Guide to Looking for College Scholarships and Loans

Guide to Looking for College Scholarships and Loans
  • Opening Intro -

    One of the hardest parts about being a college student is paying for it.

    Loans aren't an option for everyone, and finding the right balance between being a full-time student and working an equally time consuming job is stressful.

    So, applying for scholarships is a great option.

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So, applying for scholarships is a great option. This guide should be helpful with information on when to look for scholarships, where to look for them and how to apply.

Are You a Match?

A big thing to know is there is a scholarship for almost anything you can think of. There is one for being tall, being short, being vegetarian and even one for duck calling. There is a scholarship for everyone and everything.

Companies and organizations know that struggling to pay for college is not necessarily unique but you are and they want to give you an opportunity to win money for your talents, passions and peculiarities.

Figuring out if you are a match for a scholarship is not hard because most of them have specifications or requirements you have to meet to be considered and those are usually listed with the prize information and deadline. Common requirements are:

  • Age or year in school i.e. High school senior or college freshmen only
  • Areas of study/ intended major(s)
  • Culture, nationality or ethnicity
  • GPA minimums

When to Apply

Scholarship applications are available at all times of the year. It all depends on what kind of funds you are looking for and when you would prefer to receive them. By this, I mean, if you are looking for scholarships that offer $10,000 a year for your excellent academic performance, then you should start searching around the Fall. But if you are looking for a couple thousand for writing a really cool poem, then check around April, National Poetry Month.

Large, competitive academic scholarship and grant applications are available in the Fall/Winter usually and lots of other awards can be found at all times of the year. Most scholarships have a period of time after the deadline where they read and judge applications before awarding them, so it is best not to expect to find out if you won or not right away. This time should be accounted for when applying and some applications give applicants a timeline of when to expect an answer.

Where to Look

This part can be stressful and often, is what puts people off most about applying for scholarships. The simple question: Where do I look?

Luckily, in this great modern age we live in, people have created super easy ways to browse, match and apply for scholarships.

A common and popular one is fastweb.com. Its an awesome online resource for searching and applying for scholarships, internships and other things that allows you to make a personalized profile so you can get matched with applications that fit to who you are. It takes half of the work out of searching because it searches specifically for you and what you want.

Other sites like this include:

  • Unigo.com
  • Chegg.com
  • Scholarships.com

How to Apply

Applications is a scary word, but it doesn’t always mean what it sounds like: essays, recommendations, transcripts and lots and lots of paperwork. Of course there are scholarship applications that require all of those things but not all of them do. Some of them just require a great photo you took or your 150 word response to a specific question. Its all about what they are looking for.

You may not have to write to do anything but send an unofficial transcript, your name and email address to get a $1,000 prize. You can also reuse or rework essays for different scholarships. If you are applying for a prize in photography, send in some of your best work you have already done! Don’t do more work if unnecessary.

So there you have it, scholarships are here to help and can be a great and easy way to help pay for school. You should spread the love and share this article on Facebook or tweet the link for your friends! Chances are you aren’t the only one looking for some options and sharing is caring.

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Categories: Scholarships