Finding Funding for College: Add Social Media Evidence

This adds more information on how to find funding to pay for college

A while ago I shared a series on how to find funding for college. I shared how to find funding, how to prepare reusable materials (including master applications, reusable essays, letters of recommendation and more). Today we shall add some ideas on how to use social media—especially Facebook—to help convince scholarship committees.

Identify Your Themes and Home Run Statements

Scholarship committees seek to reward people for personal qualities, accomplishments, and contributions to the community. You establish themes in life by the activities and interests you repeatedly perform. Most people establish 3-4 themes in their lives. You probably have also.

You need to add breadth and depth to prove that you are not narrow or shallow. You show breadth by sub-dividing each theme into three categories

Possible themes (with categories in parenthesis) include:

• Leadership (in the community, in school, in church)
• Services (to school,  to your church, to your community)
• Academics (top 3 subjects: English, Math, Science)
• Athletics (football, basketball, track)
• Creative Talent (vocal music, instrumental music, dance)
• Civic Activist (environmental, civil rights, battered women and children)
• Ethnic Identity (raised in one culture, schooled in a different culture, blending both)
• Survivor (child of alcoholic parents, abused childhood, coping with both)
• Entrepreneurship (1st business, 2nd business, 3rd business)

You then prepare 3 home run statements for each category.

Add Pictures and Information to Social Media

Scholarship committees began reviewing applicant’s Facebook pages and other social media channels. You can use your social media to reinforce your themes to the scholarship committees:

• Create a photo gallery for each of your themes
• Add pictures of your activities with captions explaining what you did
  • Service: “Gina, Barbara, and I really had fun preparing hygiene kits for survivors of the 2011 tsunami in Japan”
  • Leadership: “I chaired the committee of these high school students that raised $12,000 to provide sub-for-Santa to 255 disadvantaged families”
  • Athletics: “Here I blocked the goal that gave our soccer team the state championships”

Wednesday we will discuss how to increase your visibility at work for more promotions