How can i get a high school scholarship?

How do i get a scholarship for a private catholic high school?

• I am about to enter the 8th grade. I might go to a private catholic high school, & i was wondering how can i get a scholarship? Do i have to take some kind of test? I heard that if you play a sport, then you earn a scholarship. Well my mom said that's how she got her scholarship. Please let me know what are the requirements to get a scholarship for the 9th grade in a private high school. Thanks(:

• Answer:

  Catholic high schools often have needs-based financial aid, and sometimes also some merit scholarships (that may also be partially needs-based). Needs-based is based on your parents' financial situation. All the info on their application is kept confidential, and usually only one or two people at the school know which students are receiving financial aid. It may be from 10 - 25% of the students are receiving some aid, sometimes it's just a little, and once in awhile it's full tuition. The first thing would be that you would be qualified to be admitted to the school. Often schools do not look to see if you need financial aid when they are making that decision, then they decide if you are qualified for financial aid or scholarships. Even if you are qualified to be admitted, and qualified for financial aid, sometimes there isn't enough to go around so you won't get any. For the Catholic schools I know of, an important factor in receiving financial aid is being Catholic. While non-Catholics may receive aid sometimes, it's mostly for Catholic students, and it's needs-based. Even if you think your parents make a nice income, it's worth it to fill out a financial aid application if they feel they need the help. Some Catholic schools have different tuition levels depending on your situation, like if you are a participating member of their parish (participating usually means a certain number of volunteer hours from your parents or maybe you, and consistent donations, but not necessarily a lot), then you get the lowest tuition. The next would be a non-participating member of the parish, someone who doesn't attend often or donate or volunteer, then would be a Catholic member of another parish, and then a non-Catholic. Not all schools charge tuition this way, but some do. Some Catholic schools have merit-based scholarships, which usually are given to Catholic students, or students who attended a Catholic K - 8. They look at your HSPT scores (or other entrance exam), GPA, behavior, activities (like sports), community service, etc, and then they decide who is most deserving. The best thing to do is to look at the website of the schools you are interested in and find out all the information now, look under Admissions, and Financial Aid, or something like that. (Some Catholic schools don't have very informative websites, if that is the case, see if you can email someone to get on their list for when they send out admissions packages.) Maybe you need to attend church more often, maybe you need to do community service, etc. You still have summer left and it's a lot easier to start now then during 8th grade. Also, study for the HSPT or whatever entrance test they use, it will say on the school website. Be sure to follow the Admissions Calendar and don't be late with anything. You will also likely need to write an essay or answer questions about why you want to attend that school, you have plenty of time to figure it out. Here is info on the admissions process: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArwyVDYYhhTzyFZq0kh8308jzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20081130214130AAOrX1u Good luck!