680. SCHOLARSHIPS, MAJORS, AND HOW CLARITY CAN UNLOCK MORE COLLEGE AID

While high schoolers don't need to know exactly what they'll be doing with the rest of their lives, those students who make intentional, well-informed major choices before applying to college can unlock more merit-based and private scholarship opportunities–including specific awards based on intended major. Mike moderated a conversation with Dave Peterson and Lisa Marker-Robbins to explore Scholarships & Majors: How Clarity Can Unlock More College Aid. What are five things you will learn in this episode? If scholarships aren't just awards for past achievements, how should applicants shift their mindset when searching for scholarships? How can early career clarity help prevent missteps during the application process? How does intended major help shape a personal narrative that's compelling to scholarship committees? How early should teens tackle each of the essential components of college and scholarship applications? What are some popular majors and special scholarships associated with those majors? MEET OUR GUEST Dave Peterson, The Scholarship Coach, is the father of a rising college junior who, to date, has won over $80,000 in scholarships. Because of his son's success with scholarships, people started asking him for advice on how their children could win scholarships. These questions prompted Dave to write the book DEBT-FREE COLLEGE: Proven Strategies for Winning Scholarships and Other Tools to Help You Avoid Student Loan Debt.  Dave shares a new scholarship opportunity every day on his podcast and Substack called "Your Daily Scholarship." He provides one-on-one coaching for students and families to help them find and win scholarships to achieve their debt-free college dreams. Dave previously appeared on this podcast in episode #496 to share 12 MUST-SEE SCHOLARSHIPS and #529 to explain HOW TO PAY FOR COLLEGE. Find Dave at [email protected]. Lisa Marker Robbins is an entrepreneur in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her passion and purpose throughout her career has been to serve high school students and young adults on launching into their future. With that greater purpose, she has been a classroom teacher, 23 years ago started a test prep, tutoring and independent college counseling organization that has helped thousands, and in 2021, started Flourish Coaching to guide students and young adults through her 5-part framework towards getting career clarity for what comes after graduation. Lisa first appeared on episode #119 to discuss how HOW TEST PREP PROS AND FINANCIAL PLANNERS CAN WORK TOGETHER, in episode #227 to discuss STRATEGIES FOR SELECTING A COLLEGE MAJOR ON TIME, in #363 for a SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: Launch College & Career Clarity Course., and, in #554, HOW COLLEGES ADMIT BY MAJOR. Find Lisa at https://flourishcoachingco.com. LINKS Scholarships for the 6 Most Competitive Majors "Do I Have To Fill Out the FAFSA?" RELATED EPISODES HOW IKIGAI CAN HELP TO CHOOSE A COLLEGE MAJOR UNLOCKING AUTOMATIC SCHOLARSHIPS WITH PSAT, SAT, & ACT SCORES FOUR SCHOLARSHIP MYTHS ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.