Scholarships are key to leaving college with less debt, and there are a lot more out there than people realize. Lots of small groups give scholarships for reasons most people wouldn't begin to suspect. While these weird scholarships make for an amusing diversion, there are also strategic considerations for tracking these down - not only is the applicant pool small by definition, but most of your fellow students won't even be aware that they exist. A few hundred dollars from Wal-Mart or Tylenol adds with your Italian Heritage scholarship, and before you know it, you've paid for a large chunk of your school with unusual college scholarships. Here are some to look out for.
Duck Tape Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest
Duck Tape awards scholarships for enterprising students who are willing to attend their prom wearing outfits made of Duck Tape. The Grand Prize winners for 2015 spent 90 hours and 39 rolls of multicolored Duck Tape to make their outfits, but for the $10,000 they will each receive in scholarship money, they would probably do it again in a heartbeat. Even if you're not in the market for a scholarship, the winners' gallery is fun to go through every year.
American Society for Enology and Viticulture
In a country where kids apply for college around age 17 or 18, and aren't allowed to drink until they're 21, it seems a little odd for a high school student to dedicate themselves to studying "a curriculum emphasizing a science basic to the wine and grape industry," per the ASEV scholarship program. The awards are highly subjective - amounts are not predetermined, and they reserve the right not to award scholarships at all in a given year. Nevertheless, people do win them. Nearly 30 students received assistance from the ASEV this year.
Left-Handed Scholarships
Stories and rumors about getting a scholarship "just for being left-handed" get bandied around high schools around this time of year, but as much as it sounds like an urban rumor, it's true. Groups from the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma to the Midwest Roofing Contractors Association offer scholarships to lefties, and they're all worth checking in on.
The Talbot's Scholarship for Women over 40
There are actually a wide variety of scholarships out there for women looking either to return to work or to begin a new career path after 40, but only one of them comes with a Talbot's gift card. The Talbot's Scholarships are worth between $10,000 and $30,000, and in addition to the card, you receive a "resume eKit" to help you start your professional life.
American Fire Sprinkler Association
The ASFA offers scholarships to students willing to read an essay about automatic fire sprinklers and then answer a multiple-choice quiz over the essay. Each correct question nets you an extra entry into the competition.
