Over the past week I have met with several students including high school seniors, juniors, sophomores, non-traditional students who are interested in going back to school and middle school aged students. Their interests—volleyball, engineering, education, music, math, nursing—were different, but they did all have one question that was the same, “where do I find scholarships”?
Saint Martin’s does offer a Merit Scholarship to every student that attends, ranging from $7,000 to $15,000 annually, but most students who attend college still have a gap they need to fill from their aid award to the actual cost of attendance. What is the best way to find that money? By finding scholarships.
For students in high school, the very first stop in the scholarship search needs to be the Career or College Counseling Center on their campus. The counselors who work in these offices all keep ongoing lists of local and national scholarships throughout the year. Students shouldn’t just drop in once or twice either, as deadlines pass and new scholarships open up these lists are updated and new opportunities will be outlined. A minute or two in between classes is also not sufficient–students who are serious about their scholarship search really ought to set aside time before or after school to dig in and explore their options.
Another scholarship resource would be the community in which the student lives. Any organizations that the student or their family members are a part of are a good place to start looking for scholarships. The local library is often a great place to look for scholarships sponsored by local businesses and organizations.
In addition to scouring the newspaper, library, and high school bulletin boards, online searches are a vital tool in any scholarship search. Unfortunately, with the high mass of content, online scholarship searches can be overwhelming. With millions of scholarship searchers worldwide, and just as many scholarships available, how does one even begin to start?
There are scores of websites claiming to be fast and easy scholarship search engines, but many of them will charge students for their services. Of the scholarship search engines, Fastweb has proven itself to be reliable, free, and somewhat effective. A couple other options are CollegeNet, and the CollegeBoard. The basic rule when applying for scholarships online? Apply, apply, apply. Start early, apply often, and don’t be discouraged if there seems to be no success. It only takes one scholarship to make a huge different in a scholastic career.
From left-handers, duct tape prom dresses, aspiring teachers, to athletes, scientists, and ambidextrous students, there are scholarships out there for just about every person and reason imaginable.
Are you a Washington State resident? Here are some more resources to explore:
Washington State Opportunity Scholarship This is a scholarship designed for low-income and middle-income Washington state resident students interested in pursuing a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, or Healthcare) career at a college or university in Washington state. April 16th is the application deadline.
The College Success Foundation is a great resource both for learning about the college application process, and finding scholarships to help fund your education. Services are available in Washington state and the District of Columbia.
The Washboard.org allows Washington students to complete ‘smart’ searches for scholarships using an online profile uploaded to the site. This is one of the best resources for Washington state students to find private scholarships.
Long story short, the best advice I can give to scholarship searchers is, “start looking, and take advantage of the resources and community surrounding you”.
So if you want to get to here:
Then now is the time to start out here:
[Hint: Click the photo for the source and information about this scholarship]
–Emilie Schnabel
Benny's Blog 