SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH TOPICS

Being revised.

SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH INTRODUCTION

The source of the following two statements is the Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL. The relevant numbers used in these two statements (1,3, 3.1, 15, and 2000) vary with the source.            There are an estimated 1.3 million scholarships                  out there worth about 3.1 billion dollars,           Only one in fifteen students receives a college               scholarship and the average amount is $2000.  If you are not discouraged by the second statement, then read this section.            SUFFICIENT SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE FOR FREE. One should not have to open his/her wallet or give out a credit card number to find out about, or to apply for, a scholarship. Beware of scholarship scams.       On this webpage, we give the names of the many websites that provide free information about millions of college scholarships.  DEFINITION OF SCHOLARSHIPS . Scholarships consist of free money usually, but by no means always, from private (non-government) sources. Scholarships are usually awarded for merit (high GPA or high SAT or ACT scores), skills (athletic, musical, artistic, etc.), academic area (i.e. choice of major), social activities, place of parent's employment, heritage, religious affiliation, race, or community service. Some scholarships have geographic restrictions.       SOME ADVICE AND INFORMATION FOR COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP APPLICANTS. Many scholarships are awarded with no possibility of renewal or with renewal being far-from automatic. If you do not meet the requirements, do not apply. Watch out for scholarships where the award if for reduced tuition at a school whose name you never heard. Meet all scholarship deadlines. In general a scholarship receives numerous applicants with big dollar scholarships being the most competitive. If you do not excel at what is wanted by the scholarship, applying would probably be a waste of your time. For most scholarships, very many are called but just one is chosen. A scholarship that requires great effort (e.g. a 1000-word essay on an unfamiliar topic) is probably not worth your attention. A scholarship with requirements that are met by only a few (with you being one of the few) may be worth your attention.  A scholarship with requirements that are met by many is probably not worth your attention. SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINES. According to COLLEGE ANSWERS, scholarship deadlines typically range between October and March of the year preceding the one for which scholarship funds will be needed.  SCHOLARSHIP SCAMS. The FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION and the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION give advice on how to avoid scholarship scams.   PROMOTIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS are business sponsored scholarships designed not to help students pay for tuition but designed to help businesses get new customers. An example of a promotional scholarship is given in WEB SITE OF HARD KNOCKS. The example involves the "Coca Cola College Bound Contest, brought to you by the Chuck E. Cheese pizza operation.The winner gets $25,000 toward a college fund."  "More than 1.6 million contestants signed up for the contest"; there was just one winner. TYPE OF SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS TO AVOID   COMMENT       Local scholarship programs   Local scholarship programs may not be as competitive as state-wide or national scholarshp programs. Promotional Scholarships   Business sponsored scholarships designed not to help students pay for tuition but designed to help businesses get new customers.     CHART INCOMPLETE  Follow a SCHOLARSHIP TIMELINE. Read about some SCHOLARSHIP MYTHS.

SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH IS IT WORTH THE EFORT?

IS A SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH WORTH THE TIME AND EFFORT? Steven Levy, a Newsweek  Senor Editor, in his article WEB SITE OF HARD KNOCKS (Newsweek, May 12, 2008) indicates that, for his son, he "Filled out the usual government forms and ones offered by the college my son will attend; I will also keep an eye out for local programs that don't involve competing with FastWebs's 38 million registered users." In this same article, Donald Heller, director of the Center for the  Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University, says that "Applying for scholarships found on FastWeb and similar sites isn't worth the effort for most families. 'The real action is in the dollars given by the institutions [colleges] themselves." SOME SCHOLARSHIP NUMBERS. According to the Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL (January 14, 2009), FinAid, a Web site that specializes in collecting financial aid and scholarship information asserts that              There are an estimated 1.3 million scholarships out            there worth about 3.1 billion dollars Amazingly enough, SALLIEMAE claims to provide access to an award database that contains more than 2.9 million scholarships worth over 16 billion dollars. Oftentimes there is no market for numbers that are accurate but their is a big market for numbers that are large.           According to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Finaid.org and director of advanced projects for Fastweb.com, two college sites owned by Monster.com:            Only one in fifteen students receives a college scholarship            and the average amount is $2000. Clearly for most students, flipping burgers will be more profitable than applying for scholarships.            Do millions of scholarship dollars go unclaimed because            students do not know where to look or are too lazy to apply? The answer is NO.

SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH GOVERNMENT AND COLLEGE LINKS

STATE FINANCIAL AID PROGRAMS. The states are more into academic merit scholarship programs. If eligible, Students should apply for STATE FINANCIAL AID. FEDERAL FINANCIAL AID PROGRAMS. Federal scholarship programs are not very numerous and are very competitive. On the other hand, the FEDERAL FINANCIAL AID PROGRAMS can be fairly generous loans.  SCHOLARSHIPS FROM YOUR COLLEGE. Make a special effort to check out funds available from the colleges that interest you. A phone call to the college's financial aid office is called for.

SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH RELEVANT WEB SITES

BROKE SCHOLAR is "the home of 650,000 scholarship award listings. Our members can use our free service to apply for billions of scholarship and grant dollars. Tell us about yourself and what you're into, and we'll match your profile to scholarships that apply specifically to you. After you check out your scholarship results, use our tools to stay organized and make the application process easier." COLLEGEBOARD EDUCATION PLANNER offers and Undergraduate Scholarship Search and a Graduate Scholarship Search. FASTWEB.COM.  Ms Michelle Singletary, a Washington Post business writer writing in the Sun-Sentinel (November 13, 2006), indicates that FASTWEB.COM is one of the leading sites for information about scholarships. It has access to 1.3 million scholarships worth over $3 billion. See WEB SITE OF HARD KNOCKS for some not so favorable comments about FastWeb. FINAID.ORG PETERSONS.COM  SALLIEMAE claims to provide access to an award database that contains more than 2.9 million scholarships worth over 16 billion dollars, and is expanded and updated daily. Below are more SallMae claims: Sallie Mae's search combines superior search technology with highly accurate scholarship information to provide students and parents with a customized list of scholarship leads. Our privacy policy ensures you will not receive unwanted emails or be subject to intrusive advertising. You must be registered to access the scholarship search.   SCHOLARSHIPEXPERTS say that they provide "Unlimited access to our scholarship database of 2.4 million awards worth over $14 billion."  SCHOLARSHIPS allows you to:  Search 2.7 million scholarships & grants worth over $19 billion Search for local, state & national college scholarships & grants Find scholarships based on your academics, talents & interests Review your scholarships by deadline, dollar amount & more Create one-click custom scholarship application request letters Search colleges & universities, get admissions info & more Start early & find scholarships while applying to colleges SCHOLARSHIPWORKSHOP is a very informative website. SUPPER COLLEGE    UNUSUAL SCHOLARSHIPS  WIREDSCHOLAR

 

SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH BOOKS

Sherri Winston, lifestyle columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, writes in her February 6, 2008 article NO COLLEGE FUNDS? YoU'RE NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH that           Free $ for College for Dummies by David Rosel and Caryn Mladen is "a great organization tool ... ." and that            College Board Scholarship Handbook  "offers a highly usable reference of available scholarships."

SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH WINNING PRIVATE SCHOLARSHIPS

UPPING YOUR ODDS OF WINNING: You've got to play to snag scholarship dollars (Kim Clark, USNews, September 18, 2006).       This article begins with what, the author says, are a true statement and a false statement: True Statement. There is a lot of private scholarship money available for smart, hardworking students willing to seek out donors and enter contests. False Statement: There is so little competition for those scholarships that it's easy to collect thousands of dollars in unclaimed awards.          Service clubs, companies, and charities hand out more than $2 billion in private scholarships every year to more than 1 million college undergraduates. That means 1 out of every 13 students wins an outside scholarship to help defray tuition. And it's not chicken feed: The average award totals about $2,000.  Comment. Assuming that the first sentence is true, the third sentence is true. The second sentence, if true, requires justification of the 13. This article indicates four DOs and four DON'Ts to follow when applying for private scholarships: Don't bother with any offer or contest that requires you to pay money or that even just asks for a credit card or other financial number to "hold" the scholarship. Don't trust any pitch that says a scholarship is "guaranteed" or indicates the student has been preselected or is a finalist in a contest he or she hadn't entered, says Gregory Ashe, spokesman for the Federal Trade Commission. Don't copy previous winners. Don't waste a lot of time writing new essays for different competitions. Try instead to rework essays already written for courses or college applications, says Ben Kaplan, author of How to Go to College Almost for Free. Follow instructions and do a spell check before sending your entry. Zig where you expect your competition will zag. Know the canned answers [and avoid them]." Dress like a winner if an interview is required. Play the odds. The scholarships that are best known, give away big money, or have easy applications tend to get flooded. Expand your scholarship search. This article recommends writing or talking to relatives, friends, and acquaintancesal for donations. This may be good advice if you belong to a mendicant order of students.       This article ends with the TIP. For an edge in scholarship contests, be creative, but master the basics. Judges toss essays that wander off topic, contain bad spelling or grammar, or bore them with obvious conclusions.