Get scholarship in 3 steps

How to get a scholarship to study in the USA?

A scholarship to study in the USA usually consists of multiple sources:

-🏅 sports scholarship

-📚 academic scholarship

-💸 financial aid (financial support)

👉 The reality is that most students combine all three options.

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1. Sports scholarship

Sport is often the best way to significantly reduce the cost of studying in the USA.

What do you need:

- high performance in your sport

- quality highlight video

- active communication with coaches

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👉 Top athletes can get up to 100% scholarship, which will cover:

- school

- accommodation

- meals

2. Academic scholarship (for academic results)

Even without top sports, you can get support through your studies.

The following are evaluated:

- grades (GPA)

- test results (e.g. TOEFL, SAT)

- extracurricular activities

👉 The better the profile, the higher the chance of a scholarship.

3. Financial Aid (financial support)

Financial aid is support based on:

- the financial situation of the family

- the possibilities of a particular university (or high school)

👉 Each school has different rules, so the amount of support varies.

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Maybe you are just now starting to think about the possibilities of continuing your studies abroad with your children, and maybe you are already actively involved in it. If you have a successful athlete at home, Sport & Study has prepared a basic overview for you of how it works at mostly American universities that offer scholarships for their students.

There are 3 types of scholarships that can be obtained: academic, social and sports. For some students, it even completely covers tuition, accommodation, food and other fees. But even if the student has the full amount, it is always necessary to count on fixed costs for tests, applications, visas, insurance, airfare and other necessary items without which it is simply impossible to study. Foreign schools are simply very expensive and it is up to each parent to carefully consider whether they can financially support their child throughout their studies. In addition, the rule for sports scholarships is that you always sign up for one school year in advance. Of course, it depends on the specific institution, but if you are applying to a so-called “need-aware” school, then your financial resources play a role in admission, even if you manage to get an almost 100% scholarship. Financial conditions for non-athletes are more demanding, mainly in the sense that the possibility of a sports scholarship, which can make up a significant part of the final price, is lost. For a “merit-based” (academic) scholarship, excellent grades, or a large number of extracurricular activities and your own interesting projects are required. A “need-based” (social) scholarship is very individual, it mainly depends on the story of a particular family, their annual income and other family assets are documented, and last but not least, it is about the possibilities of the school.

Sport plays a significant role In the USA‍

There are approximately 25 university sports that offer sports scholarships. As a rule, these are sports that can be found in the Olympics. The most popular include track and field, football, golf, hockey, swimming, tennis, rowing and volleyball. The main reason why schools give sports scholarships is the huge return. There is usually interest in athletes from Europe because they bring both quality, the necessary diversity, and innovation and increased performance. Sports, in the USA it is mainly American football, play a large role in the overall income of universities. At the same time, it helps them in their unique identity and presentation. Broadcasting and advertising rights are associated with the broadcasting of individual matches and competitions, universities have contracts with the largest sports brands that dress top sports stars. In the States, a sports match is often a huge cultural event that connects all spheres and completes the image of the school. Students from the school, other athletes, and also former students, friends of the school (alumni) and investors come together in one place. The difference between high school and university is huge. Whether in choosing a specific field of study, financing, working on campus or generally in the options offered to the student. From a sports perspective, high school does not offer so many options and sports do not play any extra role here. Therefore, multiple sports often have to be combined and there is no room to devote all year round to the dominant/priority one. Of course, there are exceptions where sports can be the main focus, but they are few.

There is no universal guide

Each school has different criteria. But in general, a student should excel during high school in order to be able to think about studying abroad. Have good grades, decent language skills, sports performance. If we are talking about the most prestigious schools, then they must also meet other requirements and have exceptional knowledge and experience beyond high school studies. Admissions committees and coaches carefully evaluate academic results from the beginning of high school (for athletes, results are counted from the ninth grade of elementary school) to the graduation certificate. They are most interested in the overall average (GPA). Unfortunately, each school and committee has different rules, so it is not possible to summarize the basic admission requirements in general. We always recommend using professional advice in this area, which, in addition to providing complete assistance with the entire process, will often also assess your chances of getting into the school of your choice in advance. If a student wants to be part of a university team and receive a sports scholarship, then unfortunately the recreational level is not enough. The competition is huge and the best athletes at universities are also those who regularly participate in competitions at the international level. Therefore, every parent should keep their feet on the ground and choose the appropriate division accordingly - NCAA D1-3, NAIA or JUCO. NCAA D3 does not offer sports scholarships, and therefore there are no such requirements for sports performance as in NCAA D1/D2.