Founded in 1986, Coca Cola Scholars Foundation has awarded $78M in scholarships to 6600 Scholars to advance their educational careers.
From the time a college-bound high school student is awarded the Coca Cola Scholarship, they become part of this exclusive lifelong network of 6600 scholars - nurtured and supported by Carolyn Norton’s Alumni Relations team.
To apply, you have to be a high school senior.
In a series of episodes on my podcast, I talked to a handful of Coke Scholars to learn a little bit about them - including Why They Applied for the Coke Scholarship!
I asked each one of them, “Why Did You Apply?”
Their responses fell into one of these buckets: (I have edited the responses for clarity and length).
Needed Scholarship Money
Alumni Network
Prestigious Scholarship
Someone I Know had Applied
Strong Push From Someone Close
As a Senior, Apply for Everything!
1.Needed Scholarship Money
Gianna Thomas, 2023 Coke Scholar:
I applied to nearly every scholarship that I came across. The 0.17% acceptance rate for the Coke Scholarship definitely scared me off in the beginning.
But it also motivated me to really make sure that the application that I submitted was crafted to the best of my ability.
I knew that to attend college, and to really go into college with sort of the best foot forward, I did not want to incur any student loan debt.
So for me, the $20,000 was definitely the biggest motivator in the application process. It was early in the College Application cycle, so I didn't have any financial aid package.
So it was definitely a way to ensure that there would be this sort of safeguard in place if I did win the Coke scholarship that I would have $20,000 to finance my education.
Sarah Dufays, 2023 Coke Scholar:
If I'm being completely honest, I actually didn't know much about the Coca Cola scholarship process.
At first, I just thought it was a prestigious scholarship, almost everyone I knew applied.
And it offered a very large Scholarship, which I was in need for to fund my educational endeavors.
On getting the scholarship, it had a larger impact than I ever could have expected.
And not just financially, although I never would have been able to afford it were not for the scholarship.
But just in terms of the community and the network that it set up for me because scholar, it means to be connected with not just the other 149 Coco-Cola scholars, you know, of my grade of the class of 2023,
And being connected to the other 6000 Coca-Cola scholars that have been named throughout the past 40 years.
2.Alumni Network
Asanshay Gupta, 2023 Coke Scholar:
Well, the first kind of simple reason why I applied was because I was looking for a way to pay for college. And it seemed like a good way to pay for college.
After looking at the Coke scholarship and the kind of people that have won in the past, and the kind of people in the alumni network who I would be able to meet through the scholarship was really like, really crazy to see. And it was just really cool to like, realize that I could be a part of that.
Rishika Kartik, 2022 Coke Scholar:
One of the biggest reasons I applied was actually my experience with arts and science.
I noticed is that this isn't just a scholarship, but it's really a family, I've found that it's a network of like minded people who are innovating and doing cool things.
So I was hoping that through the scholarship, I would become a more well informed, conscientious citizen and also a better person. And I really think that that's been my experience so far.
Raymond Jiang, 2023 Coke Scholar:
I think that for all college or high school seniors, thinking about your finances for college is always an important part of the conversation. And I am no different.
And so my journey to the Coke scholarship came while just looking through scholarships on my school's scholarship finder.
I ran it by some of my trusted friends.
And they all were saying the same things that this was highly competitive.
It was an awesome reward out beyond the financial compensation, because you also get exposed to a tight knit community of similarly passionate and driven people.
And so that's really what grabbed my attention!
3.Prestigious Scholarship
When it comes to Coke, I've always from a really young age recognized the scholarship name. I knew that it was extremely prestigious.
And it was an exceptional opportunity, beyond the money, the community.
So I knew about it for a very long time.
And I knew that that I wanted to apply.
So I was purposefully building my resume to be able to apply.
I was definitely exploring my passions, exploring them to the fullest extent, because I knew that just the Coca Cola Scholar network and to become a Coke Scholar meant that you'd have to.
You have to act on your passions in a way that you can significantly change the world.
4.Someone I Know had Applied
Gabriel Nagel, 2023 Coke Scholar:
I actually applied to the Coke Scholarship, kind of impromptu. I didn't really know about a lot of these merit based scholarships early on.
I actually heard from my high school counselor about the Coca Cola scholarship,
And I had been involved in the Colorado extemporaneous speaking community and Speech and Debate.
One extemporaneous speaker had actually won the Coca Cola scholarship last year. So I had heard about it from him and a few other people.
And I kind of applied not really knowing exactly what it was.
And I just filled out the whole application for the first round. And then fortunately, later on, I heard back and advance to the next stage. And it kind of continued on like that.
5.A Strong Push From Someone Close
So I applied to the Coke scholarship, because my friend who was a year above me, encouraged me to apply.
And she told me like, What a great experience it was, and how, like even being part of the application process it like really helps you reflect on what you've done in your past four years, things like that.
But I actually almost didn't apply.
Because it was just such a huge time investment in the application.
And with the incredibly low acceptance rate, I was wondering, What are the chances that I'll get it?
And it was at the same time as college apps, so there was a lot going on, but I did end up applying!
And obviously, I'm super grateful that I did.
Holden Dahlerbruch, 2019 Coke Scholar:
I learned about the Coca Cola scholarship through the Coca Cola scholarship foundation through my mother. My mom is the Wizard of finding scholarships!
Coca Cola, honestly, is probably the best scholarship in the world. I when I applied, I didn't think I was gonna get it.
So I applied for it, because my mom wanted me to!
I saw the money for it. And I saw the work for it. And it's $20,000, which is extraordinary.
But that's also not the largest corporate scholarship financially, that is available out there.
The thing though, that makes Coca Cola scholarship unique is that it is this family and this community that you create, for a lifetime, it is more than just the money.
And like I now have a connection with the Mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, I have a connection with people at any of the top 50 Or maybe even top 100 universities in the United States and a few abroad. And we always have this connection through Coca Cola scholars.
And it's just the most extraordinary community I've ever had the honor and privilege of being a part of!
6.As a Senior, Apply for Everything!
Skylar Walters, 2022 Coke Scholar:
It's really funny, actually, but I accidentally stumbled on the Coke scholars website, probably my freshman year of high school.
And I was reading through all of those bios and everyone on there, I was thinking, wow, I could never do that.
And the truth was, I wasn't even going to apply! I'd forgotten about it.
By the time I was a senior, it was probably a week before the application was due.
And I was just really bored in the library, and I thought, You know what, why not? Why not throw it in?
Because I'd sort of been been learning this lesson for the past few years - My dad likes to call it like, “Just say Yes to everything”.
And I couldn't agree more. You know, you never let an opportunity pass you by even even if it seems like it'd be boring or mundane.
The Coke scholarship was such an opportunity.
Sitting in the Library with some free time, I decided to fill the Coke Application out for that first round.
And I just want to say to all the all the seniors or soon to be seniors who are listening, you know, just say yes, apply to everything and anything you can, that's probably the biggest piece of advice I can give you.
So I would definitely, definitely apply!
Everybody Apply!
Here’s what Carolyn Norton, Alumni Relations Manager, Coca-Cola Scholarship Foundation has to say:
“Because the Scholarship has the Coca Cola name attached to it, we get many, many applications.
But I don't want to deter anybody from applying, because a lot of people think, “I wouldn't possibly have a chance”.
But I promise you that every Coke scholar since 1989, will tell you that they can't believe that they became a Coke scholar, you know, even if they were doing the most amazing things in high school.
We've heard that from almost everybody, how did I win the scholarship back in the day?
So you just never know, it's always just like everything, it's always worth a try.
And so if you are a high achieving high schooler, who is really strong in service and leadership and academics, employment, by the way, is a big part of that, because a lot of our scholars have to work to help their families. That's great, too.
But if you're a high achieving high school student, I would really encourage everybody to apply.”
Let me know what you think about this piece on Applying for the Coca-Cola Scholarship.
Have a Great Week!
Venkat