The average scholarship amount awarded at Auburn University is $1,500 per year.
"My Spirit of Auburn scholarship was automatically awarded, but I had to apply for my Leadership scholarship by writing an essay and providing a recommendation from my high school counselor," said Alex Alston, senior in exercise science. "Not just anyone could apply for it, you actually had to be recommended."
"It was really intimidating because you know a lot of other people are applying, and they keep raising the bar every year. You could meet the requirements for last year, but they could be different this year."
Deadlines range from Dec. 1 to Feb. 11 with the exception of the departmental scholarships of building science on March 1 and the school of nursing on June 30.
On the university level, there are renewable 4-year freshman scholarships--including resident and non-resident--and general scholarships that are awarded annually to new and current students.
All freshmen scholarships have a Dec. 1 priority deadline.
These include the residential Spirit of Auburn category--Presidential, Founders and University scholarships--which are automatically awarded to outstanding Alabama residents based on academic achievement with a GPA minimum requirement of 3.5 and ACT scores ranging from 28-36.
For non-residential applicants, academic scholarships are awarded in lieu of those deserving students from out-of-state, including the Presidential, Heritage and Charter scholarships.
The invitation-only elite scholarships, involving the top six scholarships at Auburn as well as Auburn Spirit Foundation scholarships and several Auburn sponsored scholarships, are available to both resident and non-resident freshmen.
"I applied to Auburn too late to get a freshman scholarship," said George Nunnely, junior in journalism, "so I basically sought out whatever scholarship I could get through the Auburn departmental scholarship webpage online for a general Liberal Arts scholarship."
Not only do scholarships allow students to focus on schoolwork rather than their financial burdens, scholarships have potential to open other doors.
"(Earning my scholarship) could honestly help me out down the road because when I received the scholarship (the University) gave me the name of the alumni that recommended me and encouraged me to write a thank you notes to each of them which could potentially benefit me in the future," Nunnely said.
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