There is one piece of scholarship strategy that holds unequivocally true: your best chance of winning a scholarship is by applying to local ones.

Besides AP and other college-level classes you can take in high school, there are also state-sponsored programs that allow high school students to take actual college classes and “double dip” by getting high school credit for the college classes they take.

Wait, what? College courses taught by your high school teachers? Yes, it’s a thing.