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If you think your amazing harmonica-playing skills
or your exemplary Girl Scout leadership should be worth some free
money for college, you may be right.
Thousands of private scholarships and grants are available
each year through the largesse of businesses, companies, nonprofit
organizations, clubs, societies and unions across the country.
Winning a scholarship isn't just for the academically
gifted or for members of minority groups, although that doesn't
hurt. You just need to get smart about sniffing out scholarship
money and making it yours.
Tracking down and applying for private scholarships
and grants involves both considerable effort and considerable variability
in results. There isn't a single scholarship clearinghouse that
includes every program in America. Nor do you always win big. While
a scholarship from the Colorado-based Boettcher Foundation can net
a lucky student up to $120,000, you're more likely to get $200 here,
$500 there. Winning a scholarship is a numbers game: The more you
apply for, the better your chances of getting some money in return.
And every little bit adds up. To start your hunt:
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First think local. You'll have
a better chance of winning a local scholarship, available to
a smaller number of applicants, than a state or national award.
Start in your high school counselor's office. |
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Log onto the Web. A number of
Internet search engines provide free access to scholarship listings,
so bypass paid subscription-based FindTuition.com
for the likes of FastWeb.com,
BrokeScholar.com,
CollegeBoard.com's Scholarship
Search, Scholarship
101, CollegeNet's Mach
25 scholarship search, Peterson's
scholarship search and SallieMae's College
Answer. If you're willing to wade through a few Websites
yourself, you might find a gem with a database put out by the
Michigan
State Library, which includes private grants and scholarships
available to students pre-college through postdoctoral. Another
good scholarship search
site breaks up grants by study subject areas. |
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Hit the books. Mammoth tomes such
as Peterson's "Scholarships, Grants and Prizes" book,
the College Board's "Scholarship Handbook," or "The
Scholarship Book" are updated yearly and list thousands
of scholarships with prizes ranging from $100 to $135,000. Your
local library or school guidance center should have a copy. |
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Check with a scholarship management service.
Not every private group administers its own scholarship
program; some contract with private scholarship management services
to do it for them. For instance, the National Merit Scholarship
Corporation uses the Preliminary SAT as a launching point for
a competition that distributes about $50 million in scholarships
annually. Another nonprofit organization, Scholarship America,
helps local groups distribute scholarship money through its
Dollars for Scholars program. Scholarship management organizations
that target minority groups include the American Indian College
Fund, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute, the United Negro
College Fund and the Gates Millennium Scholarship Fund. |
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Get face-to-face help. The scholarships
least likely to be listed in mammoth online databases are the
ones you're most likely to win: local and regional scholarships
that offer smaller dollar amounts but better odds. Work with
your high school or college counselor to get a heads-up on money
you might qualify for. |
Finding a scholarship you can win
Whether need-based, merit-based or association-based -- or an unfortunate
combination of the three -- most scholarships carry enough restrictions
to make for a naturally limited applicant pool. That can be frustrating,
but it can also work in your favor. Just consider what makes you
special and what might make you eligible for a particular scholarship.
What are your career goals? What academic field do you intend to
enter? What unions, social clubs and civic groups, like the Rotary
Club, do you or your parents belong to? Do you have any interesting
hobbies? (You'd be surprised by the number of scholarships available
for ham radio operators.) Where do you and your parents work? If
you haven't come across a scholarship that matches your interests,
do a Google search
-- for instance, of the terms "sculpture" and "scholarship."
Once you've created a list of scholarships to
apply for keep careful track of their due dates, which may fall
throughout the year. Fill out an FAFSA
if you intend to apply for a need-based scholarship.
For tips on writing winning scholarship application
essays or acing interviews, you might want to consult a book like
Gen and Kelly Tanabe's "Get Free Cash for College: Secrets
to Winning Scholarships" or Ben Kaplan's "Scholarship
Scouting Report."
When you do get a scholarship offer, make sure
you know what you're committing to before you send a letter of acceptance.
Occasionally, stringent requirements dictate that you maintain a
certain GPA, take a certain number of credit hours or enroll in
a specific program to keep your scholarship.
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