- Consider applying to scholarships a job with a huge payout and plan to put in at least 10 hours a week.
- Contact your guidance counselor and search your school district’s web site and contact the college you plan to attend. Often, they will have a list of local scholarships. Apply to all local and school affiliated scholarships first.
- Consider using an educational consultant. Admission Magician can help you search for the perfect scholarships and keep you on track to meet deadlines.
- Create a list on a table to keep track of scholarships, requirements and deadlines.
- Then apply to the soonest, quickest, simplest, largest awards, and best match to your qualifications. Apply to smaller scholarships too. Often these have fewer applicants and add up quickly.
- Search by your county’s name, your major, your interests, your state and the word “scholarships.”
- Use a junk email with the student’s name to avoid flooding your inbox. Some of these are sweepstake style scholarships and have many applicants so complete the local scholarships first.
- I suggest parents act as an administrative assistant and help fill out all the mundane parts if students are too busy doing the things that earn them the scholarships.
- Gather references, transcripts, FAFSA and tax information references and keep them handy.
- Tweak your college application essay to fit the scholarship essay requirements often you can use the majority of your essay.
Before you start your search, make a list of your unique strengths so you can zero in on scholarships that target those traits. To help you get started, here are seven common scholarship types you’ll likely encounter:
- Academic achievement/merit: If you’re a top student, you could win scholarship money for academic achievement. Some schools give free rides to high-achieving students.
- Community service: Scholarships aren’t reserved only for top students. There are various opportunities for those who volunteer in their communities
- Athletic achievement: If sports are your thing, shift your attention to athletic scholarships.
- Unique hobbies/creativity/traits/clubs: While you’re probably familiar with academic and sports scholarships, you might be surprised to find more random opportunities.
- Personal background: A number of scholarship programs have a mission to support traditionally underrepresented students. When searching for opportunities, you might want to indicate your gender, race, ethnicity, or another aspect of your identity to find scholarships that are a good fit.
- Financial need: A variety of scholarship organizations seek to help students with demonstrated financial need. As you search for need-based scholarships, review any additional criteria before applying.
- Family’s workplace or military affiliation: Finally, you might narrow down your search according to your family’s affiliation with a company or the U.S. military.
There are many search engines online and it can get overwhelming. Often, these are just sweepstakes style scholarships and are looking to gather your data. I suggest using all your local resources first, but I have found success with several search engines. Click here to access a free list of these search engines. Scholarships are a lot of work, but well worth the effort. It takes time, organization and diligence, but the payoff can be 100% of your college fees paid for with free money!