What is the Nordstrom Scholarship Program?
The Nordstrom Scholarship Program was created to help high school graduates pay for college. This program will give the qualified students $10,000 to be spread over their four year college career.
Essentially, the Nordstrom Scholarship Program is there to assist students that are in need of financial aid. There are a few Nordstrom Scholarship requirements to be met; however, in comparison to most scholarships, this program is rather lenient on who can apply. Perhaps the only requirement that may not be easily achieved by most students is the fact that he or she must live near a Nordstrom store in order to qualify. Nordstrom does not give a specific required distance between the student’s home residence and each store, but it is known in which states Nordstrom does business:
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Colombia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, N. Carolina, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
The Nordstrom Scholarship program also runs a YouTube ad campaign, called TEN4U, which helps promote awareness about the scholarship. The video shows Nordstrom Scholarship winners of 2012, receiving their awards. Also, the video shows that the winners came from many diverse backgrounds, so it seems as if there are very few demographic requirements to qualify for the scholarship. Keep in mind, that one major requirement is that the student must never have been convicted of a crime.
The program, also known, as the ‘Nordstrom Cares Scholarship’ is awardable to virtually any student that meets the basic requirements, such as:
1. The student will need to have at least a GPA of 2.7 or above. Again, compared to most scholarship programs, this is below average. Though this may help some students that have a lower GPA, the applicant base for the Nordstrom Scholarship Program will be much larger, so there will be more competition.
2. The student must be involved in some time of volunteer or community service work. This is perhaps one of the most important parts about the Nordstrom Scholarship requirements, as this particular program is designed to assist students who are actively involved in charitable volunteer work.
3. Last, the Nordstrom Scholarship program requires that the student must be eligible and planning on attending a 4-year college program in order to qualify.
How can the Nordstrom Scholarship help for seniors?
Unfortunately, the Nordstrom Scholarship cannot help high school seniors, as one of the Nordstrom Scholarship requirements is that the applicant must be a high school junior.
It is very important for students who want to qualify for this program to apply no later than their junior year, and preparing for it by the end of their sophomore year. Also, the Nordstrom Scholarship program will have certain requirements for high school juniors.
1. Nordstrom: Scholarship Application – ACT – There needs to be an ACT score present on the application; however, the program does not give any requirements for how highly the student scored. Of course, if the student must be eligible to enroll in a college program, then the ACT score should be high enough to do so. Essentially, the Nordstrom Scholarship for juniors application must be submitted with an ACT score that is high enough to enroll in a 4-year college.
2. According to the program, there is no Nordstrom scholarship for employees. However, this should not deter employees from applying if they meet the requirements above.
The Nordstrom Scholarship Program will also award other perks to high school juniors that win, including things like laptop computers and other college supplies. In 2012 the program had over 12,000 applicants, but only about 80 winners. The percentage is less than 1%, so it is very important to have an extensive and thorough resume’ before applying to meet the requirements and receive these awards.
The best practice to get into for applying to any scholarship is to begin late in the sophomore year. This way, there will be no shortage of time for taking care of various details as the junior year draws on. It is never smart to wait for deadlines when trying to receive scholarship awards, as this never looks good on the student. While there still are other scholarship opportunities for high school seniors, most scholarship opportunities, such as the Nordstrom Scholarship, will only allow juniors to apply. In addition, the student must have an ACT score, a career in volunteering and community service, as well as an essay describing this charitable work in order to even submit the paperwork. This could take months to complete, so it is crucial to begin as soon as possible. Even high school freshmen should be in the planning phase on which scholarship applications they wish to submit.
How can it help for my nursing school?
The Nordstrom Scholarship program does not give any college courses of study that are required in order for the student to qualify, so naturally, even students applying for nursing school may be able to receive Nordstrom Scholarship program awards.
However, the student should keep in mind that many nursing schools are only 2-year programs, meaning that the student would not qualify. If he or she is planning on enrolling in nursing school and also qualifying for Nordstrom scholarship monies, the nursing student needs to enroll in a 4-year nursing program.
Actually, if the student becomes accepted into a nursing program while applying for the Nordstrom Scholarship program, while he or she is also involved in some type of volunteer work in that field, that could present a strong case for approval. The Nordstrom Scholarship program has traditionally been partial to those entering the medical field, for the simple fact that there is ample opportunity for charitable work. So, if the student goes into nursing and is hoping to find scholarship monies, there is a larger percentage chance that filling out applications will pay off in the long run.
Nordstrom Scholarship eligibility requires that the student must also have a 2.7 GPA or higher in order to qualify for the scholarship, so that means if certain students have a lower GPA than average per those who qualify, then being a medical field may help the student’s chances. With scholarships, much about winning awards is about appearances.
Again, the Nordstrom Scholarship program does not indicate that certain fields of study are off limits. But, there certainly are college career paths that may improve chances on winning scholarship monies. Simply have the other requirements lined up, and apply by the deadline.
What Is the Nordstrom Scholarship Essay?
There are a few Nordstrom Scholarship essay questions and examples, but most of them have to do with a single theme: community service. The Nordstrom Scholarship program is geared towards students with a leaning towards community service and charitable work, so naturally, the essay will ask questions along those same lines.
One of the most common questions is ‘What kind of charitable work have you done and why did you begin doing community service and volunteering?’ Also, you may find something like, ‘What kind of community service work do you plan on doing during your college career?’ It is easy to see why it is very important for the applicant to have extensive volunteering work under his or her belt before their junior year.
A simple Internet search will reveal examples on essays written for the Nordstrom Scholarship application. The applicant may want to read these before writing his or her own to get an idea of what others have already done. However, keep in mind that plagiarism is a very fast way to get an application thrown out immediately, so never find yourself copying the words or ideas off someone else’s essay. Only seek out these essays for example purposes.
There is very large weight placed on the Nordstrom Scholarship essay for the simple fact that it helps the folks get to know the applicants. It also allows the truly gifted and community service oriented students to stand out. For this reason, the student should certainly take his or her time on the essay, especially considering how important it is to the overall application and decision process. In addition, writing the essay from personal experience is a big help, as this gives the student a podium to sell his or her application to the program.
For any college scholarship application, essays are there so that the student can brag about his or her accomplishments in a professional manner. It is a place to tell the program about why you are more qualified above all other applicants, which is why there is so much emphasis on scholarship essays. Doing well on the essay is a very fast way to increase your chances on winning the Nordstrom Scholarship.
Overall, the Nordstrom Scholarship program is designed to help students who need assistance in paying for college. These students must have a love for their community, as well as a drive for excellence.