7 of the strangest scholarships you’ve ever heard of
If you have a weird last name, love candy and are left-handed, then your non-4.0 GPA might not matter much when it comes to scoring free college money.
Here are seven of the strangest, non-academic scholarships in existence.
1. Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship
It’s not so much a question of if the zombie apocalypse happens, but more of when it happens. And if you’re like me, you sometimes ponder escape strategies in a variety of situations. Well, why not get money for that?
ScholarshipExperts.com is offering college students a $1,000 scholarship for writing the best zombie-escape plan. In the essay, you must answer where you would run in the event of a zombie outbreak at your school and what five items you would take to ensure survival. It must not exceed 250 words. The deadline is Nov. 30.
Even if you don’t intend to apply, I still suggest mapping out an escape plan or at least choosing a zombie-proof campus.
2. Stuck at Prom
If your inner-punk-rocker never died, then you’ll love this scholarship, since it asks you to rebel at what’s allegedly one of the most important events of your life: prom.
The Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest requires you and your date to accessorize those prom outfits with duct tape and wear it to the dance. The couple with the best outfit wins $5,000. Second place wins $3,000 and third place wins $2,000. The seven remaining runner-ups still score $500. Deadlines are in June each year.
I now regret my entire prom experience.
3. Zolp Scholarship
Before I tell you what this scholarship is about, I must warn you that they check your birth and confirmation certificates and that committing identity theft is frowned upon in our culture. With that being said, the Zolp Scholarship is a full-ride scholarship given to Catholic students at Loyola University in Chicago with the last name Zolp.
Surprisingly, there are several name-based scholarships out there, at schools ranging from North Carolina State University to Harvard. And if you don’t attend any of those schools and have the last name Van Valckenburg, then you too can land a scholarship.