How to Win College Scholarships

A great deal of student aid arrives in the form of Stafford or other educational loans and grants. However, student scholarships have the additional benefit that the student and their families are not required to reimburse the monies given, making them a very attractive option. Knowing your way around the scholarship process is an important step in acquiring a scholarship that is right for you.

• Know what fits. There will be some scholarships out there that are just not right for you. You can better narrow your search and likelihood of success by determining what you are likely eligible for based upon a personal inventory. Ask yourself what career you intend on pursuing, whether or not you wish to participate in a given competition and if that is the case, what your given interests and talents are. You should also give serious consideration to the question of what you plan on majoring in and whether or not you intend on pursuing all means of fiscal aid, or only that of a scholarship. These factors will all play a part in determining your eligibility for any particular scholarship as well as assisting in narrowing down your search.


• Begin early. The sooner you begin your scholarship search, the sooner you can filter out all offers that are not right for you. Beginning early means more options and that means a better chance at a scholarship. You will want to begin your search roughly halfway through your senior year in high school. Speak to your counselor to see if there are any local scholarships available in your town that may prefer to provide aid to local residents. 


• Get organized. Once you have located suitable scholarships, contact them and ask them to send you their application material along with any additional information that may be of help to you. Read the instructions of the application very carefully and follow them to the letter. Make sure that each application set is placed into its own folder and organized as per the scholarship's instructions. Make copies of all materials in case of an accidental loss.


• Send them in early. Many scholarships have an absolute deadline, usually coming due in early fall of senior year. This means that the sooner you send in your application, the sooner you will be considered. Failure to meet the deadline may forfeit your chance at the scholarship.