Guest Post: Finding College Scholarships

When you’re planning to attend college, you’re going to find that the prices are going to be rather high. You shouldn’t let this scare you away because not only are you investing into the future for yourself, there are always ways to bring down that price tag.

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Wallace Photography on Flickr.

With grants, scholarships, financial aid and so much more, you’re going to find that if you put in some efforts, there’s a good chance that you can go to college for next to nothing. I wanted to show you some tips that I have used to find a scholarship for myself when I was going to college a few years back.

Tips to find college scholarships:

Treat it like a part time job – You’re going to have to understand that your scholarships aren’t going to fall into your lap. Instead, you’re going to realize that you’re going to have to set aside at least 20 hours a week to find your scholarship. I’m going to tell you this right now: if you don’t have the drive, or the motivation to do so, you won’t succeed.

Know your resources – There are a few resources that I recommend that you should look into. For starters, I would recommend the Ultimate Scholarship Book by Gen Tanabe. The book shows you how to access over a billion dollars in scholarships and grants. This is a fantastic read. I would also recommend that you look into sites such as FastWeb.com and more.Look locally – Ask your local churches, Kiwanis Clubs, or even talk with the local newspaper to see if there are any scholarship opportunities available. You will be surprised at how many opportunities there may be in your backyard. While it may not be thousands of dollars, you will find that even a few hundred can take you a long way.

Apply for what you qualify for – There are going to be a lot of scholarships that you’re not even going to qualify for. Be sure to only look at the ones that you’re going to be able to potentially receive. Not only are you going to waste your time, you could be wasting those that read your application. Stick to the scholarships that work the best for you.

Ask your college – If you know where you’re going to go to college, call up the admissions office and set up an appointment to meet with a counselor. You can also ask them for resources on ways to get scholarships that are tied to their school. They will most likely be able to give you a packet that can help you out.

You’re going to find that you’re going to have to have motivation to do this. As long as you have the drive to find a scholarship, I can promise you that you can find one. With that being said, you’re going to find that there are billions of dollars out there, so why not take advantage!?

This post was provided by Liz Cutten. You can find more of her work at FindCollegeCards.com, a site focusing on everything from financing to ways to save money in college.