Helping Newcomers with Scholarship Research
Scholarships weren't top priority nor did they register on radar while I was in high school. The first mentioning of scholarships was during senior year while reading through a Careers & Colleges print magazine. Interest was taken, the featured drawing was entered, got notice saying I didn't win and no more searches were done after that.
It was a seriously major mistake on my part of which wasn't seen till later in my schooling years. Guess it was my fault for not understanding the importance of scholarships in regards to offsetting college costs. That said, there really wasn't much talk about scholarships and their helpfulness.
This lack of talking is possibly one of the reasons not many soon to be college students don't take interest in scholarships yet alone act on offers presented to them via educational resources. FAFSA can do but so much until the till runs dry; which is rather quickly if you jump straight into a 4-year institution. Loans are available as well; however, they are considered a last resort option when all other resources are exhausted.
Age is a factor but in the negative sense. From observation, anyone under the age of 25 years has an extensive pool within to search for school funding. After the age 25 milestone, scholarship resources will start to feel like a bottleneck.
Start off, on your end, by looking into some promising user friendly resources that you've utilized or have recently discovered. Now take the list you've compiled and narrow the selection down to three. The resources that I've utilized consist of the following:
After selecting three to work with, highlight a component that makes the resources worth the time invested. Let's use my three as examples.
After examining the resources that were dissected, take the next step and sign up for at least one of them. Set aside some time to work with them in searching through the databases for promising scholarships to sign up for. 15 - 30 minutes at minimum but if you can set aside an hour, that would make a world of difference.
Depending on the sources, the funds will either be held up till they enroll or distributed into a designated college savings account. Even with that in mind it's best to apply and to keep applying then rather than waiting till later.
Their likes and hobbies should yield some results that'll peak their interests if not curiosity. Do a search in advance prior to your next meeting for hands-on scholarships of the likes of writing, designing, building, crafting, drawing and even planning. If you can't find anything that matches up try to find some that are similar.
Contests are another option for school funding in regards for searching. Direct them towards contests that don't have an entrance fee as there's no return on investment should they not place. Suggestions for contests with brownie points (personal opinion) are those with classic literature pieces attached.
When I say brownie points, it's in regards to school courses that the pieces can be tied into especially for discussion topics. It's completely fine if they're not up for it but encourage them to revisit those selections again in the future.
It seems like a lot was done but the surface was barely breached. This is merely a starting point from which to branch to assist first timers with their initial scholarship search. The earlier they start the better off they'll be in the long run.
It was a seriously major mistake on my part of which wasn't seen till later in my schooling years. Guess it was my fault for not understanding the importance of scholarships in regards to offsetting college costs. That said, there really wasn't much talk about scholarships and their helpfulness.
This lack of talking is possibly one of the reasons not many soon to be college students don't take interest in scholarships yet alone act on offers presented to them via educational resources. FAFSA can do but so much until the till runs dry; which is rather quickly if you jump straight into a 4-year institution. Loans are available as well; however, they are considered a last resort option when all other resources are exhausted.
Taking Manageable Steps
Whether confirmed or not, the search for scholarships needs to start early. By early, I mean as soon as talks begin about what they're looking to become when they grow up. Since this is bound to change or become more specified as they get older, start things off with general scholarships.Age is a factor but in the negative sense. From observation, anyone under the age of 25 years has an extensive pool within to search for school funding. After the age 25 milestone, scholarship resources will start to feel like a bottleneck.
Start off, on your end, by looking into some promising user friendly resources that you've utilized or have recently discovered. Now take the list you've compiled and narrow the selection down to three. The resources that I've utilized consist of the following:
- MoolahSPOT.com
- Cappex.com
- Scholarships.com
- ScholarshipExperts.com (now called Unigo.com/scholarships/our-scholarships)
- AIE.org
- GenKellyScholarship.com
- BrokeScholar.com
- CKSF.org
- Online-Degree-Scholarships.com
- ScholarshipPoints.com
- Zinch.com/scholarship
- CollegeAnswer.com (now SallieMae.com/college-planning/college-scholarships)
- CollegeProwler.com (now Niche.com/colleges/scholarships)
- FindTuition.com
- CollegeWeekLive.com
- CollegeNET.com
- SuperCollege.com
- CampusDiscovery.com
- NextStepU.com (formerly College Express)
- The Ultimate Scholarship Book series by Gen & Kelly Tanabe
- whatever school funding book I could find at the library
After selecting three to work with, highlight a component that makes the resources worth the time invested. Let's use my three as examples.
 |
| Example of Top 3 Picks |
After examining the resources that were dissected, take the next step and sign up for at least one of them. Set aside some time to work with them in searching through the databases for promising scholarships to sign up for. 15 - 30 minutes at minimum but if you can set aside an hour, that would make a world of difference.
Depending on the sources, the funds will either be held up till they enroll or distributed into a designated college savings account. Even with that in mind it's best to apply and to keep applying then rather than waiting till later.
The Boredom Factor
Chances are that boredom will set in during the process of searching and applying for potential scholarships. If you're working with some one that has a tendency to bore easily, try to keep the sessions between 15-30 minutes with 15 being the absolute minimum. Should that be unsuccessful, take the notes and observations you've made of the individual and apply it toward the scholarship search.Their likes and hobbies should yield some results that'll peak their interests if not curiosity. Do a search in advance prior to your next meeting for hands-on scholarships of the likes of writing, designing, building, crafting, drawing and even planning. If you can't find anything that matches up try to find some that are similar.
Contests are another option for school funding in regards for searching. Direct them towards contests that don't have an entrance fee as there's no return on investment should they not place. Suggestions for contests with brownie points (personal opinion) are those with classic literature pieces attached.
When I say brownie points, it's in regards to school courses that the pieces can be tied into especially for discussion topics. It's completely fine if they're not up for it but encourage them to revisit those selections again in the future.
Where To?
So far you've made a list of all the scholarship resources that we're utilized during your schooling along with some recent discoveries. After that you narrowed the list down to three promising resources to start the scholarship search process. Then you contended with the onset of boredom by locating interest grabbing selections.It seems like a lot was done but the surface was barely breached. This is merely a starting point from which to branch to assist first timers with their initial scholarship search. The earlier they start the better off they'll be in the long run.
