One of the most common questions related to scholarships is: what GPA is required to win?
Naturally, this question inspires other questions, too. Do you need a 4.0 GPA to win a scholarship? What are your chances of winning a scholarship without a strong GPA? For example, can you win a college scholarship with a 2.0 GPA? Should you avoid certain scholarships because of your GPA? Do GPAs even matter at all? In addition to these questions related to grades, you may have others.
Below, we’ll provide a comprehensive guide on the relationship between grades, test scores, and scholarships.
This guide is designed to help students who fall anywhere on the 4.0 scale. Ultimately, if you’re seeking financial aid for college, your grades shouldn’t be the deciding factor on whether you apply for scholarships. However, knowing what GPA is needed for different types of scholarships is key to your success.
Scholarships help students in big ways so let’s help you navigate this part of your college career.
What GPA Do You Need to Get a Scholarship?
The real answer to this question is: it depends.
Every scholarship has its own eligibility requirements, which means you may need a minimum 3.0 GPA, 3.5, or something even higher. To know the minimum cut-off, you should always read scholarship eligibility criteria.
In order to guide you in determining whether and/or to what extent your GPA matters for the scholarships to which you want to apply, let’s break down scholarships into two categories: merit-based scholarships and non-merit-based scholarships.
Merit Scholarships: What’s a Competitive GPA? Do you need a 4.0?
Merit-based scholarships largely focus on your grades, standardized test scores, and/or class rank. As you may be able to tell from the name, these scholarships are based on academic achievement.
It’s safe to say that for these awards, you should assume that the better your marks, the more competitive your application. For top scholarships – meaning full-ride scholarships that offer full tuition – you’ll likely need a 3.7 to 4.0 GPA.
What Grade Point Average Do You Need to Get a Full Scholarship?
To earn a full ride, you must be an outstanding student who shows lots of academic promise. This means you’ll likely need to have a strong grade point average in addition to a great extracurricular profile. Furthermore, while many scholarship providers state a minimum GPA requirement, it’s likely that winning applicants will have a higher grade point average.
Certain scholarships may also be awarded based on other criteria, e.g., test scores, in addition to a student’s GPA.
Here’s an example of one full-ride scholarship from the State of Arkansas:
Governor’s Distinguished Scholarship (GS)
The Governor’s Distinguished Scholarship is the most academically rigorous scholarship program offered for Arkansas student. It exists for those in senior year scoring either a minimum composite or superscore of 32 on the ACT or 1410 on the SAT and a 3.50 academic grade point average. Those named National Merit Finalists or National Achievement Scholars may qualify without meeting the GPA requirement, but must still meet the ACT/SAT requirement. FAFSA is required. The scholarship pays tuition, mandatory fees, and room and board up to $10,000 per year.
Where Do You Find Full-Ride Scholarships?
Full-ride scholarships are offered by governments, colleges, and private donors. Because of the range of providers, you’ll want to create an awards list based on extensive research of federal programs, state-level scholarships and grants, college or university financial aid offices, and scholarship databases.
Searching for full-ride scholarships is a process that you should start early. With the amount of scholarship money at stake, you should be prepared to invest ample time into finding scholarships and creating applications.
Put simply, academic scholarships that cover the full cost of tuition, room and board, and other expenses, are extremely competitive. So, the better your grades, the better your chances of getting one of these awards. However, keep in mind, it’s rare to get a full-ride scholarship.
Non-Merit-Based Scholarships: Is There a Minimum GPA Requirement?
The number of American scholarships that are given away for reasons not related to grades is huge! However, good grades will always help. After all, could you ever imagine a situation where a scholarship committee rejects an application because a student’s grades are too strong? Probably not.
With that said, there is no universal GPA requirement for scholarship applications that are not merit-based.
At the lowest end of the spectrum where scholarships are not academically competitive, you’ll likely need at least a 2.0 GPA or higher to win. But, as you’ll see in the section below, not all scholarships have a stated minimum grade point average.
Generally speaking, a lot of scholarship programs will require students to have a 3.0 average (cumulative) GPA. But since this is not always the case, be sure to examine eligibility criteria carefully.
So, Do You Need a Good GPA to Get a Scholarship? Consider the Type of Scholarship You’re Applying For
The reality is that not all scholarships exist for the purpose of rewarding students with a high GPA. There are scholarships based on financial need, career choice, student-specific criteria like race or gender, and many other factors.
So, the reality is that a strong GPA is not always necessary to win a scholarship.
If your test scores or grades just aren’t very competitive, you shouldn’t be discouraged from finding and applying to scholarships. To find competitions that look beyond your GPA, think about what makes you unique and start there in your scholarship search.
Here are just a few kinds of scholarships that you can look for that are not based only on merit: community service, household income, being a high school senior, studying a specific major, living in a certain county or region, experiencing adversity, ancestry, travels, weird talents or quirks, issues related to your health, languages you speak, scholarships for women, graduate students, scholarships for veterans, scholarships for African-American and Hispanic students, athletic scholarships, and many more. As you can see, scholarship providers give away money to students for a number of reasons!
Don’t Have a Strong Grade Point Average? Apply Anyway
Considering all of the above points, you should apply for scholarships no matter what your GPA is.
If you’ve earned a place in college or university through the admissions process, it likely means you’ll be able to persuade a scholarship committee that you deserve scholarship money.
Additionally, there are thousands of scholarships due every single month based on various criteria, so the perfect prize is likely out there for you. But, be prepared to do a little digging to find it.
The time you’ll invest is worth it. And the benefit of winning just one scholarship is that you become an even better candidate for other prizes.
Final Word: Do You Need a Minimum GPA to Win a Scholarship?
What we’ve learned here is that good grades will likely always help an application.
If you’d like to pursue merit-based scholarships with big financial prizes, you’ll likely need a 3.5 to 3.8 GPA (or higher) to be competitive. As noted, if you’re pursuing a full-ride scholarship, competition will be fierce. So, the higher your GPA, the better.
On the other hand, there are plenty of scholarships with much lower GPA standards (sometimes around 2.0). That’s because these prizes are not based on academic standards. Rather, scholarships like need-based awards offer financial aid to students for reasons beyond GPAs.
The bottom line? Your GPA may be very important or not important at all. Examine your academic profile and extracurricular activities in relation to scholarship opportunities and pursue those that match well. College and university aren’t cheap. You owe it to yourself to reap the benefits of scholarships, no matter where your GPA lies.
The post Discover What GPA You Need to Win a Scholarship first appeared on BridgesEDU Scholarships.
Published first here: https://bridgeseduscholarships.com/discover-what-gpa-you-need-to-win-a-scholarship/
BridgesEDU Scholarships 