Scholarships are money for college that you do not have to pay back. Scholarships
are worth pursuing. Scholarships are awarded by any number of public
organizations: Like colleges and universities, businesses, websites, churches,
alumni, interest groups, etc.. Scholarships are awarded according to academic
achievement, financial need, athletics, religion,career goals, hobbies,
interests, ethnicity, talents, or any other general basis and usually
to students who reflect the values and purposes of the donor or founder
of the award.Usually there is a competitive application process.
Scholarship Scams
Before you start applying for scholarships, it important to learn about
the scams out there that could waste, your time and discourage you from
applying to legitimate scholorships or ones that you may qualified for.
Scholarship Gauranteed-These
services that guarantee you'll win a scholarship or they'll refund your
money.Usually they will send you any ole report of scholarships you do
not qualify for. There are many great free search services and websites.
Application Fee -Most scholarship
organizations don’t charge a fee to apply. Know who you are dealing
with first. Any scholarship that requires an Application fee, is probably
a "scholarship for profit" business. They collect millions of
application fees, only to award $500 scholarship, if any money at all.
Redemption Fee -You have
won a scholarship prize but you never applied? You have won they require
that you pay a redemption fee or the taxes before they can release your
prize.
Proprietary Information-If
the service advertises that the information they have on scholarships
is only provided by them.
CC required to Hold the Scholarship for
You-Scams will want you to provide your Credit Card or
Bank Account information to "Hold the Scholorship for You".
We will do all the work for you-Services
that promise to do all the work for you for a fee. Only the student can
do the work of filling out the application, sending the required documents,
and writing theessay.
Scholarship Seminars-Seminars
held at hotels or even colleges that ask you to pay to learn all the secrets
of winning scholarships or applying for financial aid.
Applying
for Scholarships
Applying for scholarships it much easier thanks to the internet. Some
scholarships require you to put in some time by writing an essay, but
once you've completed an application and essay or two, applying gets much
easier and take less time with each additional one. Below is the basic
Scholarship Application Process.
Conduct a scholarship search- Do it yourself and take some time to do this, so
you do not waste time applying to scholarships
that you do not qualify for. A thorough search will find scholarships
that you have the best shot at winning and qualify for both as a student
and as a person. Find scholarships through the websites of your
school, your parents work, your church, local community organizations
or use the internet and search using some of the below Trusted Scholarship
Websites. There are tons of free, great resources and help for searching
for scholarships.You should not have to pay for search service, but if
you do make sure that you are paying for up to date information that relevant
to you.
Contact scholarship providers and declare
your candidacy -Be sure you contact each provider in the
manner they've requested, whether it's email, formal letter, or through
a nominating reference like your school. A typed application makes the
best impression. Here is one scholarship application letter template,
you can search for others.
The Scholarship Application-Read
what the reviewers are looking for and "Follow the directions carefully".
Different from the Essay that reflects who you are as a person; the scholarship
application usally applies to grades, test scores, and activities and
achievments in the classroom. Do not include the information that are
not significant. Do not leave any items blank if you do not know how to
answer.
The Scholarship Essay-Understanding
the subject matter, essay type, the purpose, the theme, and the motivation
of the scholorship provider is what is important. Many scholarship essays
are personal essays. A personal essay that tells about a personal experience,
or attempts to show that you are unique. A personal esseay should show
your personality, persuade the readers to care about you, show your perspective,
your abilities and life outside of the classroom. Essays should be honest,
orginal, and should state why you should win.
Requested Documents-Many
scholarships will require that you provide documents such as: transcripts,test
scores, proof of community involvement, proof of organization membership,
residency, financial aid forms, tax documents, letters of recommendation,
and of course the essay.
*Scholarships
can reduce your Fiancial Aid Packages-Scholarships
from private sources are considered a financial resource, available to
pay for education costs. Which types of
your aid are reduced or eliminated is what is important.Check with your
school's Financial Aid Office to see if the scholarship affects your aid
package.
Trusted
Scholarship Search Websites
Below are list of "Scholarship Websites"
that commonly recommmended legitimate.
Disclaimer: We cannot guarantee the information, links and practices on
these websites.Visit at your own risk.
Scholarship
Lotteries
Some banks give away free money in the form of a "Lottery".
The motivation for each is to attract business and promote their educational
lending, banks and websites. "If you sign up for these lotteries
they will sell your information, so use an email address that you can
expect to get tons of spam mail. Average prize is $1000. To find these
scholarship lotteries search at different bank websitesm, Wells Fargo,
Bank of America,US Bank etc...
