17 smart ways to shop scholarships -- Page 2

8. Do some cold calling. Is your dad a member of the local Rotary Club? Is mom involved with the town's business association? Research any companies, clubs or organizations. Then call them. (The benefits or human resources department is a good place to start.) Tell them you're heading off to college and ask what, if any, scholarships they offer, says Kathy Kristof, author of "Taming the Tuition Tiger."

9. Call the state. "Each state has a student guaranty agency or student aid commission" and they will know about scholarships, says Oleson.

Going to school out of state? Call that agency, too.

10. Be careful who you trust. If you're heading off to college, your name is on a lot of marketing lists. You may get letters, e-mail or spam dangling big money for college -- for a fee.

And not every site promising information on scholarships is created equal. Some are great resources. Some are rip-offs.

Does the site promise a specific amount of money? Or scholarship leads you can't get anywhere else? Does it ask for a credit card, Social Security number or other personal information? All of those are red flags, says Courtney McSwain, research associate for the Institute for Higher Education Policy.

"Unless you know a company is reputable, you should really be leery about paying or giving information over the Internet," she says.

And the same goes for any solicitations you receive. No one can guarantee you will actually receive any scholarships. And thanks to libraries and Web sites, scholarship information is free and available to everyone.

Your state student aid agency is a good source for determining which sites and services are legitimate and which seem to be problem magnets, says Oleson. In addition, some agency Web sites will post links to reputable scholarship search sites.

11. You don't have to pay for information. The reality is "there's so much free information out there, students don't have to pay," says McSwain.

In fact, many of the consultants will simply run your profile through one of the publicly accessible free Internet sites and give you the same information you could get yourself for free, says Kenneth Redd, director of research and policy analysis for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. "You can cut out the middleman and save," he says.

12. Apply for large and small scholarships. "Don't neglect the small local scholarships, even if only a couple of hundred dollars," says Kaplan. High schools "are great for tracking those down."

Sure, you're thinking it's not worth your time. But "the smaller ones add up over time," says Kaplan. "It's a snowball effect." Plus there tends to be less competition.

13. If you can, start early. It pays if you look at your scholarship search as a long-term project, says Rosen. If you start talking with the guidance counselor in ninth grade and just looking at applications, that will give you a head start a few years later when you're applying.

If you're a parent, look at the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. What kind of information does it require? What preparations can you be making over the next few years? If you have a financial or tax planner, this is a good time to start asking the money questions. "Just as people plan for a house purchase, so can they plan for college," says Rosen.

For students, there are a lot of learning competitions that award scholarship money in middle and high school for projects, essays or inventions. Find the ones in subject areas that appeal to you and you can enter for several years.

14. If you're in college, it's not too late. Once you chose a major, you might be eligible for scholarships, says Kaplan. Ditto if you decide to study abroad. Contact professors, advisors and department heads in that subject department, your school financial aid office and professional organizations in that particular industry.

15. You're never too old to get scholarship money. Not all scholarships are limited by age. And there are scholarships aimed specifically at people returning to school, says Kaplan.

16. Watch the clock. A lot of scholarship money comes with one very important string. To get it, you have to apply by a certain date. Another reason to start early: If you find out about a juicy money source in your junior year but miss the deadline, you'll have another shot at it next year.

17. Recycle. The first two applications could take a long time and "are the hardest ones you'll ever do," Kaplan says Applying gets a lot easier after you've done it a few times. Unfortunately, a lot of students Kaplan talked with applied for just one or two, he says.

After the first few applications, you'll have components, essays, paragraphs, ideas and lists that you can use again, he says. And as you keep rewriting essays and making them better, your chances of winning also increase.

How to turbo-charge your application process: The first couple of times, select applications that will require you to put together a range of things you can use again, says Kaplan. "Develop a suite of reusable material." Then customize hose materials "to fit each scholarship."

And know that you'll get a lot faster and better. "There is a learning curve," he says.

Kaplan remembers one essay he liked and used for two different scholarships. It didn't win. After the third rewrite, though, "it was pretty darned good," he says. And it won.

Dana Dratch is a freelance writer based in Atlanta.