Show Me The Money: Outside Scholarships
In addition to the financial aid that you may get from a college, there are literally hundreds of other college scholarships out there for B students. A lot of students falsely believe that the only way to get a scholarship is to have a perfect GPA, but plenty of scholarships are awarded on the basis of things like extracurricular interests or by organizations like Rotary clubs or places of worship that wants to support local high school students. Many of these may be on the small side- say about $500 to $2,000- compared with the high cost of college, but they certainly add up (plus imagine how much it will impress your future employers to place a list of scholarships that you won on your resume). Think of your scholarship search as a game with two rules:
1. If you don't play, you can't win.
2. The more you play, the better your chances of hitting the jackpot.
Believe it or not thousands of dollars in scholarship money goes unclaimed every year because of the lack of applicants. So do your research and get in the game. Here is a list of some great websites that allow you to search for scholarships that you might qualify for. Once you know your options, cast a wide net by applying for numerous scholarships to increase your odds of winning money for college.
www.collegescholarships.org
www.collegetoolkit.com
www.fastweb.com/college-scholarships
www.finaid.org/scholarships
www.petersons.com/college-search/scholarship-search.aspx
www.scholarshipexperts.com
www.scholarships.com
www.natioanlmerit.org
www.meritaid.com
http://www.studentscholarships.org/
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search
http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/scholarships
http://www.scholarship.org/
http://www.studentgrants.org/
http://www.collegegrants.org/
http://schoolscholarships.org/
http://www.moolahspot.com/
http://fedmoney.org/
http://www.scholarshipsandgrants.us/
http://scholarshipamerica.org/
http://www.collegegrant.net/
http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/
http://www.scholarshipsforwomen.net/
http://www.blackexcel.org/
http://www.iefa.org/
http://www.internationalscholarships.com/
http://www.militaryscholar.org/
http://www.imagine-america.org/
http://www.nursingscholarships.org/
http://www.apiasf.org/
Tips For Applying For Outside Scholarships
With thousands of outside scholarships available to high school students, it is easy to become overwhelmed , and it can be difficult to efficiently manage the application process. Here are some things to keep in mind when considering outside scholarships:
Make sure you qualify. Don't waste your time applying for a scholarship if the GPA cutoff is a 3.7 and you have a 3.0 or if the award s for Hispanic students and you are Native American. Make a list of all your unique attributes- Are you editor of your high school newspaper? Are you active in your church? Have you done a lot of volunteer work in the community?- and look for scholarships that match
Keep track of deadlines. The best way to make sure that you WON'T get a scholarship is to miss the deadline. Scholarship money are precious and the deadlines are strict, so be sure to keep track when the application is due.
Have someone you trust to proofread your application. When you get a rejection letter from a scholarship organization it never says, “We liked your application, but there were too many typos.” However, the reality is that accuracy matters, and students lose out all the time because they didn't take time to proofread their applications. Do not let a misspelled word or a grammatical error come between you and hundreds of dollars.
Watch out for scams. Sadly, there are plenty of scam artist out there looking to take advantage of vulnerable students. Here are two rules for spotting scholarship scams.
1. never pay for a scholarship applications
2. Don't apply to any organization that “guarantees” you'll win money
Remember, scholarships are competitive because there are not enough money to go around to every student to every student with a college tuition bill. If a scholarship organization violates these basic principles, it's probably a scam.
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