Guidance Counselors
How do I get my school involved?
There is nothing for a guidance counselor, scholarship administrator or any other high school administrator to do. Students come to this site: www.cksf.org click on the appropriate link on the front page and register. During the registration process the student will indicate his or her state, county, city and school. The registration process automatically places the student in the correct place. You need only get your students to the site.
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What is done with the student information collected during registration?
As stated in the CKSF privacy policy, we do not sell, trade or give away student contact information. The information is held only to match students with scholarships and process scholarship awards.
CKSF does offer some special "Opt In" scholarships in which a student is clearly notified prior to clicking "I will Participate" that the sponsor is sponsoring the contest and requesting the contact information. At the "Opt In" screen we indicate who the sponsor is (generally a college or university). CKSF is very selective in the sponsors for whom we will offer an "Opt In" scholarship.
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No Essay- No GPA- No Financial Background
Instead of essays, CKSF uses fun, fast, and easy online quizzes. It does not matter if a student is first or last in his/her class, or how much money his/her parents make because we reward students for what they know.
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All 9th-12th grade students in the U.S. are eligible to participate
This is exactly how it sounds. If a student is in high school in the United States including U.S military schools overseas, he /she can participate.
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CKSF Scholarships are FREE to students
Students do not have to pay because someone has donated the money to make each CKSF scholarship possible. This is why it is important to thank the scholarship sponsor, even if you don't win.
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Register ONCE - Have access to all CKSF scholarships forever
A one-time registration lets students participate in CKSF scholarship competitions for the rest of their lives. Registration takes approximately five minutes, then we send an email you each time a new scholarship is available. All students have to do is keep their profile information updated and accurate.
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It is all done with simple online quizzes
We have replaced applications and essay writing with quick online quizzes. The quizzes are generally 15-25 multiple choice questions that take less than 15 minutes to complete. Students get 500 points for each correct answer and lose 1 point for every second it takes to complete each question.
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What are tournament style competitions?
Most CKSF scholarship contests have multiple rounds. After the first round, the top highest scores are advanced to the championship/awarding round.
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How are the scholarships funded?
Each scholarship has a sponsor. A sponsor is an individual or organization that provides CKSF funding to make each scholarship competition possible. Sponsors are selfless people willing to give away money to someone they do not even know and help make higher education possible. This is why it is important to thank the scholarship sponsor, even if you don't win.
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New quizzes every month
CKSF offers many scholarships throughout the year with each month providing a different topic. New scholarships appear in student's accounts 15-30 days prior to the start date. Student's will find the currently available scholarships on their "My Scholarships" page in their accounts.
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Available 24 hours a day
There is a specific time frame or "window" when each CKSF quiz is available. During this window, the quizzes are available 24 hours a day. Students can participate anywhere they have internet access- school, library, home, etc.
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No limit to the number of quizzes you can take
New quizzes become available every month. Students may participate in as many quizzes as they want starting in high school, continuing in college, and even through graduate school. Students may continue to participate until they reach $5,000 in CKSF awards.
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Are dial-up participants at a disadvantage?
CKSF has made an effort to account for different internet connections. For each question the clock starts when the website is fully loaded and stops once you click the "submit" button.
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What if students miss a quiz or want to retake a quiz?
At CKSF we get so many requests to retake quizzes and/or extend dates that there is no fair way to accommodate everyone. As a result, once scholarships dates are posted we become obligated to stick to them. CKSF cannot be responsible for technical issues that may affect the delivery of the scholarship content.
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Home schooled students are treated as any other high school student
"Home School" appears in the drop-down window during the registration process. Students should select the appropriate grade when registering.
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How do students know if they win?
The eligible participant with the highest score for each CKSF contest is the winner. You can view the results of CKSF contests on the homepage and students can alsso see scores from inside their accounts. Results are updated every three hours, so students may not see their name immediately after they take a quiz. CKSF will notify the winner via email after the contest has ended. CKSF makes every effort to award the rightful winner. Software runs in the background of each quiz to check for any suspicious activity, inconsistencies and people participating with multiple accounts.
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How do students claim their award?
At the end of each CKSF scholarship:
Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors: CKSF awards are held in the student's name until he/she graduates high school.
Scholarship awards are processed and disbursed quarterly. CKSF writes the check payable to a college or university for deposit into the student's account.
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