HOW TO TURN SPEED READING INTO A COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP WORTH OVER $100,000
An open letter to Children and Teens who can already Speed Read 500 to 5,000 words per minute
(Parents, you are also welcome to read this)
Most of us don’t need any explanation to know that Speed Reading is an important skill. Simply the joy of being able to start a book with the knowledge that we will finish it soon (no matter how long it is) is proof enough that Speed Reading is a worthwhile talent to develop.
But it doesn’t hurt to know that there are also some very practical advantages to learning to Speed Read, which will give the Speed Reader an extra tactical advantage in specific areas. One such area is in the preparation and competition for gaining a really good College Scholarship.
Following are several strategies (in a step-by-step formula) in which being able to Speed Read may be used to better prepare oneself for obtaining a valuable College Scholarship.
I.
Many scholarships require letters of recommendation, written by former teachers and/or administrators who have worked closely with the student.
Here is a potential strategy that anybody could use to earn the goodwill and support of many teachers.
STEP 1: Start as soon as you can.
If you’re in 9th grade, start now. You’ll gain more proficiency with this method for every year that you do it. Plus, you’ll gain a long list of teachers whom you can go to later for a letter of recommendation. They will also be among your best friends, and strongest supporters — forever.
If you’re in grade 4 to 9, this is a good time to practice and get good at 1) the skill of negotiating for a better education, 2) Speed Reading with good comprehension and 3) writing reports. The books that you read, at first, won’t be difficult. But you should have a lot of FUN doing this. Do this often enough that you strengthen your friendship with your teacher(s). But don’t do so much of this that you get burned out in the process. BIG KEY: HAVE FUN. (Have your parents help you out, at first, when you approach your teacher about this.)
If you’re in grade 10–12: START IMMEDIATELY. The longer you wait, the less teachers you’ll have as mentors to help you get your scholarship. Even if you’re in grade 12 right now, it’s not too late to start. But it takes time to develop a strong friendship with a teacher. It also takes time to earn respect and trust. These are key elements of any relationship that will result in great letters of recommendation.
STEP 2: Target 2 or 3 “Key Teachers,” every school year, who would be likely to be a strong supporter of any future scholarships that you may apply for (but don’t mention anything to them about scholarships yet). The most important character traits to look for in a potential “Key Teacher” would be: Fair, Ethical, Honest, Open-Minded. Of course, it should also be in an area of interest that you also share.
STEP 3: Do your best work in their class.
STEP 4: Approach the teacher and volunteer to learn more about his/her subject area by reading 2, 4, 6, or 8 books on more in-depth studies in the same field, or in a related field of interest. You could have the teacher directly choose which books would be good ones to study. Or, you could come up with a list of books on your own (from a trusted source) and have the teacher select which ones from your list would be the best ones to read/study.
STEP 5: Read every one of the books that you agreed to study.
STEP 6: Don’t volunteer the information (to the teacher) that you are a Speed Reader. Your teacher may figure this out on her own. If so, that’s OK. But you don’t want to look like you are bragging. Be humble. Be respectful. It’s very likely that the teacher isn’t a Speed Reader. You don’t want to do anything that might upstage her, embarrass her, or make her feel inferior or uncomfortable. Also, maybe she’s one of those people who are skeptical of Speed Reading. You don’t want to lose any credibility because of any pre-conceived notions that she may have.
STEP 7: Write up a high-quality book report on each of the books that you read. Your reading skills are already pretty good. Now, your writing skills will really start to get good.
STEP 8: Meet with the teacher, in person, to discuss each of the books in detail. This is one of the most important parts of the process. Anyone can bring in a stack of book reports. But did you really write them? Or did you just copy them from the internet somewhere? If you really read and understand the books, you’ll know the subject area enough to have an intelligent conversation on the matter. Start off by inviting the teacher to ask you some questions about the book. Don’t worry about remembering everything. Even the teacher won’t recall everything. But he/she will recognize that you have actually made a major effort to learn the subject matter at hand. You have now earned some respect. The teacher will not forget who you are.
STEP 9: DON’T ASK FOR ANY EXTRA CREDIT OR ANY FAVORS FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU ARE PUTTING INTO THIS EXTRA STUDY. If you ask for extra credit or any other favors, then you’ve “already been paid.” The real pay that you get from this will be threefold: 1) You’re getting a good education. This is the price you pay for a great education. (Get used to it.) 2) You’ll be gaining important new friends and mentors who’ll be friends for the rest of your life. You can’t have too many friends. 3) Later on, when you ask for a letter of recommendation for a Scholarship, you’ll be more respected as a scholar and as an honorable person with a real work-ethic. You’ll get a much better letter than otherwise would be possible.
STEP 10: Stay in touch with these Key Teachers. They need to know that you appreciate them. Drop in for an occasional visit to their office. Send them a Christmas card or a Birthday note.
II.
STEP 11: GAINING KNOWLEDGE is only part of a great education. In addition to STUDYING books, you need to put your expertise or physical effort or presence into actual activity in the community.
KNOWLEDGE + SERVICE = WISDOM
Often, the key factor in determining who gets a scholarship, is determining which candidate can translate their desire for knowledge into leadership in the community to help make their community a better place to live.
If you have a clear idea on how to make the world a better place, then that is what you must do. Create a project, or a program, or a business, or something else that changes your community for the better. If you don’t have any great projects or ideas that motivate you, then simply volunteer at the local Food Bank, or some other charity. This will give you a background in giving SERVICE to others. You will help a lot of people, make a lot of friends, and have a lot of fun in the process.
SERVICE is a major, important ingredient to this whole package. And Speed Reading is a big key that will help position you to be able to give more service, and better service, to your community.
STEP 12: When the time is right, approach each teacher (or administrator) that you have targeted, for the letter of recommendation that you need. You’ll usually get it. If you have kept in touch with your teachers over the years, as I’ve recommended, they’ll be aware of what you’ve been doing and the Community Service that you’ve been giving. They will never forget you. Their Letters of Recommendation will be a powerful force to help set you up to gain that great scholarship.
If any of your teacher/administrator friends declines to give you a letter of recommendation (this won’t happen very often), thank then for all their help, but still keep in touch. They can still be a valuable friend in the future. Respect their feelings.
BONUS: The most important bonus that you’ll take away from all of this, is that you will gain a GREAT EDUCATION out of all your efforts — a much better education than you could ever get by just “going through the textbook.” You’ll likely get at least one good scholarship for all your efforts. But even if you never got a scholarship after all of this (highly unlikely IMHO), you would end up with a first-rate education that nobody else could even approach without a ton of effort.
This is a WIN-WIN situation.
Q’s & A’s
Q. Why 2, 4, 6 or 8 books per teacher, per year? Why not just 2? Or just 8?
A. It depends on your reading speed. It depends on your experience in Speed Reading books and doing high-quality book reports. (at first, 2 books will seem like a challenge, but later, it won’t seem so hard). It also depends on how much available time you have to spend on this. If you can read 5,000 wpm, then 8 books would be pretty easy to do. But if you read 600 wpm (still pretty good — less than 1% of all college graduates can read this fast), you’ll need a bit more time to do your work. It may also be dependent on how available a particular teacher may be.
Q. I’ve never heard of anybody doing this, why would it be a good idea for gaining a scholarship?
A. I’m glad you don’t know of anybody who is doing this already. That means that there will be less competition for any scholarships!
Q. Would it be worthwhile to read each book more than once, while doing the book report?
A. It would be a very good idea to read each book more than once — several times if necessary — to make sure that you understand it properly, before writing about it. Nothing would be more embarrassing than finding out after writing your book report, that you hadn’t understood the book properly. It is typical strategy for many Speed Readers to read a book twice or three times, whenever a serious study of it is intended.
But if you can read 2,500 wpm or more, you will still be able to read a 200-page book in 20–40 minutes or so. This is very doable.
Q. Will this method work even if you are applying for a Sports Scholarship?
A. If you are applying for a sports scholarship, Speed Reading can be a DOUBLE advantage: How many gifted athletes also have major academic achievements? How much more will you be wanted by the target university when they know that you’ll also add to their academic image? Speed Reading has the advantage that it frees up much of your time to be able to devote extra time and energy into becoming a Blue Chip athlete — without the risk of losing your academic quality.
— George Stancliffe, author of Speed Reading 4 Kids