In addition to researching scholarships at the College, Federal and State levels you should also research private/outside scholarships. There are many organizations that provide scholarships based on various criteria. These scholarships are very important because any money you receive from a private organization can be applied to your outstanding loan balance to reduce your debt. Unlike institutional scholarships which are tied to a specific university, private scholarships and be applied to any college. Charity begins at home. Your search for these scholarships should include what your high school and local community have to offer. Most high schools keep a database of local and regional scholarships. One of the ways I kept abreast of what my son’s high school offered was through attendance at end of the year award ceremonies. I attended these events beginning in his freshman year. He knew from freshman year what scholarships he should apply to. This had an effect on the types of extracurricular activities he chose to be involved in.
For state and national scholarships, he used scholarship search engines such as Fastweb and Scholarships.com. To be effective in searching for scholarships you should think of it as a part time job which can have huge payoffs. The reason students miss out on scholarship opportunities is that they wait too late or they haven’t positioned themselves early to take advantage of scholarships. If you don’t know early on what a scholarship has to offer, how can you position yourself to obtain it?
Students who wait until senior year to search get frustrated, give up and end up taking out loans. You can obtain scholarships for being involved in extracurricular activities and volunteering, which should begin in your freshman year of high school, not senior year. College acceptance is based on what you have accomplished from freshman year to junior year. Scholarship organizations are looking for the well-rounded student who has extracurricular involvement, leadership and a commitment to giving back. The same criteria also applies to continuing college students. I highly recommend you search for private scholarships to reduce the cost of attendance and reduce your loan balance. Remember, it’s the early bird that gets the worm.
