SCHOLARSHIP CONTESTS.

Essentially all scholarships that are awarded on merit are the result of scholarship contests. The only difference, really, is what those running the scholarship contests consider “merit” for their particular scholarship contests.

Let us first establish what are not scholarship contests. Virtually any scholarship sponsored by the federal government would not fall under the purview of scholarship contests (there are notable exceptions). These are based almost entirely on your ethnicity, gender, or the size of your parents’ bank account.

Scholarship contests come in many shapes and sizes. There are a variety of essay contests, some of them judged strictly on the writing itself and others where the essay is a small or large part of a complete package.

Whatever the case, your essay is generally expected to define who you are. If this seems like a lot to ask of most sixteen or seventeen year olds, well, it is the nature of the beast. A parent or teacher can often provide invaluable insight in this area.

Some of the biggest payouts when it comes to scholarship contests are in math and science. It is no secret that the United States is struggling to produce quality college graduates in these two areas. Perhaps this explains the big paydays for gifted math and science students.

One of these math scholarship contests has a five figure cash award for high school students who win an applied mathematics contest. Another, sponsored by Intel, splits over a million dollars between forty deserving students in a test of math and science skills.

Even Christian scholarships are in essence scholarship contests. The only difference is in how the contests are judged. In this case, the contest winner has been able to show his dedication to God. He may have even made great personal sacrifices that impressed the judges.

Or take a look at a few of the ultimate merit scholarships. These include the Rhodes Scholarship, the Fulbright Scholarship and the Truman Scholarship. These go to the best and brightest in the country. But they are not awarded simply for rolling out of bed in the morning like so many of the need scholarships. No, through a series of tests—grade reviews, essays, interviews, etc.–winners are chosen. It is a scholarship contest.

Of course those who run these prestigious scholarship award programs would hardly want their good name sullied by calling it a contest. Very low brow indeed. It just doesn’t sound right to walk the halls of Oxford because you won a contest.

There was a time when even the creative world might have shunned the idea of a scholarship contest. After all, art is subjective, right? However, since the emergence of American Idol there seems to be a secure place in the creative world for contests as long as they can occasionally launch a superstar career.

But it goes further than even music or writing with these scholarship contests. Art and design students must submit their work—their portfolio—for judging. It may be distasteful to the artistic sensibility, but ultimately one’s art has to be judged. How else can one win scholarship contests?