College is ridiculously expensive. It pains me to think about how many hours my parents and I have to work to pay for that diploma. But the cost is a reality, so the sooner you face it the better off you will be. There is hope for a free…or pretty affordable education! Scholarships come from plenty of sources…directly from your college, from a major company or foundation or perhaps a local organization or school association. So how do you find these scholarships?
There are many ways to find scholarships; in fact, they’re all around you. I’d start off with using scholarship search engines. Try FastWeb.com. It’s free, accurate and thorough. You just enter your interests and activities, and it automatically produces a list of scholarships right for you. I had hundreds of scholarship and internship opportunities right at my finger tips; they even list the deadlines and award amounts for you.
Also on the web you can do your own independent research. Use Google or Yahoo to search keywords like “scholarships” “athletic scholarship” “minority scholarship” or “Sons of Italy scholarship.” Beware of scams, however, that try to get your personal info for a chance at “10K in scholarships!” If you search carefully through search engines, you will find many independent scholarships that may not be listed on FastWeb or in other places. This gives you a better chance to win scholarships since many people may not know about them.
You can do more targeted web searches also. Try visiting the websites for major companies and foundations—and the colleges you’re interested in. Go to the corporate sites and most often you will find scholarships under the “Community Relations” page. This is how I found the Best Buy Children’s Foundation Scholarship. From there you can get contact info, criteria and even download applications. A note on company scholarships…if you or your parents work for a major company try to see if there is an exclusive scholarship for you. Many companies run programs for their “corporate families” and you will face a much smaller applicant pool in these situations.
In addition to seeking company scholarships directly, you can look at your prospective colleges. Many schools offer scholarship programs to highly qualified applicants; UVA has the Jefferson Scholars Foundation and UNC provides the Robertson Scholars Program. Sometimes you don’t even need to apply for the scholarship itself; my application to UNC-Chapel Hill was enough for them to fly me out to
So you’ve tried FastWeb. You’ve scoured the web. Now what? Don’t forget your guidance counselors! Guidance counselors often have the best information on scholarships because the programs offering grants and scholarships contact them directly! My school’s guidance department kept and published a monthly list of possible scholarships with deadlines and award amounts. This was even available to download online! You can even search other schools’ websites/guidance department websites to get additional resources. Here’s my old high school’s list: http://www.sprucecreekhigh.com/Guidance/monthlyscholarship.html. Imagine having compiled lists from 10 different high schools! Just do some internet searches or ask friends from different high schools. Aside from this public list, you can arrange a meeting with your guidance counselor. Tell them your interests, activities, ethnic and personal background, so they can get an understanding of who you are. Then your counselor can figure out which scholarships may be right for you and recommend some that may not even be on any published lists. An additional benefit of these personal talks is that your counselor will know you even better and understand that you are a motivated student. This will come in handy when you apply to college and your counselor fills out your “School Report.” Moreover, these meetings give you a chance to be nominated for certain awards that require school-nomination, and you cannot just apply on your own. When I wanted the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, I presented myself to my counselor and asked for the nomination. They can only nominate one student a year, so you have to be early and have the credentials. An additional benefit of these personal meetings and working with your guidance department is they can tell you about scholarships only available locally; some organizations like the Rotary Club, Kiwanis or a local Elk’s Club may not advertise or list with FastWeb, so you have to find out from your guidance counselors.
Next, word of mouth. Ask recent graduates or friends at other schools which scholarships they know about. A lot of graduates may have won scholarships (listen to the morning announcements when you’re an underclassmen!) and they could tell you the best way to earn the award, too! Moreover, there are so many opportunities during senior year that recent graduates probably missed some chances. They’ll be more than anxious to tell you about those scholarships or opportunities….they’re not competing with you!
So use the internet. Consult your guidance department. Ask friends and alumni. Seek and you shall find many scholarships!
