At the same time seniors are applying to college, they are also applying for scholarships to receive financial support as they prepare to go to college.

Scholarships are a form of financial assistance that can be applied in order to lower the gap between the financial aid package offered by their college and what the student’s family can afford to pay. Scholarship applications often have requirements that can range from academic achievements to extracurricular activities.

“Most applications require an essay, your WHS transcript, and at least one recommendation letter,” College and Career Counselor Lisa Vasquez said. “[They can also include] academic achievements such as GPA, extracurriculars, artistic or athletic talents, heritage, [and more].”

Scholarships are an extremely important part of helping students earn money to go to college. According to Education Data, the average price of college in California is about $36,000 per year which is very costly for many families, especially low-income and larger families. Kyla Burfoot, a senior at Woodside, has applied for many scholarships due to having multiple siblings going to college as well.

“College is really expensive and financial aid won’t cover everything that you might need because [financial aid only] takes into account things like your home or your equity,” Burfoot said. “They might not consider what you can actually pay so financially they might not give you the funds for you to pay for college.”

Many applicants are applying for scholarships in order to help afford to go to universities, which can get extremely expensive (an example of this could be USC which costs almost $70,000 a year). Scholarships can give a range of different amounts of money but with colleges becoming more expensive, scholarship money can be a huge help.

“College can cost anywhere from about $2,000 [for] Community College to upwards of $70,000 if you’re including private school housing, food, books and [more],” Guidance Counselor Janette Lok said. “I personally would say any amount of free money [that] helps pay towards [college and] can help you get [money] towards college is better than nothing.”

There are many scholarships that students can apply to. According to Edvisors.com, in 2024, some of the most common scholarships include the Coca-Cola Scholarship Program, Gate Millenium Scholarships, Do Something Scholarship, and Doodle 4 Google, which all give tens of thousands of dollars to applicants if they do receive the scholarships. They each have different requirements and details to make the application process more diverse for different people.

“I applied for merit scholarships for most of the schools that I’m applying to [and the National Merit Scholarship],” Burfoot, a National Merit Semifinalist, said. “The UC system also has an automatic application for any scholarship based on whatever you qualify for. Most of the financial aid is need-based and that’s mainly what I’m doing.”

Applying for scholarships can be hard but Woodside provides many resources to help students with the application process. College counselors are also available on campus to help students. 

“Students should connect with their College and Career Advisors to get support,” Vasquez said. “We will [also] have tutorial workshops to help students complete their financial aid and scholarship applications beginning in January.”

Scholarships can be found in many different places which are very accessible to many students. The most common sources are from researching on Google and getting advice/opportunities from college counselors. The Woodside website also has a section about financial aid where college and career advisors highlight scholarships that students can research.

“Your college counselor at school will give you a lot of opportunities but you can also do your own research,” Burfoot said. “Just look up scholarships for whatever type of student you are.”

Different areas provide different local scholarships.

“The scholarships I really looked for [were ones] that would allow for high grades and also first-generation college students,” Lok said. “I didn’t go to high school in the Bay Area, and I feel like there are a lot of scholarships available in the Bay Area in comparison to where I went to high school.”

Scholarships are a big part of aiding students to head to college because it is a fact that college is extremely expensive, especially private schools.

“Scholarships are really important because if a student wants to go to private school, [they should be more able to],” Burfoot said. “[Scholarships should] be accessible to everybody. [They are] a huge honor to get one.”