Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlynn Greene.
Hi Carlynn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have applied for well over 100 scholarships from the time of 2016 to 2020. From that number, I was able to secure 25 scholarships for myself. And the hard work has certainly paid off. I expect to graduate debt-free in Spring 2021. The first scholarship I applied for also happened to be the first one I ever won during my junior year of college. Later on, I started back up applying the spring semester of my senior year, securing many local/small scholarships, enough that added up to being a half-ride (rather than a full-ride) to college. Then, in my junior year of college, it was time to start applying again. However, this time around, I already knew what needed to be done. From years or trial and error with past applications, I already had a competitive edge on what it takes to win scholarships.
So my junior year, I won 11 scholarships – most of which were applied to my senior year of school’s financial aid. Some scholarships I won included various ones from journalism organizations, Black members of the U.S. Congress, Floyd Mayweather’s foundation, as well as one from Future, the rapper. What started me on this journey of helping others with scholarships was my mother. My senior year of high school, I won a scholarship from a hospital I had been volunteering at for years. I was asleep in my room and I woke up to my mother at the side of my bed, on her knees… crying, shaking, and thanking God over and over again. She was holding the award letter for the scholarship that I won. That was when I realized that the knowledge I have obtained about scholarships shouldn’t be kept to myself. From there on out, I had a responsibility to not only other students but also the parents because so many times, parents are the ones who bare the financial burden of paying for their education.
I was recently selected for the TikTok for Black Creatives Program. Over 5,000 people applied but only 100 were selected. I was able to grow to 58k+ followers in less than two months of being on TikTok with my account @espdaniella. Here’s more info about the three-month long program as featured in Forbes and other platforms. This is the inaugural/first-ever class for the program.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t been smooth. Of course, there have been plenty of success stories from students not only in Texas or throughout the nation, but also throughout the globe, but it has been challenging to promote what I do via social media at first. The algorithms on YouTube and Instagram of where I had primarily focused on reaching students for nearly four years, were barely promoting my content even though so many students ended up winning scholarships as a result of it. However, just recently, I got on TikTok (like two weeks ago) and have now grown to nearly 30,000 followers, which is significantly much more than my follow on all my other platforms combined.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Scholarship Guru?
My business helps students win scholarships for college. I have decoded what I like to call “the scholarship algorithm” and so I share my advice through my videos, online course, advising sessions, and book as well as personally helping people by editing their essays and reviewing applications. What makes my business different from others who do similar work is that I have the expertise of winning scholarships as both a high school student and a current undergraduate college students (and soon as a graduate student this year). When I see advice from others who won scholarships, they only really have expertise on how to win as a high school senior or perhaps they won just one scholarship that happened to be a full ride. However, the process is somewhat different and more competitive/harder when you are trying to win as a current, ongoing student.
Additionally, others may focus on helping students win who live in the state or throughout the U.S., but I have made it a point to teach myself how to also reach those who are non- U.S. citizens / those studying outside of the U.S. I also am a journalism student and have studied up significantly on sociology, self-marketing and psychology. Using these concepts and techniques have also helped with decoding what it takes to win not just one but multiple scholarships. For my brand, I most proud of the fact that my advice can help not just U.S. students but also international students. In fact, the very first person to tell me they won a scholarship thanks to my advice was someone from the D.R. Congo in Africa – a full-ride scholarship at that. I want for readers to know that I have a book and online course by the same title, The Scholarship Algorithm, that thoroughly gives a step-by-step process on everything you need to know on how to win scholarships.
I also have personalized services such as essay editing, application reviewing, and virtual advising via Zoom. Most recently, a student who studies at Texas A&M Corpus Christi was able to win $103,000 in scholarships (one of which included the most competitive scholarship in the U.S. from Dr. Pepper) after studying my book and using personalized essay editing services. My goal is to make higher education more accessible. I want for my book and online course to be available in school districts throughout Texas and eventually the nation and the world as well. There are various misconceptions about scholarships that prevent people from applying as well as areas that are “financial literacy deserts” so many don’t know what steps to take to get funding for college. I hope to change that and to do a TedTalk one day so that my knowledge is more accessible to everyone.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
What makes me happy is when I hear all the success stories from students. It honestly is more satisfying to see than when I win scholarships for my own education. You can view more testimonials here on my website: https://sites.google.com/view/scholarshipguru/testimonies
Pricing:
- The Scholarship Algorithm Book $60 (but for readers, it will be $15 off)
- The Scholarship Algorithm Online Course $400 (comes with Book for free)
- Essay Editing (for scholarships/college admissions) – starts at $35 and goes up depending on word count
- Application reviewing (for scholarships/college admissions) – starts at $35
- Personalized 1-on-1 advising via Zoom – $1/min
Contact Info:
- Email: greenecarlynn@gmail.com
- Website: www.scholarship-guru.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carle100/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarlynnGreenePortfolio
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarlynnGreene
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/espdaniella
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@espdaniella
Image Credits:
Christopher Karr ($103k) Sarah Gifford ($34k) Khadijah Pindari ($60k) Aristide Kambale (full-ride) Devin Rodriguez ($56k) Tony Nyugen (20k) Nia Marshall ($14k)
