While over 42.3 million Americans have student loan debt, students in the Davenport Community School District have an opportunity for a different path. The John Deere Scholarship covers tuition, fees, room, and board for four years to students who get the scholarship.
“I’ve heard that it’s like 90% off, like tuition, so that would obviously be really good in the long run, and I definitely don’t want to have to pay all that off in the future,” said Senior Bodey Staats.
The scholarship application process comes with many steps, for students to be eligible for the scholarship they must: show financial need, apply and be admitted to the University of Iowa, apply for FASFA, participate in the Davenport John Deere Scholars High School Program throughout the year, complete the John Deere scholars scholarship application, including an essay and interview, and provide two letters of recommendation. The essay is 500 to 700 words long and has to reflect on your personal journey while following the guidelines provided by the University of Iowa.
“I think it was easy to write an essay about that because, well, at least for me. I know some people had problems with it because they didn’t know what adversity to put, but for me, it was actually pretty quick. I just wish I would have started it a little bit earlier,” said senior Hailie Triana.
After submitting the application, there is an email sent out about the interview for the scholarship. The scholarship interview is held in the Student Services Office, then there is time to set up before the interview starts, followed by a Zoom meeting for the interview. The interview lasts around 20 minutes, and the interviewer and interviewee have a chance to ask questions to each other.
“Do your research before you go into the interview, and just make sure that, like, just remind yourself that it’s okay to be yourself, because that’s what they’re looking for. They’re just looking to get to know you. They don’t really want to know why you’re applying for the scholarship. They just want to know who you are. So I would definitely say, just kind of be yourself and just know what you want to talk about when you go into your interview,” said Triana.
Once awarded the scholarship, it is only applicable to the University of Iowa. There are specific criteria to maintain the scholarship throughout the four years, including meeting with the academic advisor once per semester, attending two mandatory programs through the John Deere Scholar Programs per semester, and maintaining a minimum UI cumulative GPA of 2.50 or higher. Students are assessed at the end of each academic year to ensure they are meeting all of the qualifications.
