Are you looking ahead to college? Here are some tips to help you with your search for scholarships.
If you already have a school in mind, then the first step is to start your scholarship hunt right there. Most times the application for admission is separate from the process for applying for a scholarship or other financial aid. So contact the financial aid office at your prospective school and talk to someone there about the process for application, and what different opportunities might be available to you. Also, make sure to heed to application deadlines!
Don’t overlook the opportunity to talk to your high school college counselor, as they may have a wealth of information regarding financial assistance and services that you can investigate outside of what is offered at your prospective college. There are scholarships that focus on not only your academic interests, but also on other talents, extracurriculars, career goals, and geographic location, and much more, including assistance that could be offered at your parent’s employers, the church you may attend, and from local service clubs and social or professional organizations. Some scholarships might be merit based, others are awarded because of a special trait, talent, or financial need.
Doing an online search may yield hundreds of results, but please bear in mind that you should never pay a service to scholarship hunt for you. Those services are likely scams.
Helpful hint: every scholarship has a different application deadline so do your best to stay organized, keep track of due dates, and work to get those applications in on the earliest date you can. If your application arrives late, it won’t even be considered. Remember too that many of those applications will require an essay from you, so get to work on that right away, giving yourself plenty of time to work on it and get it honed just right.
Consider taking both the SAT and the ACT. Even though some schools are beginning to make those tests optional for admission, many scholarships do ask for those scores.
Don’t get discouraged! You may have to put in dozens of applications before you find one that awards aid to you, but be patient, stay involved in your extracurriculars, and keep your grades up!
Listed below are a few websites you might dive into as a part of your scholarship search, compiled by finance wiz, Clark Howard:
Fastweb.com, which hosts more than 1.5 million scholarships that provide more than $3.5 billion in funding.
CollegeBoard.org. Yes, they’re better known for their college readiness tests, but they also have a division that focuses on scholarships.
Niche.com has a well-organized website that allows users to search by interest, career, major, and other areas.
Scholarships.com probably hosts the largest database available, with more that 3.7 million scholarships and grant opportunities.
Cappex.com hosts a database of more than $11 billion in opportunities.
Chegg.com is widely known for its online textbook store which allows students to either rent or buy their textbooks at a huge discount, but they also offer a list of over 25,000 scholarships, including a “top scholarships picks of the week” category to help you discover some opportunities that you may have missed.
Petersons.com hosts $10 billion in scholarship opportunities and once you fill out a short survey, can filter the results in order to personalize your search.
CareerOneStop.org is the US Labor Department’s search tool and is a great resource for scholarships and grants.
Federal student loans are a great way to help pay for your education, coming with much lower repayment interest rates than a loan from a private lender, so consider applying for a student loan as an additional way to cover your costs.
Again, you should never pay a service to scholarship hunt for you. Those services are likely scams.
There are loads of opportunities available to help you cover the cost of your college education, and though it may take some extra research and hard work filling out all of the required applications, it will pay off in the long run by helping you to avoid graduating from college with the burden of heavy debt, so get to work!
