How to Win a McDonald’s Scholarship

How to Win a McDonald’s Scholarship – There are different kinds of scholarships that is available for all the students and even those who are employed and working. Different scholarships have different eligibility criteria and other forms of requirement. Also, the scholarship amount will vary. Students can choose to apply for a particular scholarship program according to their career plans and school/college fees, and their needs. Their need is the most important, like what they need and are expecting from a particular scholarship program. Till now in the similar posts you must have read about different kinds of scholarship programs and other kinds of college grants etc. Today in this guide you will read about the McDonald’s Scholarship and what are its requirements and eligibility criteria. So, continue to read to know more.

Since the year, 1985 Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is working towards granting more than $48 million for various college scholarships. It is a part of the McDonald’s Corporation. Plus, in this year it can happen that maximum students are able to win the scholarships. This guide has saved you the hassles of research and tedious work of finding the correct McDonald’s Scholarship. In Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, Associate of Science students are also covered.  Therefore, in this guide you will come across the following topics that are covered regarding the McDonald’s Scholarship Program.

• The differences between the 4 RMHC McDonald’s Scholarship programs
• The eligibility requirements for each of the McDonald’s Scholarships
• How much McDonald’s Scholarships are worth and if they’re renewable
• How to apply for the McDonald’s Scholarships, including detailed descriptions of what you’ll need for each section of the application
• The McDonald’s Scholarships application timeline
• 5 tips to increase your chances of winning one of the McDonald’s Scholarships

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Now let us look at some of the eligibility requirements of the McDonalds Scholarship Program and check the overview –

What are the RMHC McDonald’s Scholarships? and Who’s Eligible to Apply?

At present there are 4 different kinds of scholarship program that is running which is McDonalds Scholarship Program.(P.N. – In this guide there will not be any mention of the ‘RMHC McDonalds Scholarship’, the use of word scholarship itself would mean the same scholarship about which the guide is mentioning.) You can make an application in all the 4 scholarships randomly, but you will be chosen only to win one scholarship in the end.

Let us now look at eligibility requirement, so that you can get a clarity regarding the one scholarship for which you should apply.

RMHC Scholarship –

You should meet the following requirements to get selected in the following scholarship. They are as follows –

• At present, you should be a high school senior and you should be eligible to attend a 2/4 year college university/vocational program/ technical school.
• You should be a legitimate resident of the US.
• Your age should be less than 21 years of the age.
• You should have a GPA of at least 2.7
• In addition, additionally you should reside within the geographical boundaries of a participating RMHC chapter.

RMHC/African American Future Achievers –

You can apply for this scholarship program (name mentioned above) if you have at least one parent of African American or Black Caribbean heritage. The eligibility requirement for this scholarship program is –

‘SAME AS MENTIONED ABOVE IN RMHC SHCOLARSHIP’.

RMHC/ASIA (Asian Students Increasing Achievement) –

For this scholarship, you should have at least one parent of Asian-Pacific heritage.  The eligibility requirement for this scholarship program is –

‘SAME AS MENTIONED ABOVE IN RMHC SHCOLARSHIP’.

RMHC/HACER (Hispanic American Commitment to Educational Resources) Scholarship –

To be eligible for this scholarship program you should have at least one parent of Hispanic heritage. But it is not like other scholarship program. Here there are 2 types of HACER scholarship – 1. Local and 2. National. The eligibility requirement for this scholarship program is –

‘SAME AS MENTIONED ABOVE IN RMHC SHCOLARSHIP’.

In HACER National Scholarships the requirements are almost same but there are some key points of differences. They are as follows –

‘SAME AS MENTIONED ABOVE IN RMHC SHCOLARSHIP’.

However, the differences are as follows, please read carefully –

• If you are a high school senior who is eligible to attend a 2 or 4 year college or university, (BUT in this vocational schools or technical schools are NOT included.)
• You should have a GPA of at least 2.8.
• Lastly, you should mention about the other scholarship programs that you have applied for
• [The rest of the requirements that is age and citizenship are the same, but there is no mention of residing in any geographical limits as point of difference.]

How Much Are McDonald’s Scholarships Worth?

$1000 each is the worth of the scholarship. The students to pay off their tuition fee, study material cost, equipment’s, and other supplies can use this scholarship amount. In addition, this scholarship amount can be used for courses that is at an accredited, non-profit, 2/4 year college or university or for vocational or technical schools that too in the US. There are also some other scholarship of the same category that is worth much more than just $1000. For instance, for the ongoing year there is likely to 30 McDonald’s HACER National Scholarship, which shall range from $5,000 to $100,000. The exact cost or amount is not defined and it totally depends on the local RMHC Chapter in your area or state. So, stay updated, keep checking all the recent posts regarding the scholarship, and take a sneak peek into buchananreform to know more.

To know more about the local RMHC chapter, you should go to the Google search engine and type the name of your locality/state and get the details. You can also e-mail the committee members or connected counselors requesting detailed information about the same. E-mail ID you will get it when you search for the same.

Are McDonald’s Scholarships Renewable?

No the scholarships are not renewable and is only valid for 1 year, yet there are some exceptions, they are as follows –

• It depends on your local RMHC chapter and based on that you can give an application for renewal of scholarship.

So, when you check online in Google about your local RMHC chapter, make sure that you enquire about the renewability of the scholarship too. Whether it is allowed in your state or not. You can request the counselor through an e-mail to send the complete process for renewal application and the requirements also.

Do You Need to Be a McDonald’s Employee to Apply for the Scholarships?

There is NO need for you to be an employee for this scholarship. It is applicable to all the students who meet the eligibility criteria and other requirements. You can also apply for a tuition assistance program that is known as Archways to Opportunity.

How to apply for the McDonald’s Scholarships?

Here is the list of the materials and information that you will have to submit when you apply for this scholarship. They are as follows –

• You will need to submit your high school transcript
• Your official SAT/ACT scores
• FAFSA Student Aid Report
• Details about your fiscal(financial) situation
• Information about your first-choice college/university
• Information about your high school and academic record
• Information about your involvement in extracurricular activities and any awards or honors that you’ve received .
• Detailed information about your involvement in community service, volunteer activities, and work/internship experience
• Answers to 4-5 short personal statement essay questions
• 1-2 letters of recommendation
• Video statement (optional and only for the HACER National Scholarship)

This might look like a lot of details and information, but when you sit down to make the application it becomes easy and also, you should submit a stellar application. Let us look at it in details –

1. High school transcript

The transcript can be official or unofficial. And if you choose to submit an unofficial transcript then make sure to convert the file into an acceptable one like .xps, .pdf, etc. (rest of the info you can check online.) Make sure the file contains your name and all the grades of high school. Don’t submit the file if it has mention of only single term grade.

Note – If you have applied for a HACER National Scholarship then you should send your official high school transcript, incase you are chosen as a semi-finalist.

2. SAT/ACT scores

This score report is also needed and there is no direct need for you to send the report to the ACT or College Board. You can send the official report copy.

3. FAFSA Student Aid Report

Once you have completed the FAFSA, you will get a Student Aid Report (SAR). This report contains the details of your eligibility for the student’s aid. In this report all the 5 pages are important and your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) should also be visible to the scholarship committee. To fill up some fiscal details you will need your SAR. Within 2 weeks of submitting your FAFSA, you should get the SAR. If you are still pending on submitting the FAFSA and need some help to fill up the form then you should check out How to Apply for FAFSA.

Note – If you have applied for National HACER scholarship then you will have to send your FAFSA SAR, incase you are selected as a semi-finalist.

4. Information about your financial situation

Financial need should be one of the criteria, if you want to get selected for the scholarship. So, you will be required to submit some ad-on details like –

• Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) found on your FAFSA SAR
• Number of members in your household
• Number of dependents(e.g. your siblings) attending college in fall 2021
• Total cash, checking, savings, and cash value of stocks (exclude 401k, IRA) (you’re not required to answer this one)
• Whether you live with at least one of your parents
• Whether your parent(s)/legal guardian(s) were employed last year (2020)
• The marital status of your parent(s) or guardian(s)
• Whether your parent(s)/legal guardian(s) receive any Federal or State Aid
• Incase if there is any fiscal circumstances of your family that you would like to mention, and then you can write a short statement of 300 words maximum.

5. Information about your college/university

If you are selected and win the scholarship, then the amount of scholarship will be directly sent to your college or university. In addition, if you are unsure about the college or university, then just mention your first choice. You can also submit a letter later on mentioning about the change in college or university through the application portal. Plus, you will have to give the following information about the school –

• State where the school is located
• Name of the school
• Your expected degree program (associates, bachelors, certificate, masters, doctoral)
• The type of academic institution (certificate, four-year college/university, two-year college/university, vocational/technical school)
• Your intended major
• Your expected graduation date

Note: There are some untold reasons due to which the application provides certain options that are against the eligibility requirements. You can only apply for this scholarship if you plan to enroll in bachelors or associate degree program at a 2 /4 year college or university or vocational/technical school. Again, (if you are applying for a HACER National Scholarship then vocational/technical schools are NOT eligible.)

6. Information about your high school and academic record

In this, you have to fill up the following information. They are as follows –

• State and city where your high school is located
• School name
• School address
• Your graduation date
• Your principal’s name, email address, and telephone number
• Your academic counselor’s name, email address, and telephone number
• Whether or not your school ranks students
• If your GPA is weighted or un-weighted
• Your current GPA on a 4.0 scale
• Your ACT composite score OR your SAT scores for Reading/Writing and Math
• The number of Honors, AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment classes you’ve taken

Note: Though some details are asked to be furnished in this section like GPA, enrollment history, test scores, yet you will have to provide a full transcript and your SAT/ACT scores to complete this section.

7. Information about your involvement in clubs/extracurricular activities and any awards or honors you’ve received

All your activities that you have done through school clubs, or extra-curricular activities or winning any award, etc. you will have to mention that and include all related details, not a single one should be missed. The information that you need to include are as follows –

• The names of the club/extracurricular activities, number of years involved, and the highest positions held (e.g. Volleyball Team, 3 years, Varsity Captain)
• The name of the awards, level (school, city, state, national, etc.), and number of years achieved (e.g. Honor Roll, School, 4 years)
• Detailed information about your involvement in community service, volunteer activities, and work/internship experience

Apart from these entire one of the major criteria for selection is the involvement in some form of community service. You can be asked to share the following details about community service and volunteer activities in the ‘RESUME’ section of the application.

• A detailed description of the service activity and your role
• Name of the Club/Organization
• Average hours per week of service
• Number of weeks served per year
• Number of years involved
• When you participated in the activity (during high school/secondary school)
• If you are still participating in the activity?

You will also be asked to share the following details regarding any work or internship that you have taken. They are as follows –

• Employer name
• Position
• Start month and year
• End month and year
• Average number of hours worked per week

Tip: You can save your time and energy by simply mentioning about volunteer activities and community service in the activities section of your college application. No need to repeat the same. You can also check out this helpful guide on how to write about your activities on college applications.

8. Answers to 4-5 short personal statement essay questions

Whether you are applying for all the 4 scholarships or one single scholarship you will have to write a short essay of 300 words (it will also vary as per the questions). Some questions that you need to answer are as follows –

• What has most influenced your professional or career aspirations for the future?

In this you should mention about one such person who has influenced your life and how they have helped you to change your perspective. You can use instances from your extra curricular activities, family life, or community service.  Pick up any quality like trustworthiness, or fairness or liability and evaluate it regarding that person of influence.

• Describe a time when you were in a leadership or responsibility position. What obstacles did you have to overcome? How did you overcome those obstacles to obtain your goal?

You may have to answer these additional questions if you have applied for HACER National Scholarship Program.

• What career path are you planning to pursue? What do you want to be when you grow up, and why?

Check the application portal to know the word limit. For RMHC scholarship the word limit is 150 words, for HACER scholarship the word limit is 100 words. So, it can change also, so always get the updated information.

Tip: For your college application if you have already written such essay then you can edit it and re-use it.

9. 1-2 letters of recommendation

You will have submit at least 2 letters of recommendation. One from your high school teacher/principal and other from a coach/counselor or a person under whom you have done community service and extra curricular or internship. Because these people can speak up for your strength and qualities in academics, & community service etc. The submission of the letter of recommendation can be done through a link from the application portal. Tell your mentors 2 weeks earlier about this so that they get time in hand to submit the letter or write the letter.

Tip: The mentors who had written letters of recommendation for your college application, you can ask the same mentors to write letter of recommendation for your scholarship application. It will save your time and energy.

10. Video statement (optional and only for the HACER National Scholarship)

If you have applied for a HACER National Scholarship then you can make a video explaining why you deserve one. Follow the following guidelines when making a video. They are as follows –

• No more than 2 minutes in length
• Uploaded to YouTube or another free video service (mailed video submissions on DVDs or any other physical format are not accepted)
• If the video is password protected or requires a sign in to view, you must include the password in your application
• The video must be available through August 2021

Note: For choosing a video statement, you will not be penalized.

McDonald’s Scholarships Application Timeline –

Here is the timeline for the 2 kinds of scholarship application, they are as follows –

•  Application Timeline for the Local RMHC McDonald’s Scholarships

The application opens in the month of October on the first day. Then, the deadline to submit your application will be 18^th January. The last day for the mentors to submit the recommendation letter will be 25^th January. The winners for the scholarship are announced in the month of April 30^th. Again, in the month of August the amount is disbursed to the Recipients College or university.

Note: There can be change in the dates according to the RMHC chapters so check again in the online portal also the geographical area timeline.

• Application Timeline for the McDonald’s HACER National Scholarship

The application for HACER scholarship opens in the month of October on the fifth day. The deadline for the application is February 3^rd. The last day for the mentors to submit the recommendation letter is February 10^th. Semi-finalist are announced in the month of February 16^th. The deadline for the semi-finalist to complete the application is March 3^rd. Final Winners will be announced in the month of May 7^th. Then, in the month of July or August, the scholarship amount is disbursed to the Recipients College or university.

5 More Tips to Increase Your Chances of Winning the McDonalds Scholarship –

To make a enhanced and winning application, here are few tips –

• Write Memorable Personal Statement Essays

It is suggested that you should try to be a place of the scholarship committee and try to see how they evaluate the scholarship application of the students. Every year they receive around 1000s of application of scholarship. Reading and answering the personal essays and recommendation letters its all-tedious task, yet they successfully pick out the deserving one. So, make sure that you have to write something sui generis (i.e. UNIQUE). Your Personal Essay should be a Sui Generis. For instance, unique is the common word for something that stands out. Again, Sui Generis is the most uncommon and unused word for something that stands out. So, if you are asked to select between the word unique (which is used by majority people) and Sui Generis, definitely you will feel like choosing the word ‘Sui Generis’ because of the uncommonness and newness. Same applies to your scholarship application. Hope this instance, is easy enough to understand.

In the introduction, use descriptive language. Plus, you can check out some helpful posts on scholarship essays and personal statements for more detailed information. Also, make sure to proofread and edit your essays before submitting your application!

• Be Strategic When Asking for Letters of Recommendation

You should be strategic when asking for letters of recommendation. However, this does not help in your chances of winning a scholarship. You can also do other things or go the other ways like the following –

You can write a formal e-mail (like requesting letter of recommendation) to your 2 mentors (from whom you want the letter of recommendation) and write down the following –

• the name of the scholarship
• the link to where they can find more information about the scholarship, the deadline, and the core selection criteria

Apart from that in the e-mail write down and let the mentors know what you enjoyed the most about their class, activity, or internship or whatever and list some achievements (that you received outside college) write down about your awards and aspirations. Also, mention how this scholarship can help you and why you deserve it. Follow up and after they submit the recommendation letter send a thank you letter or e-mail them. That’s all.

• Submit Your FAFSA Early

After the month of June, is the deadline for FAFSA. You need the FAFSA SAR to complete your scholarship application. Plus, the deadline is January 18^th . The deadline for HACER National Scholarship is February 3^rd. Within 2 weeks, you should get your SAR after you have submitted your FAFSA.

Don’t wait for the last minute, simply Complete the FAFSA as soon as you can! Also, remember, if you need guidance on filling out the FAFSA correctly, you can find all the information you need by reading How to Apply for FAFSA.

• Work Hard to Achieve a High GPA

Remember as mentioned above the minimum GPA score for the McDonald’s scholarship is 2.7. and for HACER National Scholarship it is 2.8. Plus, one of the main criteria for selection is the academic performance. So, your GPA should be very good. Try to work hard and get a more good GPA. If it is more than what is required then it’s an excellent score and it can impress the committee members. If added with good awards and social service and personal essay, you will get selected.

To know more you can check the guide on helpful article on ways to boost your GPA. This has tips that can help you to enhance your GPA scores and tips on how to study and work hard for GPA.

• Volunteer and Participate in Community Service

It is an obvious thing, if the scholarship committee is evaluating your application then they will never miss any single information or the information that is asked. So, its likely that they will look for students who have volunteered and participated in community service. The reason is that it shows that the students are interested in doing some charitable work or good to the society and its people. This is one of the reasons why they reward such student. So make sure that you are into community service of some form or the other.

Therefore, before you submit your application, make sure that you are and have been a part of the community service team and have worked or helped them. For ideas that are more creative and how you can volunteer your service you can check this list of 100+ community service project ideas.

Where to Find More Scholarships

If you think that McDonald’s scholarship is like, ‘the lender of the last resort’ for you to apply for then you are wrong. Of course if you win this scholarship then you can pay off the tuition fee and college education expenses. But there are many more scholarships waiting for you. it is the world’s no.1 scholarship app. Apart from that, you can also check the blog and know more about various other scholarships like Burger King Scholarship and Taco Bell Live Más Scholarship.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this guide has helped you to know about one of the best scholarships. Apart from that one of the best part in this scholarship is that you don’t have to be the employee of McDonald’s, any student who fits into the eligibility criteria can apply. Next, best part about this scholarship is that it gives students the chance to mention about their fiscal situation and write minimum 300 words on the same. This criteria is not there in any other scholarship program. So, you can imagine most of the time during the selection procedure of other scholarship, the committee can miss out the application of the needy. But this not a major criteria for selection, combined with this if other eligibility requirements is met then the students gets selected.