| Students who are about to graduate from high | | | | institutes by applying for a scholarship you are not |
| school are already looking ahead toward planning for | | | | eligible for. For instance, if the scholarship is for |
| their first year of college. With this comes the | | | | children of veterans of war, be sure you have proof |
| concern for paying their way through college and the | | | | of this. |
| search for scholarship opportunities. | | | | There are many small scholarships out there. There's |
| So what are scholarships, where do you look to find | | | | no scholarship that's too low to apply for. The $200 |
| them, how do you apply and what do you need to | | | | and $300 scholarships add up. |
| watch out for so that you don't get scammed? | | | | Another way to search for scholarships is to contact |
| There are a variety of scholarships offered. A | | | | schools that you are interested in and inquire about |
| scholarship is a gift to a student, one that does not | | | | their scholarship programs. |
| have to be repaid, and is usually given do to the | | | | When applying, save your applications so that you |
| student's grades, achievements or the student | | | | can revise them each time rather than having to |
| meeting other eligibility requirements. There are | | | | recreate them. This applies to essays as well. You |
| popular scholarships that attract a lot of attention | | | | can make minor tweaks to essays and then use |
| and that are quite competitive and there are the | | | | them to apply for multiple scholarships. |
| off-beat scholarships that require a little more digging | | | | Where are the obvious places to start looking for |
| to discover, yet are less competitive. | | | | scholarships? To name a few: Online; banks and credit |
| One myth about scholarships is that you have to | | | | unions; churches, alumni associations at schools the |
| have a perfect grand point average. There are many | | | | student's parents attended; local Rotary, Elks and |
| scholarships for average students that focus on | | | | Lions clubs; departments that offer the student's |
| qualities besides academic merit. There are also many | | | | intended major, since they may have awards not |
| community service scholarships. | | | | handled through the university's financial aid and |
| To start your scholarship search, first make a list that | | | | scholarships office; any fraternal or community |
| includes all of your hobbies, clubs and extracurricular | | | | organization to which the student and immediate |
| activities. Having this information at hand will help | | | | family members belong; college and university |
| when it comes time to ask for letters of | | | | foundations and student's and parents' employers. |
| recommendation during the scholarship application | | | | And last, if a particular scholarship sound too good to |
| process. Teachers and counselors can better sell | | | | be true, it usually is. Learn how to recognize and |
| students to selection committees if they have | | | | protect yourself from the most common scholarship |
| thorough resumes and background information. | | | | scams. The number one tip: If you have to pay |
| You can now match your specialties to eligibility | | | | money to get money, it's probably a scam. |
| requirements. Don't waste your time and the | | | | |