Around this time of the year, many seniors inquire about how to find scholarship opportunities, and counselors always recommend searching for awards offered locally within the Hopkinton community. The easiest way to access the list is by logging on to your Naviance Student. If you have forgotten your account credentials, please see your school counselor, and s/he will be able to reset your password. In addition to using Naviance, the local scholarship list is also available in hard copy in the counseling office; ask either Ms. O'Loughlin or Ms. Zeigler for the scholarship binder kept on the front counter in the counseling suite.
To Access Local Scholarships on Naviance:
1. Log on to the home page and choose the “Colleges” tab (pictured at left)
2. Scroll down to “Scholarships and Money”
3. Click on “Scholarship List”- this will show you all of the local and/or statewide scholarships whose information we have received in the HHS Counseling Office. This list is updated as we receive opportunities, and within a month or so, it will be very long!
4. Use the drop-down menu at the top left of the screen (pictured at bottom) to sort your scholarships by categories (e.g., grade level, athletic achievements, community service, demonstrated leadership). Repeated users can also take advantage to "only show new since my last visit," pictured at the right-hand side of the page.
4. Click on a scholarship, which will bring you to the scholarship detail page where you will find a brief description, deadline, website, and application information for this particular award. The description will specify whether you can download the application directly from the Naviance site, provide you with a website for an online application, or direct you to the Counseling Office for a paper copy.
5. If you have exhausted your local options on Naviance, go back to "Scholarship and Money" from the college tab above. You will see other option called, "National Scholarship Search" which will provide a slew of new options, although you will be competing with a larger pool of applicants.
Please note that the internet is rich with national scholarship websites (examples include cappex.com, fastweb.com, scholarships.com), and in the counseling office, we often get questions about which scholarship offers are “legitimate” and which ones are “scams” to get your personal information. While we are not familiar with all sites, as they are too copious to count, in general, we encourage you to be wary of scholarships with an application fee, scholarship matching services that guarantee success, and sales pitches disguised as financial aid seminars. Many scams encourage you to send them money up front, but provide little or nothing in exchange; usually, victims write off the expense, thinking that the student simply didn't win the award. We encourage you to use Naviance throughout your scholarship search, rather than relying on other national websites where it can be unclear as to whether the money was ever given out.
