Scholarship Tip #3: Where to Search, part 1

Here is the #1 question I get from students:  How do I get scholarships?  And the question behind that is, how do I FIND these scholarships?  To be truthful, looking for scholarships does require a bit of a learning curve, and since most people find it easier to look online than using a book, I'm going to use this post to cover the online sources, and a second post to cover offline sources.  The best four places to start online are:  search engines, college websites, google, and pinterest.  Use ALL of them to yield the best results.

Search Engines

1.  Because you will receive LOADS of emails from the scholarship engines about possible scholarship matches, it might be advantageous to set up a different email for your scholarships.  However, this only works if you check the new email at least once a week.  If you're going to ignore the new email account, you might want to just use your regular account and sign up for one scholarship engine at a time.  

The point:  be honest with yourself about how well you check various email accounts, and make a plan that fits you the best.

2.  Fill out your student profile as you set up each account--and be as complete as possible!  This is how you get matched with scholarships, so it's worth your time to give as much information as possible about your activities, interests, and strengths.

3.  List all possible majors and degrees.  If you are undecided, then check everything that you could possibly pursue.  Want to study Engineering, but think that English is a possibility?  Check both!  Many scholarships are geared towards students pursuing a specific field of study, and you want to keep all options open for yourself.

4.  Hopefully, you'll keep these scholarship engine accounts for multiple years--and if so--you should take time to update your information each year.  By then, you'll have had other experiences, joined clubs, completed service projects, and had other life experiences that will match you with other scholarships.  Update!

Here are several scholarship search engines to check out.  

• Scholarships.com
• Scholarship Search
• Fastweb
• Cappex
• Scholarships 360

College Websites

Since Colleges give the largest proportion of $$$$ to students, don't overlook this source!!!  Each college website is a little different, and you won't to be sure you click on each link to learn all the opportunities at the colleges of interest.  Be especially aware of each college's academic scholarships, since they vary (this helps because you might get more $$$ at one college; also, it helps to know what scores you need for specific levels of scholarship aid)

Google  

Try different variations of search words on Google to yield different results.  I've tried "scholarships for high school seniors" or "high school seniors Utah Scholarships", and then any other added words to narrow the search.  If you have a specific talent, interest, or family background that has scholarships--use them in the google search!  This can be done with "scholarships for first generation college students" or "scholarships for low-income students Utah high school senior".  Play around with how you word things, and you'll be amazed at the results.

Pinterest

No, it's not just a cool place to find decorating and party ideas.  Use the same technique here as wish google--playing around with different search words.  The results are amazing!  

***NOTE:  The important thing with ANY of these is to put in the time to search.  Read Scholarship Tip #2: Time to Search for specific guidelines about "how much time" is usually needed .