Scholarships: Show Me The Money

In addition to the financial aid that you may get from a college, there are hundreds of other college scholarships out there for B students. Many students falsely believe that the only way to get a scholarship is to have a perfect GPA. Still, plenty of scholarships are awarded based on extracurricular interests or by organizations like Rotary clubs or places of worship that want to support local high school students. Many of these may be on the small side- say about $500 to $2,000- compared with the high cost of college, but they certainly add up (plus, imagine how much it will impress your future employers to place a list of scholarships that you won on your resume).

Think of Your Scholarship Search as a Game With Two Rules:

1. If you don't play, you can't win. 

2. The more you play, the better your chances of hitting the jackpot. 

Believe it or not, thousands of dollars in scholarship money go unclaimed yearly because of the lack of applicants. So do your research and get in the game. Below is a list of great websites that allow you to search for scholarships you may qualify for. Cast a wide net by applying for numerous scholarships to increase your odds of winning money for college. 

• www.collegescholarships.org
• www.collegetoolkit.com
• www.fastweb.com/college-scholarships
• www.finaid.org/scholarships
• www.petersons.com/college-search/scholarship-search.aspx
• www.scholarshipexperts.com
• www.scholarships.com
• www.natioanlmerit.org
• www.meritaid.com
• www.studentscholarships.org/
• https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search
• http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/scholarships
• http://www.scholarship.org/
• http://www.studentgrants.org/
• http://www.collegegrants.org/
• http://schoolscholarships.org/
• http://www.moolahspot.com/
• http://fedmoney.org/
• http://www.scholarshipsandgrants.us/
• http://scholarshipamerica.org/
• http://www.collegegrant.net/
• http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/
• http://www.scholarshipsforwomen.net/
• http://www.blackexcel.org/
• http://www.iefa.org/
• http://www.internationalscholarships.com/
• http://www.militaryscholar.org/
• http://www.imagine-america.org/
• http://www.nursingscholarships.org/
• http://www.apiasf.org/

With thousands of scholarships available to high school students, it is easy to become overwhelmed, and it can be challenging to manage the application process efficiently. Here are some tips to consider: 

• Make sure you qualify. Don't waste your time applying for a scholarship if the GPA cutoff is a 3.7 and you have a 3.0 or if the award is for Hispanic students and you are Native American. Make a list of all your unique attributes. Are you an editor of your high school newspaper? Are you active in your church? Have you done a lot of volunteer work in the community? Look for scholarships that match.
• Keep track of deadlines. The best way to make sure that you WON'T get a scholarship is to miss the deadline. Scholarship money is precious, and the deadlines are strict, so keep track of when the application is due.
• Have someone you trust proofread your application. When you get a rejection letter from a scholarship organization, it never says, “We liked your application, but there were too many typos.” However, the reality is that accuracy matters, and students lose out all the time because they don't take time to proofread their applications. Do not let a misspelled word or a grammatical error come between you and hundreds of dollars.
• Watch out for scams. Sadly, plenty of scam artists are out there looking to take advantage of vulnerable students. 

Two Golden Rules for Spotting Scholarship Scams

1. Never pay for scholarship applications.

2. Never apply to any organization that “guarantees” you'll win money.

 Remember, scholarships are competitive because there is not enough money for every student with a college tuition bill. If a scholarship organization violates these basic principles, it's probably a scam.