It may surprise you to learn just how much money is available out there in the form of college scholarships. There are millions awarded annually, and there is simply no reason why you shouldn't strive to get a portion of it. If you don't apply for it, other people are going to. Why should you continue to struggle with the cost of going to college when you don't have to? Wouldn't it be nice to also focus on your studies?
Secondly, it is crucial to understand that every scholarship out there is not meant for every student. Each scholarship is tailored to suit the needs of a particular category of students, and different scholarships offer different benefits. Thus, knowing which scholarship to try for becomes essential to extract the right benefit.
A scholarship is an award that includes offering financial aid to a student to help you pursue your further education. Such awards are offered on the basis of criteria that reflect the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.
If the world were fair, every student would have a chance to study in the best learning institution irrespective of the costs involved. But the truth is far from that, and that's where scholarship programs come to the aid of academically deserving but financially challenged students.
Focus on the word 'deserving' here. Except for a few programs which could be classified as sort-of reserved, most scholarships award candidates who have excellent grades, or excel at some form of extracurricular activities. So even if you are from a sound background, you have a good chance of earning a scholarship if you're good at what you do.
Tip: Whatever other scholarships you might be applying for, you should always apply for a few need-based scholarships. If you're resourceful enough to pay for your education in full, you would probably not be bothering with scholarships in the first place. Still, if you need a scholarship at all, you might qualify for a need-based scholarship.
Tip: Though it may feel immoral to use your skin color, religious background, or sexual orientation to your advantage, the fact is that every little bit helps. Nobody ever got a full scholarship without taking advantage of what they had going for them. So if you are a member of any minority, make it work for you.
Tip: If you want to study teaching or nursing, make sure that your application mentions where you want to work after completing your study. Look for a school or hospital that never seems to have enough teachers or nurses on staff. Even if that's not where you want to spend your entire career, it's a start. At a high need school or hospital, you will develop further skills that you will need to teach or nurse anywhere
Some sources from where you can gather information about local scholarships include::
When it comes to searching for scholarships, you need to make sure you know where you can find them. Some of them are offered locally by high-schools and community businesses, while colleges provide others. You must be accepted to offering schools and colleges before you can apply. You should know that there are regional, state, and even national college scholarships out there. The key to finding them is to see which programs each of these entities has to offer.
Eligibility requirements are essential to pay attention to. That way, you can instantly rule out the programs that you aren't eligible for. It is important not to be easily discouraged at this point, as you will find plenty of programs that you are right for. But do make sure that you search them by topic too. For example, if you're interested in engineering, find the scholarships that are specific to that area of study. If you're economically disadvantaged or belong to a minority, you may also be able to find plenty of scholarships that aren't open to others.
Being well organized is very important too. Otherwise, you're going to end up wasting too much time in your search for college scholarships. You need to keep a list of the keywords you are going to search for; document what you have applied for so that you don’t accidentally do it again. The names and the information may all start to sound too much alike otherwise.
Let other people help you in your search for college scholarships as well. Your parents can ask their employers if anything is offered through them. You can also schedule an appointment to talk with both high school and college counselors.
Also, create a spreadsheet with your findings. Naturally, after going through so many resources, you would have a list of 100 or more scholarships. Don’t panic; having options is always the best. An optimum strategy would be to organize the information you have collected. Use excel or any spreadsheet software to create a clear list of all critical data. You could include columns like the deadline, plan of applying, documents needed, etc. If there are any special requirements for some scholarships, mark them with a different color so that you can see them immediately whenever you access the file. Also, mark the scholarships for which deadlines are approaching.
Deciding whether or not you should apply for a college scholarship can be difficult. Before assessing your chances of procuring the scholarship, you have to figure if it’s worth applying for that scholarship.
Find out what the dollar amount is going to be should you win a college scholarship. The money may not be enough for you to justify the process. The level of complexity involved with any college scholarship application also needs to be evaluated. It can work for you, or it can work against you. If there is a great deal of writing and personal elements to cover, it may not be worth the time.
This should be a good starting point to help you decide which scholarships to apply for and what to pass up on. Once you have a list of scholarships you are interested in, the next step is to assess your chances to win each of those scholarships. The ones you believe you do not stand a great chance can be eliminated.
Several online studies point out that out of every ten undergraduate students, only 1 holds a chance to obtain a scholarship. While there is a misconception that higher grades ensure a student will get awarded, the reality is that even with a GPA of 3.5-4.0, only 19% of students can qualify for obtaining the scholarships offered by different colleges. Although a good profile is essential, test scores like SAT or ACT also increase your chances of getting a scholarship.
You will likely establish your own methods of searching for college scholarships. That is fine as long as you do have some system in place. Dedicate a certain amount of time each week to looking for new college scholarships. By taking the time to assess your chances of getting college scholarships fully, you will be able to get more out of your time.
You should also review the criteria for each scholarship and decide if it is worth applying for or not. The search for college scholarships you meet the requirements for can be time-consuming. Make sure you also dedicate plenty of time to filling out the applications and submitting the required information.
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