Weird ways to pay for school: Score a strange scholarship
Merit scholarships aren’t just for valedictorians and all-star athletes.
People with peculiar abilities or strange talents could be leaving money on the table by not seeking out unique scholarships.
Here are some interesting scholarships available for the not-so-mainstream among us:
· Your aversion to breaking a sweat can pay off. The Gertrude J. Deppen Scholarship through Bucknell University offers a scholarship for students who don’t use drugs, alcohol, tobacco or “participate in strenuous athletic contests.”
· No need to be sheepish about tracking down scholarship money. The Sheep Heritage Foundation Memorial Scholarship awards students in sheep-related graduate studies interested in “the advancement of the sheep industry, lamb and wool.”
· Cash in on your Twitter skills. Zinch.com’s Three Sentence Essay Scholarship awards students who can answer complex questions concisely … in 280 characters or less, to be exact.
· Country club members need not apply to Evans Scholars’ golf caddie scholarship. Recipients must have great grades and a glowing evaluation from their caddie manager signed by the golf club’s president, golf pro and golf committee chairman or chairwoman. The scholarship provides full tuition and housing for up to four years.
· Star Trek has a following beyond a nerdy fan club. The Starfleet Academy Scholarship awards enthusiasts who have Starfleet membership.
· Players who can weather a 4-day marble competition could walk away with a scholarship from the National Marbles Tournament. The grand-prize winner takes home $2,000, and $500 is awarded for best sportsmanship.
· In case you haven’t heard about the duct tape prom scholarship contest, students with a spot-on fashion sense and affinity for a duct-tape medium can score thousands by wearing a dress made of duct tape to prom.
For other tips for paying for school, here are the top 10 ways to pay for college tuition.
