Many students need to get financial aid be it a scholarship or grant in order to pursue a college education, and as many of them are special and unique, there are certain weird scholarships available to them. There really should be no difference in the applicants mind when applying for any financial aid whether it’s considered a strange scholarship or not because it’s all free money which will pay their tuition. A standard scholarship is basically received for grades or a great written essay, but the the so called unusual and odd scholarships might have some interesting topics to be addressed and they can be directed to certain categories of students who actually may have some odd talents which easily get them awarded a scholarship. Let’s look closer at this.
There are numerous weird scholarships that are given away for various reasons and purposes. For example, you could receive one for being tall, or for being left-handed, if you like potatoes or if you watch David Letterman. So which are the strangest scholarships one can apply for? Check out these top 5 odd scholarships listed below along with other unusual and unknown scholarships and remember they all do one thing – pay your college tuition so don’t be shy about applying to them if you feel you have a chance.
Strangest Scholarships
Strange scholarship no. 1 is one that is awarded for your last name. It’s actually a name scholarship. If your name is Van Valkenburg or something similar to it, you can get up to $1,000 without being tied down to a certain university. You can even get it if your mom, grandma, grand-grandma or grand-grand-grand-etc-ma had that name. No grades, no essays, no GPA, no creativity, just a name. Now isn’t this a strange scholarship?
Coming in second place for a weird scholarship is the Vegetarian Resource Group Scholarship. You can get up to $10,000 just for hating carnivores and omnivores. The only thing you have to do in order to meet the requirements for this strange scholarship is to promote in your school, community, city while you’re in high school.
Weird scholarship number three is awarded for predicting the future! The Excellence in Predicting the Future Award addresses students that want to pursue an economics college education and is meant to encourage them to get involved in the prediction market. In order to apply for this $400 strange scholarship, you must be a registered user on Troy Studios website and participate in the Prediction Market. This small but unusual scholarship is awarded every two months.
The fourth strangest scholarship you can apply for is given away for students that like candy and are interested in confectionary technology. If you get the first scholarship, you will receive $5,000 from The American Association of Candy Technologists. On the other hand, this wacky scholarship has some tough requirements. You need to have a GPA score of at least 3.0, have a major in food/chemical/biological science or other related domains, choose to attend a college or university based in North America and be able to demonstrate you are interested in confectionery technology.
The fifth wacky unknown weird scholarships are given away by the Ball State University and amounts $10,000. So what’s the name of this unknown scholarship? It’s called the David Letterman Scholarship in Telecommunications. As Letterman himself stated, “Grades are not a criterion or condition for eligibility”. You can be an average student and still get this unusual scholarship for your creativity. So go ahead, be creative and get ten grand just like that!
Other Strange, Unusual, Strange and Weird Scholarships
You can bowl for scholarship dollars by being a good bowler. The USBC BOWLING SCHOLARSHIPS, sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), offers to the USBC Youth Members so they can earn college bowling scholarships to achieve their dreams and grow professionally. There are various bowling scholarships which members can subsidize their education for high school, college or university.
Can drinking wine get you a wine scholarship? Maybe or maybe not but there is a scholarship for wine if you are a connoisseur. It seems odd but there is scholarship money for this unusual culinary field of study.
The Patrick Kerr Skateboard scholarship program has money for outstanding skateboarding skills. Does it sound like you? Well this is not a dream you are reading about and you can go to college and skateboard having part of it paid for because you’re good at it.
There are even weird scholarships for milk. If you are planning to earn a degree in dairy production, marketing, or research, you may be interested to find about the unusual milk scholarship available through the DUIA. DHIA is short for the National Dairy Herd Information Association and they have scholarships for all you cow milk lovers.
Tea council of the USA Inc. has a tea scholarship of all things to help float tea lovers to college. There is one $15,000 tea scholarship and August 2nd is the deadline for applications.
Got beef? Do you like steak, hamburger or any red meat? The American farmers are serious about their livestock, and the National Jersey Youth Scholarships prove this easily. This scholarships foundation awards over $10,000 in cattle beef scholarships for agriculture students each year. Whether you’re a college freshman or planning to enroll in
graduate school, the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA) offers plenty of chances to earn money for college.
What do bullets and scholarships have in common? It’s almost like oil and water but the National Rifle Association has women NRA scholarships called the Women’s Wildlife Management/Conservation Scholarship. They offer (1) year $1,000 scholarships to full-time college juniors or seniors having a minimum GPA of 3.0 who is majoring in wildlife management/conservation. November 15th is the application deadline so start taking aim for those NRA scholarship dollars.
Bah Bah black sheep have you any sheep scholarship dollars. Yes I do in the amount of $1,500 – for sheep-related graduate studies. The Sheep Heritage Memorial Foundation has this award for those students wanting to advance the sheep industry, lamb and wool. June 1st is the application deadline for all you sheep and wool lovers.
Love food, cooking and eating? Well then look no further then the The Culinary Institute of America which has a variety of culinary scholarships to apply too. You can eat your way through college for free.
Do you love french fries, mashed potatoes or any kind of potatoes? You’re in luck because the The National Potato Council offers (1) $5,000 weird scholarship to a graduate student pursuing advanced studies in Agribusiness for the purpose of improving the Potato Industry. June 15th is the potatoe scholarship application deadline.
In the end, you can see that nowadays there are many unusual weird unknown scholarships being given away for weird reasons. Nonetheless, as a student you will find them useful. So if you have some odd talent and fit into any of the above-mentioned strange unknown scholarships, go ahead and financially ease your way into college. If you don’t submit an application you will never have a chance at winning any scholarship.
Weird scholarships for college the wacky and strange way.
