The Burger King Foundation opened its 2027-28 scholarship application on Thursday (Oct. 15), with a posted deadline of Dec. 15. Buried in the eligibility rules is a hidden cap that imposes a much tighter constraint. Scholarship America, which runs the program, will review only the first 30,000 community applications it receives, and anything after that goes unread even if it arrives on time.

Fine print of that kind decides who gets considered for the money in this guide. Between now and Dec. 15, five scholarships open to New York seniors will close, and three of them shut before families sit down to Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 26. Each deadline below was confirmed on the sponsor's own page for the current cycle, and each carries one condition that removes a share of applicants before anyone reads an essay.

Two familiar names are missing. The Coca-Cola Scholars Program, which anchored the fall section of our June scholarship roundup, stopped taking applications on Sept. 30. The Dell Scholars Program appears on many national lists, but its 2027 cycle is limited to seniors graduating from Texas high schools, so a student in Buffalo or the Bronx cannot apply.

Nov. 5: Regeneron Science Talent Search

The earliest deadline belongs to the oldest competition. The Regeneron Science Talent Search, which began in 1942 as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, closes at 8 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, Nov. 5, and the Society for Science holds every recommendation and the counselor's transcript upload to that same minute. A teacher who submits at 8:05 p.m. sinks the application along with the letter, which is why the rules book tells students to request recommendations the day they open the portal. The society's guarantee on technical support requests ends a day earlier, at 8 p.m. on Nov. 4.

The 2027 official rules require an individual research project, and work done as part of a pre-collegiate team is ineligible even if a student tries to split off a portion and enter it alone. Entrants upload an original report of up to 20 pages, and the rules bar using generative AI to draft the paper or the application answers. Citizenship is looser than many families assume, since a senior of any nationality who lives full time in the United States and attends school here qualifies, provided the student has never entered STS before.

The money reaches well beyond the headline prize. Each of the 300 scholars named on Jan. 7 receives $2,000, and the student's school receives another $2,000 per scholar. The 40 finalists travel to Washington in March with a minimum award of $25,000, and first place carries $250,000. More than 2,600 students applied in the 2026 cycle. Cindy Dedianous, a 2023 finalist quoted in the rules book, told future applicants: "Make sure you have a well-written paper, but also let your personality shine through in the short responses."

Nov. 11: Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship

Six days later, on Wednesday, Nov. 11, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation closes the application for its College Scholarship Program, which opened Aug. 19. The award is last-dollar funding paid after a college's own aid, and it can reach $55,000 a year toward tuition, housing, books and required fees for up to four years. Students apply through the Common App by adding the foundation to their list as they would a college, so a senior already working there has most of the profile built.

The foundation's eligibility rules require a cumulative unweighted GPA of at least 3.75 and a submitted SAT, ACT, AP or IB score, though there is no score minimum. Applicants must also complete four years of high school in the United States and start at a four-year college in fall 2027. Citizenship is not required. Students who earned a GED or are taking a gap year cannot apply.

The foundation considers families with annual gross income up to $95,000, while the application itself asks for the household's adjusted gross income from each of the past three federal tax returns. A full review of income and assets follows during selection. The scholars chosen last spring came from families averaging about $42,000 a year, and the foundation named 60 new College Scholars in April 2026 alongside 56 seniors from its Young Scholars program.

Nov. 11 is Veterans Day, when most New York public schools are closed. The foundation requires recommendations from an 11th-grade core-subject teacher, a second teacher and a counselor, and all three belong in the Common App by Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Nov. 12: Elks Most Valuable Student

The Elks National Foundation's deadline is Thursday, Nov. 12, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, which in New York is 2:59 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. The Most Valuable Student contest awards 500 four-year scholarships judged on scholarship, leadership and financial need, with male and female applicants competing separately. Students do not need a relative in the Elks to apply.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens on the date they submit, and the foundation states that permanent legal resident status does not qualify. That rule excludes many New York seniors who remain eligible for Regeneron and Cooke. The money also applies only to full-time study toward a four-year degree at an accredited U.S. college.

The 480 runners-up receive $4,000 spread across four years, or $1,000 a year. The Top 20 receive $30,000 and an invitation to a Leadership Weekend in Chicago from April 29 to May 2, 2027, and attendance is a condition of the larger award. Local lodges and state Elks associations also award their own scholarships through the same application, so a strong applicant who misses the national cut can still win money closer to home.

Dec. 15: Burger King Scholars

Burger King's program reaches the widest pool here. A senior needs a cumulative 2.0 GPA, residence in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam or Canada, and plans to enroll full time in fall 2027. Accredited two-year colleges and vocational-technical schools count alongside four-year universities. Selection weighs academic record at 33 percent, activities and work experience at 34 percent and financial need at 33 percent, according to the program page Scholarship America maintains.

Most awards are $1,000 or $5,000, assigned by a student's home address, ZIP code or county according to which local franchise owners raised the money. Up to three students receive the James W. McLamore Whopper Scholarship of $60,000, which requires U.S. or Canadian citizenship, an unweighted GPA of at least 3.5 and enrollment at a four-year school. Jessica Nwosu, a McLamore recipient featured by the Burger King Foundation who now attends Columbia University, wrote: "My intense ambition for success has long been disrupted by my family's inability to finance my education."

The paperwork is where applications stall. Students upload a complete transcript, since grade reports are rejected, along with the first two pages of the family's most recently filed IRS Form 1040 with Social Security numbers blacked out. With review stopping at 30,000 community submissions, the posted cutoff of 11:59 p.m. Central on Dec. 15 is only the outer limit, and winners are notified by email in April 2027.

Dec. 15: A$AP Rocky at the Roc Nation School

The fifth deadline is the only one tied to a single New York campus. A$AP Rocky is funding a four-year, full-tuition scholarship for one first-time freshman entering the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment at Long Island University's Brooklyn campus in fall 2027. Applications are due Dec. 15 through LIU's portal at apply.liu.edu/rn. "I'm a big believer in creating your own lane and giving people the opportunity to do the same," the Harlem rapper said when announcing the award. Applicants submit a written essay or a video about what drives them toward a career in music, sports or entertainment.

Here the catch is the word tuition. As The Standard reported when the award was announced, LIU lists 2027-28 tuition and fees at $45,018. The university has said its own Roc Nation Hope Scholarship, which covers tuition for a quarter of each incoming class, leaves fees and housing to the family. Rocky's announcement describes tuition, mentorship and studio access, with no mention of a dorm. A finalist should ask the financial aid office for every line on a full year's bill before treating the offer as free.

Building the next 61 days

The five applications draw on a short stack of shared documents. A transcript and counselor upload serve Regeneron, Cooke and Burger King. The tax return pages Burger King asks for come from the same records a family pulls for the 2027-28 FAFSA, which opened Oct. 1. Recommendations are the scarcest resource, because the same 11th-grade teacher may be asked by several students for Nov. 5 and Nov. 11 at once.

A senior who qualifies for all five would request Regeneron recommendations this week and finish the Cooke short essays before Veterans Day. The Elks application should go in during the evening of Nov. 12, New York time, rather than leaning on the Pacific cutoff. Burger King belongs in the first days of its window rather than the last. Rocky's essay or video can wait until after Thanksgiving, as long as the LIU admissions application is moving alongside it.