Unveiling Unusual Scholarships: Beyond Grades and Athletics
If you’ve always thought that scholarships are only for top students, there's good news! Plenty of organizations are ready to offer scholarships based on a range of criteria which are not top grades or best athletic achievements. Applying for scholarships CAN be fun. You just gotta know where to look.
What is an Unusual Scholarship?
An unusual scholarship has requirements that students need to meet outside of a regular academic or athletic scholarship. Any scholarship that caters to students with uncommon skills, passions, or traits might be considered unusual or weird; each person’s definition of what is weird will differ. There are truly unique scholarships out there for every student.
Types of Unusual Scholarships
Unusual scholarships can be categorized based on the criteria they emphasize:
Skill-based unusual scholarships: These awards grant money based on proficiency in uncommon or obscure skills. One often-cited example of an unusual skill-based scholarship is the Chick and Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest.
Trait-based unusual scholarships: These are offered to students who have uncommon or rare personal traits or life circumstances. For instance, the $1,000 Twins Days Festival Twins Scholarship is awarded to a set of twins each year based on their twin-themed essay submissions and participation history in the Twinsburg Ohio Twins Days Festival.
Read also: Blue Sea Consulting Services
Art-based unusual scholarships: Application processes for these awards feature the creation of unusual or weird art. What defines the art in question as unusual may be its subject matter or theme, its medium of creation, or its form upon completion. The most prominent example of an art-based unusual scholarship is the Duck Brand Stuck At Prom Scholarship Contest. In fact, 2025 Stuck At Prom Scholarship recipient Calder W.
Examples of Unusual Scholarships
Here's a look at some specific examples of unusual scholarships:
Scholarship for Redheads: This scholarship is awarded annually to natural redheads. To qualify, you should be a junior or senior high school student with a GPA of 2.5 and higher. You need to submit two photos to prove that you’re actually naturally redheaded-your childhood photo and your current photo. Besides, you need to write an essay, fill in an application form, and provide your personal statement and your official transcript.
Superpower Scholarship: If you have secretly been dreaming about being able to travel through time or control the elements, you have a chance to tell all about it and get some cash!
Getting Real About Distracted Driving Scholarship: Offered by Comedy Defensive Driving, this scholarship aims to educate people on the dangers of inattentive and careless driving. If you are a driver and creative, then you should combine your knowledge about the dangers of distracted driving with your creativity and create an ad (e.g., billboard, commercial, poster, etc.) that will raise awareness for distracted driving and urge drivers to stay focused on the road.
Chick and Sophie Major Duck Calling Contest: This contest is held annually in Stuttgart, Arkansas, every fall. All in all, the contestants have 90 seconds to present a hail or long-distance call, a mating or lonesome duck call, a feed or clatter call, and a comeback call. In 2022, scholarships totaling $4,250 were awarded to the most prominent and best duck-like-sounding students.
Voris Auten Scholarship: This is an endowed scholarship offered to a Mount Carmel resident (at least for 10 years) and a Mount Carmel Public High School graduate who is not a smoker, drinker, or else on a regular basis and, what’s more-doesn’t participate in any “strenuous athletic contests.” The scholarship is awarded by the scholarship committee after you’ve been admitted to Bucknell University.
Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) Scholarship: If you’re a vegetarian and have something to say about your path to becoming one or have important ideas to share, you’re welcome to participate in a scholarship offered by the Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG). The group offers two such scholarships annually, with a $5,000 award each.
American Association for Nude Recreation Education Foundation (AANR) Scholarship: The American Association for Nude Recreation Education Foundation (AANR) offers a unique scholarship for those who find naturism important to their mental and physical health.
Future Selfie Scholarship: Bankrate used to offer a scholarship with the curious name Future Selfie Scholarship to the most creative students. To enter the award competition, students were to take a photo (a selfie) and write a caption showcasing their career aspirations and how they envision their future lives: something like, “10 years from now, I’ll be an excellent neurosurgeon who’s helping people with my skills and new technologies.” In return, Bankrate offered a chance to win $5,000. While the scholarship doesn’t seem to be offered anymore, we find it one of the most inspiring and creative scholarship opportunities.
Read also: The Spirit of Westwood
Gypsy Lore Society Young Scholars’ Prize: The Gypsy Lore Society offers a $500 award-The Gypsy Lore Society Young Scholars’ Prize-for the best unpublished paper by a young scholar on a topic in Gypsy and Traveler Studies with the aim to promote the study of Romani culture. The winning paper will be published in an issue of the journal Romani Studies. Both college students and graduate students alike can participate.
SVC Foundation Scholarship: If you are interested in vacuum coaters and want to become a future leader in vacuum coating technology, the SVC Foundation offers scholarship opportunities to students and those working in the field of vacuum coating technology: College Scholarships, Industry Scholarships, and Student Travel Sponsorship.
"Be Bold" Scholarship: The "Be Bold" Scholarship is a no-essay scholarship that will be awarded to the applicant with the boldest profile. It takes less than 2 minutes to apply. To us, boldest does not mean "best", or "most accomplished".
Scholarships360 $10,000 “No Essay” Scholarship: The Scholarships360 $10,000 “No Essay” Scholarship is open to all students who want some extra help paying for their education.
GSLMTC Mary Joan Wolf Memorial Scholarship: The Greater St Louis Mothers of Twins Club offers scholarships for multiple-birth students seeking initial enrollment in accredited post high school education or training. The applicants must reside within the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) which includes the City of St Louis; the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St.
Tall Clubs International Student Scholarship: Any high school senior in North America may apply for this $2,000 award, with one catch: they must be significantly taller than the average student.
IWSH Scholarship Essay Contest: 4 awards of up to $2,000 are available for high school seniors and college students who are passionate about water safety.
Where to Find Unusual Scholarships
It can be challenging to find unusual scholarships, due to the limited number of them. A few ways are to use the recommendations of your local library, reach out to the specific field of study to see if they offer any unique scholarships and do a scholarship search. Given the huge variety of unusual scholarships open to high school and college students everywhere, it can be difficult to sift through the opportunities. That’s why the best place to find these obscure scholarships is on Scholarships.com. Once you have your personalized scholarship matches, you can use Scholarships.com to apply for weird scholarships with ease. You can access the details, eligibility criteria, and a step-by-step application guide for each scholarship in the database simply by clicking on the award title. With a free account on Scholarships.com, you’ll have access to a personalized list of all the scholarships in our database for which you qualify. The best way to find a random scholarship to apply for is by navigating to your Scholarships.com dashboard and choosing a match from your list. ScholarshipOwl is your source of relief from the dreaded application process. We put students on the fast-track to success by providing direct access to the scholarships they need the most. Take the hassle out of financial aid and maximize your chance at a free ride in college. Niche can help with every step of the college search including paying for it.
Eligibility and Application Tips
Many students apply for these scholarships each year. Most scholarships are competitive, but a higher-than-perfect GPA or an overwhelming amount of community service are not always required to win an award. They are also looking for a complete application. Many otherwise top-notch applications never get seriously considered because they’re missing a simple requirement. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
Extracurricular activities: Extracurricular activities help prove your true interest in an area of study or profession. They can also help compensate for a less-than-stellar GPA by demonstrating that you are a well-rounded student with skills and experiences that go beyond your academic performance.
Recommendations: Having someone vouch for your abilities and qualities goes a long way to enhancing a scholarship application.
Essays: This is the one part of your application where you have 100% control. Even if you’re given a topic, you control how you present it, discuss it, and explain why you deserve the scholarship.
Deadlines: It sounds obvious, but submitting application materials by the deadline is a frequently overlooked aspect of the scholarship application process. It’s common for otherwise promising applicants to lose out on a scholarship because they missed the submission deadline. Avoid this by starting on the application as soon as you can and turning it in as soon as possible, even well before the deadline.
Focus on Niche Scholarships: The less competition for an award, the better your chances. Local or regional scholarships that are only advertised or open to students in a certain area, such as a state or county, likely have less competition than do scholarships casting a wider net. A general guideline to follow when applying for scholarships is to seek out the ones with the most specific eligibility criteria that personally suit you. When the applicant pool for a scholarship is small, you have a higher chance of winning when you apply.
Scholarships for Specific Demographics
There are many scholarships for specific demographics. Don’t forget to also search for guides that offer specific scholarships for STEM students or women in STEM, for example, or even in more specific fields of study - like scholarships for speech pathology master’s students. You can also find hundreds of additional scholarships available to specific demographics, and many are administered or funded by nonprofit and civil, civil rights, and social advocacy organizations.
Scholarships for Black Students
If you’re like most undergraduate and graduate students, you’ll have student loans to pay off after graduation. Sadly, this educational debt burden tends to be higher for Black students. In fact, the Education Data Initiative reports that Black and African American college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more in student loan debt than white college graduates. This data helps demonstrate how important it is for Black graduate students to find ways to pay for education, especially with scholarships that don’t need to be paid back. Here are a few organizations that offer scholarships for Black students:
UNCF (United Negro College Fund): Historically known as the United Negro College Fund, the UNCF’s primary mission is to raise money to help improve the opportunity for minorities to gain an education.
Thurgood Marshall College Fund: The Thurgood Marshall College Fund offers more than just scholarships.
National Urban League: Founded more than 100 years ago, the National Urban League is a civil rights organization that works with localities to advance the economic, social, and educational standing of individuals living in historically underserved communities.
NAACP: Possibly the most well-known civil rights organization, the NAACP’s broad mission is to end racial discrimination.
Shawn Carter Foundation: The Shawn Carter Foundation, founded by Gloria and Shawn Carter (aka Jay-Z), is a charitable organization that helps socioeconomically challenged groups to improve themselves through education.
Black Chambers: Black Chambers represents the interests of Black and African American businesses in America. In addition to advocacy, its activity includes professional training, newsletters, and conferences.
First Generation Success Center: This organization recognizes the significance of young adults becoming the first in their families to enroll in college and earn degrees, offering various resources to help them do so.
Here are some scholarships for Black students with their basic eligibility requirements:
Annual Deadline: Oct. Basic eligibility requirements: Applicants must attend an accredited graduate or undergraduate institution, demonstrate leadership qualities, and desire to bring about social change.
Basic eligibility requirements: This is for students attending a historically Black college or university (HBCU) as undergraduate or graduate students. Applicants must be studying a social justice field like civil rights, education, or criminal justice.
Basic eligibility requirements: This award aims to improve the level of diversity in the travel and tourism industry. Awards are based on a student’s area of study as it relates to tourism or travel.
Basic eligibility requirements: Applicants must be members of a racial minority and pursuing an undergraduate or graduate-level degree in an accounting or accounting-related major.
Basic eligibility requirements: This scholarship is open to full-time or part-time students attending an ALA-accredited graduate program in library or information studies. George A.
Basic eligibility requirements: The George A. Strait Minority Scholarship and Fellowship awards scholarships to minority students who want to pursue a career in law librarianship. residents and enrolled in a PhD program in sociology.
Annual Deadline: Feb. Basic eligibility requirements: Applicants must be minority students accepted into a bachelor’s or master’s architecture program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board.
Basic eligibility requirements: Applicants must pursue a graduate degree in political science, history, communications, journalism, media, policy, or related fields. Sidney B. Williams, Jr.
Basic eligibility requirements: Sidney B. Williams Jr. Scholars are underrepresented racial or ethnic minorities. Applicants must be applying to or accepted in an American Bar Association-accredited law school.
Annual Deadline: Sept. Basic eligibility requirements: The Rangel Graduate Fellowship is a program that prepares high-achieving graduate students for foreign service careers. You can apply in your senior year of undergraduate studies or be a college graduate applying to a graduate program. citizen.
Basic eligibility requirements: This scholarship is for minority students pursuing careers in the environmental field.
Basic eligibility requirements: Offered in partnership with Brown and Caldwell, this scholarship is for graduate students enrolled in an engineering program related to the drinking water field.
tags: #blue #eyes #scholarship #eligibility #requirements
Popular posts:
