Top 7 Scholarship Tips
Scholarships are often considered an afterthought in the college admissions process, but they can really change the trajectory of what schools you can afford and how much debt (if any) your child will take on after they graduate college. Remember: this is FREE money! Below are my top seven tips for applying to scholarships, including when to apply and how to find them!
Get Organized
Before you begin, start a spreadsheet to organize all of your scholarships. Include the name of the scholarship, the link (if applicable), the deadline, the amount, if an essay is required, and if you’ve applied. This will help you to stay organized and feel less overwhelmed as the scholarships application process goes on!
When to Apply
There isn’t a magic answer to this - so my response is, as soon as possible! They even have scholarships for children as young as five years old (I’ll talk about this in a future blog post) so don’t think junior year is too early. However, the sweet spot for scholarships will be during a student’s senior year in high school.
Seasons of Scholarships
You can think of scholarship deadlines falling into three main seasons during senior year: fall, spring, and summer. The fall scholarships and deadlines are really just the beginning of senior year scholarships. You’ll find that the majority of deadlines will be in October or December, giving you ample time to find and apply for these scholarships. The spring is the prime time for scholarships! Deadlines for these scholarships will be pretty evenly dispersed and with applications behind your student (hopefully), they can focus on applying for scholarships. During the summer, students can still find plenty of money available for the upcoming school year, so don’t ignore this time. You might find that there is more competition due to students procrastinating, but it’s still worth it!
Where to Look
Get creative on where to look - scholarships are everywhere! You’ve probably considered searching the web (like the US Department of Labor’s free scholarship search tool or FastWeb) but remember that these have a lot of competition. In addition to these resources, try the student’s place of employment (like Burger King!) or the parents’ places of employment. Many employers offer scholarships for their employees’ dependents. Also check your local library, school district, high school career or guidance center, religious or community organizations, local businesses, or local foundations. If your student has an idea of what they want to study, they can also research professional organizations related to their field of interest.
College-Specific Scholarships
You may be familiar with institutional aid (both merit- and financial-based). You can apply for college-specific scholarships that can be stacked on top of this institutional aid, and there’s typically no limit! Some schools even have specific scholarship search engines that are only for admitted students. You can filter your results based on your hobbies or academic interests - and if they don’t have a search engine, you can reach out to specific departments or clubs on campus to see if they offer scholarships.
Getting Creative
To touch more on how to find scholarships, don’t forget to get creative. Remember that hundreds of thousands of students are hunting for the same scholarships your child is. While Google is a great way to find scholarships, try to look at your student’s hobbies in a new way. There are literally scholarships for everything - teens who love coffee, Trekkies, students with acne, vegans, those who game, etc. Scholarships are much more than the smartest students in class or the best athletes on the field. Have your child brainstorm what makes them unique and they’re much more likely to find a smaller applicant pool and scholarships that fit them.
Be Careful
Remember… there are scams out there. You will NEVER have to pay for access to a scholarship or to apply. Any organization asking for your bank or credit card information is a huge red flag! And while scholarship applications that simply ask you for your name and email and nothing additional seem desirable, just know that tens of thousands of students have applied for this same “scholarship,” and you are about to get lots and lots of email spam.
—
If there’s anything you take away from these seven tips, remember that every season is scholarship season, and your child is special enough to find scholarships. There is plenty of money to go around - and thousands of dollars in unclaimed money each year. Get creative, and happy applying!