As the school year moves forward, many seniors are looking toward college applications and scholarships.
Seniors Nyla Street and Alexander Canode are both taking steps moving to their future paths.
Street is going to the University of South Alabama. One of the reasons she wants to go there is that it is close by.
“It’s good for the major I want to go for,” Street said.
As of right now she is planning to major in graphic design. She has a DYW scholarship and a Horatio Alger scholarship. The DYW scholarship is $48,000 to the University of Mobile. The Horatio Alger scholarship is $10,000.
“It’s not hard to get, it’s just some work,” Street said when asked about the Horatio Alger scholarship.
Street achieved t4he Horatio Alger scholarship by filling out an application and getting a recommendation from one of her teachers.
In order to get the DYW scholarship, Street competed in last year’s local DYW competition.
Canode is planning to stay in state for college.
“As of right now I am planning on getting my undergrad at Mississippi State,” Canode said.
He decided to go to State because he knows that most of his friends are going there.
“It doesn’t really matter where I get my undergrad, but I know most of my friends are going to State so I feel like I’d have a good support group of people I know there,” Canode said.
Canode would like to be a lawyer because he likes to debate and feels that he could really pursue that interest.
Guidance Counselor Allyson Howar offers some advice to seniors who are working on college and scholarship applications.
“Every scholarship has its own deadline,” Howard said.
Howard says to make sure to check the scholarship to be sure when the deadline is. Many of the deadlines are in December if one is planning on going to college next fall, but some deadlines are set in the spring.. Howard states that the students now need to be working on their ACT. She says to take the ACT as many times as one can to get their score as high as possible.
“That is the most guaranteed, free money that you can get,” Howard said, “is to qualify for a scholarship with your ACT score.”
After that would be to complete two years of a CTE program.
“In our area, junior colleges offer a scholarship to anyone who has completed both levels of a CTE program,” Howard said.
Howard suggests checking the college that you are planning on attending.
“. . .depending on the field that you are going into, they give scholarships that are available in that field of study,” Howard said.
Howard recommends looking at scholarships from the college that you plan on attending because you would only be competing against kids from that college versus the entire nation.
“Lots of our seniors are preparing to take the ACT this fall and early in the spring to raise their score, so that they can qualify for some academic scholarships,” Howard replied.
The next ACT is on Oct. 26 and the deadline to register for it is Sept. 15. The last ACT scheduled for this year is on Dec. 14 and the last day to register is Nov. 8.
Another great opportunity to look for students to look at different college options is the Junior/Senior College Fair that will be held Oct. 10.
