Scholarship Search Part 1: Websites
Scholarships are a joy to received because they aid in alleviating financial burdens associated with school. More often than not, finding a place that houses all the need to know information for good scholarships is difficult to find. One of the main things to look out for when it comes to scholarship sites is if the site is free to use; if you have to pay, stay away.
Here are some of the sites that are currently being utilized by myself and countless others.
Points can be earned: daily by logging in, from bonus codes posted to their social media accounts (G+, Twitter and FB), from completing tasks and from referring friends. There are scholarship drawings hosted throughout the year with four being quarterly 10K drawings. You can either save up your points for use on the 10K drawings only or spend them on the other drawings that are hosted by the site.
Every once in a while an article gets posted on their blog that highlights scholarship opportunities hosted by outside organizations. The listings of the scholarships usually have a requirement based either on: age, major or GPA. The requirements vary because each scholarship sponsor is looking for something different.
Having an account makes signing up for the scholarships easier because all the basic information will be present leaving you to focus on the submission piece. Now, aside from the monthly contests there are third party contests available to help you broaden your search for school funding. Most if not all scholarships will announce winners and distribute rewards at a particular time of year; usually close to the start of an academic term.
Best advice for this is to keep participating in the scholarships posted on the site to cover as much ground as possible. It's doable because the topics/writing prompts are easy to write to about after a few minutes of organizing your thoughts; the Top 10 writing prompt is possibly one that will require a lot of think-tanking.
Once you start your scholarship search, the results will be filtered by deadline as well as opportunities that adhere to your GPA, year in school, major and or ethnicity. There is a healthy amount of scholarships in the ethnicity category. You can even read articles on current events pertaining to education and what schools are doing to making the financial aspect of attending less burdensome.
Already enrolled in college? Use the site to find scholarship opportunities you qualify for and actually have a chance of being considered. The layout of the opportunities features the name and sponsor of the scholarship, a briefing of the scholarship along with a rating that show how much competition is present.
As an added bonus, you can check off the scholarship after you've applied so it won't show up in active search results. Come across a scholarship you're not too keen on? Mark it as not being for you so it doesn't show up again.
There are scholarships sponsored by the site throughout the year that have minimal if not easy to meet requirements. As you continue to actively participate on the site, you will gain recognition in the form of honorary virtual caps. The caps may seem silly at first but after a while you will see there is a lot of significance behind them.
As the caps add up, you start to become eligible for more site sponsored scholarships; my current cap level is Rock Star. You can even contribute to the scholarship list by sending in the suggested additions to the admin of the site.
Here are some of the sites that are currently being utilized by myself and countless others.
Scholarship Points
They have recently given their site a new look to make it look more update rather than out of date. The premise of the site is simple: register to become a member (its free) and begin earning points by completing tasks. SP runs a points system where the points that are earned can be applied as entries into scholarship drawings.Points can be earned: daily by logging in, from bonus codes posted to their social media accounts (G+, Twitter and FB), from completing tasks and from referring friends. There are scholarship drawings hosted throughout the year with four being quarterly 10K drawings. You can either save up your points for use on the 10K drawings only or spend them on the other drawings that are hosted by the site.
Every once in a while an article gets posted on their blog that highlights scholarship opportunities hosted by outside organizations. The listings of the scholarships usually have a requirement based either on: age, major or GPA. The requirements vary because each scholarship sponsor is looking for something different.
Scholarship Experts
Another site that I enjoy utilizing. Signup is required because the site does sponsor monthly scholarships throughout the year. Each month Scholarship Experts has contest that involves submitting a short writing sample based on a prompt for the month.Having an account makes signing up for the scholarships easier because all the basic information will be present leaving you to focus on the submission piece. Now, aside from the monthly contests there are third party contests available to help you broaden your search for school funding. Most if not all scholarships will announce winners and distribute rewards at a particular time of year; usually close to the start of an academic term.
Best advice for this is to keep participating in the scholarships posted on the site to cover as much ground as possible. It's doable because the topics/writing prompts are easy to write to about after a few minutes of organizing your thoughts; the Top 10 writing prompt is possibly one that will require a lot of think-tanking.
Scholarships.com
This is a pretty straightforward site that is filled with loads of information in regards to college and other types of schooling. Signup is free after which you are required to fill out your profile for the site. What this does, is to set up the search settings in accordance to the information provided so that you'll only be showed scholarship opportunities that are relevant to you.Once you start your scholarship search, the results will be filtered by deadline as well as opportunities that adhere to your GPA, year in school, major and or ethnicity. There is a healthy amount of scholarships in the ethnicity category. You can even read articles on current events pertaining to education and what schools are doing to making the financial aspect of attending less burdensome.
Cappex.com
An amazing site that lays everything out in an organized manner. The site is setup to be user friendly for those getting ready to enter the higher education scene. It provides information on schools that will be suitable based on desired major(s).Already enrolled in college? Use the site to find scholarship opportunities you qualify for and actually have a chance of being considered. The layout of the opportunities features the name and sponsor of the scholarship, a briefing of the scholarship along with a rating that show how much competition is present.
As an added bonus, you can check off the scholarship after you've applied so it won't show up in active search results. Come across a scholarship you're not too keen on? Mark it as not being for you so it doesn't show up again.
There are scholarships sponsored by the site throughout the year that have minimal if not easy to meet requirements. As you continue to actively participate on the site, you will gain recognition in the form of honorary virtual caps. The caps may seem silly at first but after a while you will see there is a lot of significance behind them.
As the caps add up, you start to become eligible for more site sponsored scholarships; my current cap level is Rock Star. You can even contribute to the scholarship list by sending in the suggested additions to the admin of the site.
