CHS seniors will find out Tuesday, June 2, if they have won local scholarships in addition to academic honors.
The annual senior awards ceremony will take place at Concord City Auditorium, 2 Prince Street, beginning at 7 p.m.
An academic honors ceremony for underclassmen will take place the night before, June 1, at the same place, and also beginning at 7 p.m.
Members of the community are welcome to attend.
Given high costs of college these days, students are really anxious to hear whether they won any local financial awards, applications for which were due May 4.
The process has been made somewhat easier in recent years through creation of an online CHS E-CommonApp, which places applicants in the running for about 60 different scholarships ranging from $100 to $4,000, including ones offered by the Concord High School Alumni Association, Friends of Performing Arts and other groups.
The CHS E-Common App requires a student to respond to 31 questions, some of which involve typing responses in boxes. Other responses involve writing about your interests at CHS, community service experiences, and work experience.
“I liked the E-CommonApp process because it gave me a variety of ways to respond. Some of the questions I just had to check a box while others required an in depth response. This allowed me to explain why I feel I am eligible to receive a scholarship and give out more information about myself,” said Brooke Macri.
¨I just followed the online instructions. It wasn’t that awful,¨ said Shane Hilton.
After completing the CHS E-Common App, students were advised to also fill out the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation form so that organization could determine eligibility for Granite State scholarships totaling more than $500,000.
These include the Alvin B. Cross Trust Fund, Annie G. Swain Scholarship Fund, Winifred Allen Memorial Fund in the Performing Arts, Grace Blanchard-Frances Abbott Student Fund, White-Chase Scholarship Fund, James Jameson Scholarship Fund/Concord, ABC Scholarship Fund, Ruth Pillsbury Holman Scholarship Fund, Merrimack County Savings Bank Scholarship Fund in Honor of Dudley W. Orr, Rolfe & Rumford Scholarship Fund for Merrimack County, and Dixon Turcott Educational Fund.
¨Sifting through all of the scholarships out there is time consuming. You have to check all the criteria, make sure you are eligible, and most of the time, you are writing an essay convincing people to give you money,” said Bethany Mullen.
The NHCF application process also required students to submit copies of transcripts and references.
Some of these scholarships are based on academic achievements while others are based on interests. The Winifred Allen Memorial Fund in the Performing Arts scholarship, for example, is based on an interest in pursuing a higher education in performing arts.
Not all local, regional or national scholarships are applied for through NHCF or the CHS E-Common App. For that reason, the CHS scholarship page provides links to additional local, state, and national scholarships students might want to pursue.
Some of these local scholarships are sponsored by the Capitol Region Board of Realtors, the CEA Concord Education Association and the CHS Varsity Club Award.
“I applied to a scholarship program that offers me many opportunities with different scholarships which is helpful,” said Payten Moody.
On the other hand, she said, “I find it tough knowing that there is no 100% guarantee that I am going to get any of them because they can be very competitive. It is helpful that these programs offer money but it is straining and time consuming writing several different essays with no absolute guarantee.”
¨Its a stressful process to apply because many people apply to them. You have to take lots of time to complete the applications and essays and then there’s a small chance you will get the scholarship,” said Hannah Linquata.
High school graduates across the country must think carefully about college costs. According to The College Board, out-of-state tuition for a public four-year college averages $22,958. Average tuition for a private four year college is $31,231.
As New Hampshire Public Radio reported last fall, citing data from the nonprofit Project on Student Debt, “students who graduated from Granite State colleges and universities in 2013 had an average debt of nearly $33,000, the highest in the nation.”
One great source of information for students wondering about how they’ll fund college, scholarships or not, is the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Fund, or NHHEAF, which holds a series of planning events for students and their parents.
The next scheduled NHHEAF event, “Understanding the Common Application,” will take place Thursday, July 16, from 1-2:30 p.m. at 4 Barrell Court. People can sign up online.
This year’s graduating seniors have been meeting all year with CHS guidance counselors, who know a lot about the process of applying to schools and also securing scholarships.
In fact, planning at CHS begins when students are juniors. Guidance counselors earlier this month visited English classes to instruct members of the Class of 2016 on how they can begin to prepare for next year.
