FAIRMONT — Zihao Yang, a senior at Fairmont High School, recently learned he earned a full-ride scholarship to Princeton University. Yang received the scholarship though a program called QuestBridge.

QuestBridge is a national program that connects high-achieving, low-income high school students with full four-year scholarships to the nation’s top colleges. QuestBridge reached out to Yang, telling him how he could apply and the scholarship he could receive.

Yang admitted he had never heard of QuestBridge before. He applied in August. In October, he found out he was one of 5,842 finalists.

“After you find out you’re a finalist, you get to rank colleges that you want to apply to,” Yang said. “In December, they tell you if you match with a college.”

As part of the application process, he had to write several essays and include letters of recommendation, ACT scores and his high school transcripts.

Yang plans to study aerospace engineering and minor in Spanish.

Jenny Schwieger, a counselor at Fairmont High School, said Yang is the only local student she knows of who has received a scholarship through QuestBridge.

Schwieger said many local organizations send scholarship information directly to the school.

“We have a scholarship link on our website and we also send it to students to remind them,” she said, noting the district also has information posted in the school office and a scholarship bin with hard copy scholarships available.

Schwieger said that at this time of year she and fellow high school counselor Scott Geerdes send out a weekly reminder to students about local scholarships available.

“Most opportunities come senior year and the deadline for a lot of our local scholarships are after the holidays,” she noted.

The school has a lot of information on local scholarships, including Martin County Pork Producers, Kiwanis and FFA. Dollars for Scholars is a well-known local scholarship program that plans to hand out 180 scholarships this year. The minimum a student will receive through Dollars for Scholars is $1,200, which many colleges and universities will match. Dollars for Scholars scholarships are available to students through four years of college.

Schwieger said there are many statewide and nationwide scholarship opportunities as well. She encourages students to see if their parents place of employment offers scholarships. Several local businesses, including Hy-Vee and Mayo, offer such scholarships.

Schwieger said that when students take the ACT or pre-ACT, they can check a box that says they want to receive free information from the Educational Opportunity Service. Colleges and universities will then send information about financial aid, scholarships and other programs.

“A lot of times colleges will reach out to students and there might be a recommendation needed. That’s when students come our way. If they need a transcript or for us to complete a portion of the application, that’s when we help,” Schwieger said.

She encourages students to start an activities resume. That way, when filling out applications to scholarships, they have all of their information ready.

“It’s hard to remember from ninth grade on all of the things they’ve done in the community, at school and academically.” she said.

As Schwieger points out, there are many unique scholarships. While students may feel like they do not want to take the time to apply, they could be one of just two or three who do, making their chance of receiving something higher.

“We’re not the expert in all these scholarships, but we’ll definitely help students research and get everything done to help them get that free money,” Schwieger said.