Introduction

This three-part series will cover how to find scholarships, how to choose scholarships to apply for, and how to compile competitive scholarship applications. The purpose of these articles is to help students better understand the scholarship process in order to become stronger scholarship applicants.

Part 2. How to Choose Scholarships to Apply For

After you have pooled all your scholarship resources, you will have plenty of scholarship opportunities but you may wonder which ones you should apply for? I often hear students tell me, “I have so many scholarships to choose from that I don’t know where to start.” Most people have an approach of starting with the easiest applications and leaving the hardest ones for last. However, if you want to maximize your scholarship potential, there are a few approaches to choosing which scholarships to apply for that will give you the best chances of winning.

First, it is important to do some self?reflection. You must know yourself. What is your personal story? What motivates or inspires you? What are your strengths (and weaknesses)? What are your goals? Before you even fill out a scholarship application, it is important to figure out why you are applying so you can share your story effectively. I believe that everyone has a unique story and certain strengths that set them apart from others. If you understand yourself, then you will be able to better choose scholarships that fit your profile.

Then comes the actual work—sift through all of your scholarship opportunities and read the brief description of the scholarship, its purpose, the deadline, the requirements, etc. Scholarships are awarded for a variety of reasons. The criteria could include academic, artistic, or athletic achievement; obstacles overcome; financial need; community service; leadership potential; race and ethnicity; course of study; you name it. If you know what your strengths are, it will be easier to narrow down your list. If a scholarship applies to you, keep it in your results. If it doesn’t suit your interests or profile, delete it from your list or simply archive it. For scholarships that seem to fit your profile extremely well, save it to your favorites so you can easily find it again and apply.

While it is important to choose scholarships that fit your profile best, you also want to apply for as many scholarships as possible in order to have the best possible chances. As such, prioritize your scholarship opportunities and spend extra time on the scholarships you have a stronger chance of winning. Set goals for yourself and continue challenging yourself as you work towards them. My personal goal was to attend college without any financial debts so I applied for as many scholarships as possible—I didn’t stop until, after applying for over 75 scholarships, I finally reached my goal. If you set goals for yourself and work towards it ambitiously, you’ll find it easier to go through the scholarship process. In the third and final part of this series, you will learn how to share your story compellingly and compile competitive scholarship applications.

About the Author

In the spring of his senior year of high school in 2006, Samson Lim created Sam’s Scholarship Kiosk, a scholarship resource website that provides students with an insider’s guide to the college scholarship process. After applying for over 75 scholarships throughout high school and winning 18 both locally and nationally, Sam set out to help students better understand how to find scholarships, how to choose scholarships to apply for, and how to compile competitive scholarship applications. Today, Sam continues to work with students through workshops on scholarships and essays, speaking to audiences about overcoming adversity to achieve success, and creating materials to help students better understand the scholarship process. For more information, please visit www.scholarshipjunkies.com.

Introduction

This three-part series will cover how to find scholarships, how to choose scholarships to apply for, and how to compile competitive scholarship applications. The purpose of these articles is to help students better understand the scholarship process in order to become stronger scholarship applicants.

Part 1. How to Find Scholarships

Almost all students that dream of going to college face one huge obstacle—paying for college. Unless you have the financial resources to pay thousands of dollars in tuition and fees, you’re probably going to need some additional support from outside sources. One of the best places to start is by searching for scholarships. You may ask, “What is a scholarship?” Basically, in the simplest of terms, a scholarship is free money for you to go to school that is awarded based on a certain criteria. I like to think of it this way: scholarships are an organization’s financial investment in your potential to succeed in college, to maximize the resources provided, and to give back to your community. Of course, every scholarship organization has its own guidelines, but this definition holds true for most organizations.

The most common question that I hear from students when they start their scholarship search is “Where do I find scholarships?” There are a multitude of scholarship resources that you may not even be aware about. In this article, I am going to outline four specific resources that you can use to find scholarship opportunities and that helped me tremendously in my own scholarship search. The first and most accessible resource is the Internet. Websites like www.fastweb.com and www.scholarships.com offer free accounts for students to input their profiles about their interests, goals, area of study, and other comprehensive information. From their databases containing billions of dollars in scholarships, a list of possible scholarship opportunities will be generated based on your profile. You’ll be able to save your favorites, access the websites of specific scholarships, and read more about the scholarship process under their resources section. Many students always ask if it’s even worth it to use sites like FastWeb; I know first-hand that scholarship websites are a solid starting point for a successful scholarship search.

Beyond websites, a second resource is written material like scholarship books and publications. You can find books like The College Board Scholarship Handbook at local libraries, bookstores, and perhaps even your school’s college and career center. While you shouldn’t have to pay money for scholarship applications or materials, you can check out the books from the library or simply write down a list of possible scholarships and any information from scholarship books in different bookstores. Then search for additional information about those scholarships on the Internet. For scholarships that I couldn’t find a website for, I wrote down their mailing address and sent letters requesting applications.

Other than books and websites, a third resource is to check in your community for local scholarships. If you work at a store, see if your company offers scholarships for students. Other community resources may include volunteer organizations, religious institutions, and community groups like your local Elk’s Lodge, Lion’s Club, and Rotary Club. You can always search on the Internet or call and visit them for more information. During my scholarship search, I brainstormed different companies and organizations that might offer scholarships and searched for more info on Google. This method helped me find several scholarship opportunities that hadn’t shown up in my FastWeb results.

A fourth and vital resource is your school’s college and career center or your college’s undergraduate scholarship office. Career counselors and advisors have a wealth of information about scholarships and other programs both in your community and nation?wide. Make a point of visiting your counselors and career center regularly to find out about new opportunities that you may not be able to find on FastWeb and other scholarship websites. If your school has a website, check to see if there are any local scholarship opportunities listed on the college and career page. Don’t stop there though; check out the websites of other schools in your district and city to see if they’ve listed scholarships that you may not have come across yet. I checked the websites of other high schools to pool all my resources and found some great scholarship opportunities this way.

Through each of these resources, you can find an abundance of scholarships to apply for. Learning to maximize these tools will help you master the scholarship process and develop skills that will be useful in how you organize, plan, and take action in whatever endeavors you pursue. I know this first?hand through my own scholarship experiences. In the second part of this series, you will learn how to choose scholarships that best fit your strengths and for which you will be a competitive applicant.

About the Author

In the spring of his senior year of high school in 2006, Samson Lim created Sam’s Scholarship Kiosk, a scholarship resource website that provides students with an insider’s guide to the college scholarship process. After applying for over 75 scholarships throughout high school and winning 18 both locally and nationally, Sam set out to help students better understand how to find scholarships, how to choose scholarships to apply for, and how to compile competitive scholarship applications. Today, Sam continues to work with students through workshops on scholarships and essays, speaking to audiences about overcoming adversity to achieve success, and creating materials to help students better understand the scholarship process. For more information, please visit www.scholarshipjunkies.com.

In the past, we have talked about the benefits of using Upromise to receive cash back on credit card and grocery purchases. Since then, Upromise has added a new feature that allows you to directly transfer your savings to your Sallie Mae Loan account to help start paying off your debt. In the midst of the vast number of accounts and reward point systems we sign up for, keeping track has become a bit of a hassle. However, by taking advantage of the Upromise - Sallie Mae partnership, you don’t have to keep track of your account money. Every time you take out a Sallie Mae loan they will prompt you to connect your Upromise account. This way the only time you have to worry is when you take out the loan. No need to count the pennies and keep track of what account does what. Although Upromise does not seem like it will add up to much money however, I do know someone who made over $500 in a year on their Upromise account. The key is to take advantage of family credit cards grocery cards and tell the coupon cutting grandma to check it out for sales.

With phishing, stolen credit cards and all sorts of other fraud now-a-days, we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but here is another thing to look out for in regards to the safety of your money. University of Texas at Austin recently published a story about an ATM scam where fraudulent equipment installed over the front of the ATM would receive card and PIN numbers. The information was then transmitted via a wireless device to van parked outside. Read the rest of the UTexas article for more details.

I got this letter in today:

“Our records show that your payment on the student loan(s) starred(*) below is overdue. Please send your check today. We may report information about your account to credit bureaus. Late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit bureau report.“

“What’s going on?” I thought, “I’m not supposed to have to worry about this until after graduation - I still have another year and a half!” I was pretty upset and thought that Sallie Mae was trying to slide one past me. But then it occurred to me, in Sallie Mae’s eyes, I did graduate, or at least left school. This past fall semester I took some time off from school to work on a business and didn’t really give much thought to my financial aid. In fact, that was the one semester that I figured I really wouldn’t need to think about loans - I wasn’t even going to school. Come to find out, Sallie Mae likes you to check in with them every once in a while.

I called them up and explained my situation - that I was returning this semester as a full time student and desperately needed them to delay my payments until after graduation. Luckily, it only cost $50 in fees to waive my potential delinquency and get me back on delayed payment plan. My advice to all those who are taking or planning to take a semester off from school - CALL SALLIE MAE and let them know about it, otherwise you could find a nice big bill right on your doorstep.

Here is a gift that you probably didn’t get this past holiday season. Every year, you have access to one free credit report - something that might sound rather boring, but actually quite worth while. This report will give you a glimpse at what all those student loan and credit card companies consider when you submit an application. Knowing how many accounts you have and what their standing is, will give you a better idea of your likelihood of getting the money (credit or loan) that you need. I recommend going to annualcreditreport.com and running your report from there. They act as a gateway that will actually provide you access to the three major consumer credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian & TransUnion) who will provide their own distinct report.

In addition to the report, which lists all of your credit related accounts and their information, you will also have an opportunity to find out your credit score. The report is free, but you are usually required to sign up for a trial credit reporting service to get access to your credit score. Most programs are risk-free for 30 days, so sign up, check your score and cancel right away. To learn more about your credit score and its importance, check out our “Understanding Your Credit Score Article” article we wrote last year.

Next week you will see a more detailed follow-up for 2008 Financial Aid todo’s, however I thought I would take a brief moment to remind you of an important date:

For most of you this means nursing a holiday hangover and finding excuses to push those new years resolutions of to the next day. Hopefully, after the aspirin you’ll remember that the start of the new year is your chance to get your FAFSA done and submitted early. It’s tremendously important to get that form in as soon as possible - in fact, it’s well known that you’ll have a better chance of getting more (sometimes if any) financial aid. Make sure you keep that on the top of your New Year’s resolution list.

I promise this will be a short solicitation. This holiday season, I am sure many of you will be shopping via Amazon.com for some of your gifts. They are a great company with good prices and pretty quick shipping. We here at Mission Tuition would be ever so grateful to have you shop through our partnership with Amazon.com. A portion of your purchases will help us continue to grow this website and become a better guide for students.

Thank you and Happy Holidays!