From odd scholarships for overweight people, to special endowment weird unknown scholarships for Jewish orphans, these strange and unusual scholarships will pique your interest. You may not have a 4.0 grade point average (GPA), or shoot 50 percent from the three-point line, but you may be able to qualify for some of these unusual scholarship awards.
Does your family boast a proud genealogy back to colonial America? If you are able to prove that it does, you may be eligible for one of these unique academic scholarships. Several odd scholarships are presented each year to those few lucky students who are able to trace their ancestry all the way back to one of the 55 individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence.
In addition to proving their heritage, candidates must be members of the select group known as the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Students who have applied for this weird unknown scholarship will be named during the group’s annual meeting. This meeting will, of course, be held on July 3-4 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The University of California at Berkeley offers another unusual scholarship award. Several higher education odd scholarships are available to Jewish students with a definite financial need. Students who win the Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) Scholarships Award must reside in Los Angeles county, and community participation or service is preferred.
Similar available unknown scholarships are awarded yearly to Jewish students who reside in other areas in California, including San Francisco, Marin or Sonoma Counties, or the Peninsula. These students can receive up to $6,000 in financial assistance for college. Awards are based in part on the number of eligible students who apply.
One of the most unusual weird unknown scholarships for students of Jewish ancestry, however, is the odd scholarship offered to Jewish orphans at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). This unusual scholarship is available to undergraduate students who have previously studied aeronautics, and maintained a 3.5 GPA.
Other weird unknown scholarships are offered to students at Vassar College who are willing to change their middle name to Huntington in honor of one of the university’s benefactors. The school also continues to offer a uncommon scholarship to any Baptist minister’s daughter who attends that college. Similarly, students at Hamilton College in New York with the last name Leavenworth are eligible for a full scholarship to that institution.
For students who aren’t ready to change their last names to benefit from odd scholarship opportunities, other unusual awards are available. For example, the National Field Archery Association (NFAA) offers an annual award of at least $100 to qualified high school seniors. These students must participate in archery activities and have been members of the NFAA for at least two years prior to application.
If you aren’t an academic genius but still hope to profit from the odd bequests made to some colleges, search for unusual or wacky scholarships that may benefit you. Don’t just look for competitive scholarships. There are awards for tall people, fat people, and short people. If you can imagine a quality, there is most likely weird unknown scholarships for it – you just have to look. You will find many odd scholarships; and one just might be right for you!
