December 2nd, 2008
Hi Jason,
Where should I be looking for scholarships? Probably just ask my guidance counselor right? And how long do I have before I should actually start applying for scholarships? [I'm a junior.]
Thanks for the help.
-Anonymous
My Reply
Hey Anonymous,
There are a few places. For starters check out my blog and click on 'Scholarships' http://ineedapencil.com/Blog.aspx
There are a few websites, like FastWeb.com and Scholarships.com, where it's basically a database/search engine for scholarships. Check those out because I know I used those to just enter my interests/skills/background - and they delivered a list of relevant scholarships.
Also of course set up a meeting with and talk to your counselor about this. They probably will know about local scholarships you can't find on those big websites, like your local elk's club or an alumni scholarship. Additionally, they might have to nominate you for a scholarship so you want to build up that relationship now.
As far as when you should apply, different programs have different deadlines. There is a Discover (credit card) scholarship that is for juniors only, for example, so that deadline I believe is in January. Every day, really, a different scholarship has its deadline, so you might want to make a word document or calendar (or just a simple piece of paper) with names and deadlines for scholarships. A good rule of thumb is to start the application ~6 weeks before hand (so you can get recommendations, make essay revisions, etc.)
Best,
Jason
