We’ve written before about different scholarships which can help students pay for college; a very necessary thing as the price keeps increasing. Today, we’re going to explore another, a full ride scholarship, something all students are quite eager to receive: the Cameron Impact Scholarship.
In this article, we’re going to explain what this scholarship is, who it’s for, and how you can apply for it. We’re further going to cover what they’re looking for in applicants, so you’ll know if this scholarship is a good option for you. Let’s get started!
The Cameron Impact Scholarship
The Bryan Cameron Education Foundation was founded in 2015 by Bryan Cameron (surprise!), with the intention of helping promising young people secure an education. It is a private family foundation, funded primarily by its namesake. Like most scholarships of this kind, it holds assets in a trust which earns investment income, to ensure it will be able to continue operating in the long term.
The scholarship itself is a merit-based four year full tuition scholarship. The scholarship covers the full cost of tuition, fees, and books for all the students awarded it, but not room and board or other incidental expenses associated with college.
Between 10 and 15 scholarships are awarded each year. It will pay for tuition towards any accredited university in the United States. As a merit scholarship, your financial need is not considered when applying; they only care about your potential.
Applying for the Cameron Impact Scholarship
The scholarship has the following criteria for eligibility:
- You must have an unweighted high school GPA of at least 3.7/4.0
- You must be a full US citizen
- You must be graduating this year, and planning to enroll in a four year college for a full academic year beginning the following fall
- You must have demonstrated excellence in your extracurriculars, a capacity for leadership, and actively participate in your community
A maximum of 3,000 eligible applicants are reviewed each year. Ineligible and incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Applications are received on a rolling basis, and reviewed in two groups: early and regular. They will announce on their website when they are approaching, and when they have reached, their application limit for the year.
The early deadline is in May of your junior year, the regular deadline is in September of your senior year. The odds of becoming a finalist are slightly higher for those who apply early.
The application has the following components:
- An online application form
- Two letters of recommendation (one of which must come from someone officially affiliated with your school)
- A transcript certifying your academic performance. An unofficial transcript is accepted
The letters of recommendation and transcript can either be uploaded directly through the online application, or emailed to the foundation.
After reviewing all complete applications, 75-100 finalists will be announced. These will be interviewed in person in the fall by selection committee members. These interviews typically take place at your high school, so you don’t need to worry about traveling.
Recipients of the scholarship are announced in December. If you are awarded a scholarship, you will be required to attend the annual awards ceremony each year you are in college. This is held in a different city each year.
What The Scholarship Looks For
This is a merit scholarship, and like all such, the first thing they look at is academic achievement. This is not enough on its own of course, but you do need to show consistent high grades, and that you have challenged yourself in your course load. While this will not win you the scholarship outright, failure to show sufficient academic readiness will see you passed over for more qualified applicants.
What differentiates the applicants from those who are selected as finalists then is their extracurricular achievements. What you do outside of the classroom always matters, but here it is of preeminent importance. Specifically, the scholarship is looking for the following things:
- Leadership. They want to see that you have assumed official or unofficial responsibility because you want to, and that you have actively sought out opportunities which grant you this responsibility.
- Engagement with your community. They want to see that you have given back and actively worked on the issues facing your community. The scholarship wants to encourage the leaders of tomorrow, and fund their education.
So what does this look like in your extracurriculars? It can take multiple forms, as we discuss further in our article on leadership. That said, you should show off how you have sought out responsibility in any extracurricular you are part of. This doesn’t mean you need to be president of a dozen clubs; a high level investment in and involvement with a single activity can also be quite valuable.
Community engagement, meanwhile, should take the form of giving back to your community. This can come through volunteering, or more structured opportunities such as working with your local government. In either case your intention is the main point; to serve your fellows and contribute positively to society.
The scholarship is specifically interested in finding civic leaders, so internships and other opportunities related to public service are particularly valuable. These are not the only ways to stand out of course, but they do line up well with the stated values of the foundation, and demonstrate a commitment to their cause.
Selected finalists will need to complete an interview with the foundation. These are akin to any college interview; for guidance on how to prepare for these, see our article on preparing for interviews.
For your letters of recommendation, one must come from a teacher or counselor. We recommend one who can speak to both your academic achievement and extracurricular involvement. For your second, either choose another teacher, or if you are involved majorly with an extracurricular outside of school, choose a mentor from there who is able to speak to your involvement and contributions. They care a lot about your extracurriculars, so highlighting your accomplishments is a good idea.
Final Thoughts
We’ve written about scholarships before, and are always happy to bring you another which can help you pay for the rising costs of college. We hope that this article has provided a solid introduction to the Cameron Scholarship, and shown you what you need to be a contender for it.
If you have stellar grades and a record of extracurricular involvement, then this is a great scholarship for you to apply to. We recommend planning about these early; after all, the longer you spend planning, the better a plan you’re likely to have.
If you are looking for advice on applying to this or other scholarships, or finding financing options to help you pay for college, schedule a free consultation today. If you are concerned about your ability to pay, check out our pro bono Laurel Scholars service. In either case, we look forward to hearing from you; we love helping students achieve their educational goals.
