What I Did to Secure 12 Scholarships and 2 Fellowships in Grad School
What I Did to Secure 12 Scholarships and 2 Fellowships in Grad School
From the moment I did my financial check-in for my very first semester in my Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s program, two harsh questions began to sink in. Am I going to be buried alive in student loans for the rest of my life? Can graduate students even get scholarships?
I had a family who needed to be supported and a house mortgage to pay for, and a counseling degree that would cost thousands of dollars. I became desperate to find ways to fund my dream of becoming a therapist.
Like anybody would do, I turned to Google. I started an account with those huge scholarship search engines and came up empty. Then, something clicked.
I developed a system, a playbook really, to hunt down, track, and eventually win 12 scholarships and 2 fellowships during my master’s program.
Step 1 (My Search): Narrow Your Approach to Scholarships You Can Actually Win
The harsh reality is that a massive amount of scholarship money is left on the table simply because people don’t apply. Everyone is fighting over giant national awards with 10,000 applicants, but nobody is looking at the hyper-targeted pools.
What I did instead: I targeted money hiding in plain sight by breaking my search into five specific buckets:
Professional Organizations: I looked closely at the professional counseling organizations I joined. Many of these groups have dedicated student scholarship funds and member-only grants to help support the students who join their ranks—and because so many members assume "they won't win," competition is surprisingly low.
State & Local: State-specific behavioral health grants, plus my own city and county health initiatives.
My University: Looking deep inside my specific department and school financial aid portals.
Niche Backgrounds: Tapping into scholarships based on specific niches—whether tied to disability, racial, gender, or religious backgrounds.
Behavioral Health Focus: Foundation grants dedicated specifically to growing the mental health workforce.
Step 2 (My Strategy): Crafting Your Master Essay Bank
Nothing burns you out faster than writing a brand-new 500-word personal statement from scratch every single week.
What I did instead: I realized scholarship committees are essentially asking the same core questions: Why counseling? What is your clinical passion? How will you impact your community? So, I wrote master essays in three formats—a 300-word, a 500-word, and a 1,000-word version. Whenever a new application popped up, I just pulled from my modular templates and tailored the details. It saved me dozens of hours and kept my voice consistent.
Step 3 (The Diamond): Hunt Beyond Scholarships (Fellowships & Stipends)
If you are only looking for one-off scholarship checks, you are missing out on institutional power-ups.
What I did instead: I actively hunted for fellowships and grants that offered more than just money—programs that included stipends, direct mentoring, and high-level networking. Not only did these pay my bills, but having them on my CV made my resume look infinitely stronger when applying for internships and future positions.
Step 4 (My Tracker): Organize with a Master Tracker & Notification System
Finding funding is only half the battle; tracking rolling deadlines while managing a mortgage, family, and midterms will make you spin out if you aren't organized.
What I did instead: I built a master tracker organized by columns: Name, Award Amount, Requirements, and Deadlines. Crucially, I set notification dates a few weeks before applications closed so I was never scrambling.
Step 5: Keep the Hunt Alive (My Routine)
Scholarship hunting isn't a "one-and-done" weekend project; funding cycles open and close all year round.
What I did instead: I made it a non-negotiable habit to keep the hunt alive. Every other week (or at least once a month), I blocked out time to actively search what was new, jot down upcoming deadlines, or bookmark applications for later when they officially opened up.
My internal motto through the entire grind became my anchor:
“Ty, don’t sleep on potential free money.”
The Main Takeaway
I didn’t need a 4.0 GPA or a pedigree background to fund my master’s—I just stopped wasting time on dead ends and started applying where everyone else was too busy to look.
Ready to fund your own grad school journey? I built The Counseling Student Hub to be the exact resource I wish I had on day one. Step inside the Hub to explore:
The Funding & Discount Databases: Counseling-specific grants and student discounts you actually qualify for.
The January 2027 Summit & Community: Connect with peers and get early updates on our upcoming virtual summit.
1-on-Standard Coaching: If you want personalized eyes on your essays or scholarship strategy, you can book a direct strategy session with me here.