSHIPS

Automatically, military teens have the advantage of our background to assist in the scholarship search. Many scholarships are offered to high school seniors who MUST have a direct relation to the military. I took full advantage of these, including applying to…

• Folds of Honor – I highly recommend!! This is based on your service member's VA disability rating, and it pays for college bills you haven't found another way to cover.

• Kansas Heroes – you have to be living in Kansas and going to a University in Kansas, but this one is a tuition and mandatory fee waiver for up to ten semesters! It is also based on your service member's VA disability rating.

• WACVA-AWU – Sorry to any boys… this one applies to just girls, and you must have a female relative who served in the US Army.

• American Legion Auxiliary -- there are several of these scholarships, and it's worth it to see if you are eligible for at least one of them.

• Fisher House (Commissary) -- this one is super easy and open to most military teens!

• And there are more! That’s just a list to get started! 

It also benefits you to know about the national programs for military dependents and financial aid, including the GI Bill, Chapter 35, and Yellow Ribbon programs. All of these can assist military dependents with paying for college. 

Finally, for the scholarship search, get linked into your local area. National scholarship competitions are great and all, but there’s a MUCH larger group of students applying for those than the ones in your local community. Does your town have a Rotary Club? Lions Club? Chamber of Commerce? Local scholarships in memorial of someone special? 

Admittedly, I live in a small-town community, so this might be different than a big city, but the vast majority of local community organizations and groups run a scholarship competition for the graduating local students. If you don’t have a scholarship counselor to assist in the search, be on the lookout around town and on Facebook. 

And just as before, I recommend that you write down the opportunities you find. Keep track of the deadline and requirements for each scholarship. Especially if they require letters of recommendation… you don’t want to get up into crunch-time with those. 

DRAFTING YOUR APPLICATION

So now that you’ve found the scholarship, how do you actually increase your chances of being successful??? 

Since you’ve already written down everything about you, you only need to put that information in the appropriate sections. Easy peasy!

As for letters of recommendation – sometimes the scholarship is picky about these. Even if the scholarship isn’t specific, find someone who can attest to you about the qualities the scholarship might be looking for. Is it service-based? Is it more academic-based? Choose your recommenders wisely!

And ALWAYS ask for the letter of recommendation as soon as you can! I had multiple teachers write me letters of recommendation, and asking them around winter was both (1) a slower time in school for them so they didn’t have to stress about writing it and (2) before the onslaught of other kids asking. 

And finally, I recommend either asking just for a generic letter of recommendation or asking for two: one of them addressed to a specific scholarship committee and another one for generic scholarship use. This lets you to recycle letters of recommendation!!

THE SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY

ALWAYS read the prompt!! Try to write about the specific quality or experience that best answers the prompt. You might have a “comfort story,” but be aware that a different story could be better for a specific scholarship. 

This is a big piece of advice… numerous scholarships will ask about your future plans and how the scholarship will help you. THINK OF SOMETHING!! WHY do you want to do the path you’ve chosen? What do you hope to get out of it? The goal: Is there a larger impact or influence your future work might have (like in the community)? And, in what SPECIFIC way will the scholarship help you? 

Example… (a shortened version from an essay I won a scholarship with):  Following college graduation and becoming an interior architect, I have the goal to foster a community environment built around creating social equity and improving the quality of life for everyone. I have a background in studying Deaf culture, and an interior architecture degree would allow me to understand and design building interiors that would most benefit this often overlooked group of people (as well as other community members) whose quality of life could be increased just through the design of a building/school/public space.

THE MILITARY TEEN CONNECTION

There are specific methods I’ve discovered to best include my military teen background in essays. As was my experience, I was usually either writing for a scholarship just for military teens, or all of my military teen friends were submitting to the scholarship as well. Somehow, I had to make myself unique through my essay, and this is how… 

1. Don’t JUST focus on the “well duhs” of military teen life. Most of us have moved many times. Most of us have had our parents deploy. Most of us have experienced school transitions and friendship breakups. A pity party sometimes works, but if you don’t have a defining/unique experience and a connection to the present, then it likely won’t make you stand out. I’ve attended nine schools, but what does that mean? How does past me's experience impact CURRENT and FUTURE me? 

2. Scholarship committees like to see personal development. What did you do about the grief you felt when you moved duty stations? How did you cope with your parent being gone, and how do those methods help/impact you now? 

3. Have you gained anything from watching your service member – such as qualities like selfless service, integrity, loyalty, honor, others before yourself, and respect for authority? And if you have, how will that impact your future actions? Answering this question shows that you know the positive effects military service can have, and even if you aren’t going into service, you’re still spreading those values through the world. This is one of my favorites to implement, and through this, I can usually connect some of my activities and my future career choice. 

Example… (also from a successful essay): I’ve grown up watching my mother’s representation of humble and selfless service, being taught that the reason I should volunteer or serve my community is for the betterment of those around me, not for recognition of what I’m doing. I hope to honor her form of service and sacrifice through the way I plan to serve my community in the future...

As you can likely tell, the scholarship essays will require internal and external reflection. The essay might take some time to draft, and that is okay. As you go along and fill out more scholarships, the essays will get easier. Some essays might be able to be reused with minor adjustments for the prompts. 

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If you’re still years away from this point, it is important to prepare. Start writing your activities and awards down. Get involved in your local and school community. Discover your “why” for what you do and believe. 

If you will soon be in scholarship season (or are right now), I hope these tips might help you! It can be exhausting, but reminding myself of my motives helped me get through the scholarship season. Think of future you. 

Best of luck!!