Student And Scholarships

By: Michael Russell

In this article we're going to discuss what a student can do in order to get a scholarship to help pay for his college expenses.
One of the myths that needs to be done away with is the one where students believe that there is no way they're going to get a scholarship because they don't have good enough grades, their SAT scores aren't high enough or they just don't have the smarts.
There are many ways to get scholarships. The traditional and your main scholarship will be from good grades. There is no getting around that. A student at the top of his or her class with good SAT scores, when accepted to a college will most likely get a full or at least partial scholarship to the school of their choice. Of course a lot of this has to do with the school itself. The more elite schools will have stricter requirements for giving out scholarships. For example, a student applying to a county college may get a full scholarship for being number one or two in the class while that same student when applying to an Ivy League school may only get a partial scholarship or none at all. But again, good grades and SAT scores are only part of the equation.
The next part of the equation is economic need. There are many organizations who provide funds for students to go to school who simply can't afford it. The main organization for this is FAFSA. A student's first step in financing their education should be to file an application for financial aid with FAFSA. You can get an application for this at any college office or fill one out online. After filing, their program will immediately tell you, based on your reported income, how much money you will be expected to pay towards your child's education. For example, if your child is going to a school that is going to cost $30,000 a year and the FAFSA application says you are responsible for $20,000 then that means you should be getting $10,000 in aid from the government after you have submitted the paperwork to them with your school expenses.
Does that mean you're stuck with paying $20,000 for your kid's education? Not at all. Even if the college itself doesn't give your child any money, there are plenty of other places to get funds from.
Go to your local library or do an online search. You will find literally hundreds of private organizations that offer scholarships for students. Each one has different requirements but they all usually fall into one of several criterial.
The first criteria is that some of these organizations offer scholarships based on grades and SAT scores. In these cases, simply submit this information to the organization. They will get back to you and let you know if you're going to get a scholarship.
Some organizations base scholarships on essays. They pick out the students who wrote the best essays and these are the ones who get scholarships. There may be three scholarship awards for these essay contests.
Then there are organizations that offer scholarships based on some affiliation that you have such as if you had a family member who fought in a foreign war. Then there are organizations like the masons, elks, rotary, that offer scholarships if a family member is part of their organization. Most of these organizations are districted and usually give out only one or two scholarships per district.
So, as you can see, there are more ways for your kid to get money for college besides just getting good grades. But they do help.

Article Source: Scholarship Guide

By: Michael Russell

You are a senior in high school and will graduate in a year. If you want to go to college right after graduating from high school and have the need to apply for a scholarship, there are many things for you to prepare soon. Many colleges offer scholarships for their incoming students. This kind of scholarship goes together with the application for admission to that institute. The deadline of the scholarship is usually the same as the one for admission. Be aware of the deadline and get your application packet ready in time. Below are things you usually have to prepare for your application packet. High school study record - This is one of the most important elements in your application packet. The better your high school record is, the more chance of getting the scholarship you will have. Colleges pay attention to your separate grades as well as your average. Class rank is also very important. Most scholarship winners have the rank no lower than the top 20% in the class and full scholarship winners are always in the class top ten. Recommendation letters - Although some colleges don't state this in their criteria, this is essential if you want to get the scholarship. The recommendation letter is usually written by one of your teachers or by your headmaster. There is also the peer recommendation letter which is written by your classmates. However, you have to make sure that your classmate has good writing skills before asking for his help. Standardized test scores - Most colleges just give scholarships to students who have high scores in the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) or ACT (American College Test). These definitions seem to work only in the USA, however, many colleges in different countries nowadays also use these kinds of tests to select incoming students. Honours/Awards - If you have won academic competitions and have awards, don't forget to mention them in your application packet. Although many colleges don't require that, it will make your application more special and thus gain more weight in the selection process. Extra activities and volunteer work - Colleges don't search for book worms only, they want to give scholarships to active students who are not only excel in classes but also have an interesting social life. Therefore don't forget to list all programs or activities you have been involved in and attach some proof of that. Essays - Most colleges require you to write an essay if you want to apply for their scholarships. They usually offer the topics you have to write about. Topics are generally why you have chosen the college, what your personal study goals are or some other specific issues. Through your essay, the college can judge your personality and your writing skills, as well as your ideas and eloquence ability. Therefore, make your ideas clear in the essay and try to find special things to write about. Making your essay attractive and outstanding is essential to your chance of success.

Article Source: Scholarship Guide

By: Michael Russell

In today's world, the costs of tuition are skyrocketing out of the control. To help subsidize this, financial aide is available. Financial aide can be in the form of student loans, self help (part time jobs), parents, scholarships, grants and more. Regarding scholarships and grants, what does this mean for the student? FREE MONEY. Absolutely FREE! It is a gift. And students need to remember that. Student loans are another source of financial aide, but guess what, you need to pay them back after graduation. Yes, they are nice and offer decent interest rates, but think about this: you will be repaying them for years and years after graduation. Repayment is necessary, but it gets old real fast. It's difficult to think past college, but after college, you will move on quickly. New cars and a better place to live become the priority and you'll be limited by your student loan payments. So it's a good idea to keep these as low as possible. While in school, try to get a part-time job. It will keep you more focused. You will be more disciplined trying to balance a part-time job and your studies; you'll be a better person for it. If some of your friends are partying a lot, remember that is not why you are going to college. To sit on your butt and party through college can be very expensive and you will regret it later. Receiving financial aide is a long, drawn out process. You complete tons of paperwork and then you wait, wait, wait. But it is very worthwhile. The day you receive information that you will receive a scholarship or grant, you will be very happy. This will make your day. Remember how you feel on this day. And now, for the secret. Organizations that provide scholarships are people, too. They want to be thanked. Providing scholarships for students is one of the most thankless jobs ever. Organizations may no longer offer scholarships because of thankless past recipients. Please remember how good you felt the day you received notification of your scholarships and grants and take ten minutes to write a simple thank you. The giving organization will greatly appreciate this and you will help preserve their goodwill for future scholarships and grants for others. It goes without saying students should be very thankful to their parents as well for any support they can provide, from an all expense paid free ride to sending a few care packages now and then. Attending college is a privilege, not a right. If you paid 100% of the cost of college by yourself and you didn't put forth your very best effort, you are just letting yourself down (maybe some professors as well). But if your college costs have been subsidized by parents and/or scholarship and grants and you don't do your very best, you will let everyone down. Keep up your GPA. The academic record you attain in college remains with you for the rest of your life. Good luck and good wishes to you in your future endeavors!

Article Source: Scholarship Guide

By: Michael Russell

A scholarship is a form of award given to students to help cover their study expenses and is often based on academic achievements. Most students want to have a scholarship so that they don't have to worry about financial problems and just focus on their study and college lives. To optimize your chance of winning a scholarship, besides preparing your application packet carefully with your portfolios, recommendation letters, essays, etc., you have to take care of some additional issues. Keep an eye on announcements about new scholarships. They come out frequently from various sources: your school, city, country's government or some special organizations. Certain local newspapers often list new scholarships as well. If you don't read those papers, you can ask your parents to notify you when they see any proper scholarship listed there. You can be more active by searching online for scholarships yourself. There are many websites providing this free service. Some good examples are Collegeboard.com and Fastweb.com. However, you should beware of any websites requiring payment for using their services. Personally, I think using well-known free Scholarship websites is enough. Another way to search for scholarships is to check on some large companies' or institutions' websites. Some institutions provide scholarships but do not list them on the search engine. If the information is not enough, you should contact that company or institution for more details. Don't forget the deadlines. Each scholarship has its own application deadline. If you apply for a lot of scholarships, write all the deadlines in some eye-catching place to make sure that you won't forget them. Moreover, you should be aware what kind of deadline it is. Some scholarships state that applications should be received before the deadlines while others just need students to send the applications before these dates and they will check the sending dates on the envelope. In addition, some change their deadlines so remember to check the information on the scholarship's website frequently. Be aware of scholarship scams. Scholarships are aimed to help students finance their study, therefore, a real scholarship will not ask you to pay anything but maybe an application fee. This amount is usually very small and you should check that organization's website or other sources to make sure they are legitimate. The application fee should be waived if you contact the scholarship provider and state your financial difficulties.

Article Source: Scholarship Guide

By: Michael Russell

It’s almost time to go back to school so you know what that means, get out your bankcards and start dishing out lots of money. Maybe there is another way because you can get a scholarship or grant to pay for your education. These funds are implemented at universities and colleges everywhere to help students pay for their education. The greatest part of a scholarship is that it helps you stay debt free while getting a great education.
The scholarship or grant is given to any potential student that falls within certain guidelines that are dictated by a donor. The donor sets up a fund that is to be given to any student that has proven financial need and suits the guidelines. For instance, a single mother who is trying to get a decent job wants to go back to school and update her skills. However, since she is unable to pay for the tuition, like many others, maybe she already has a lot of debt. In all fairness she could be living paycheck to pay check. A donor will grant a sum of money to whomever they see as the best fit, giving them the chance at an education.
Many have given great amount of thought about switching careers, and there are a variety of reasons for this. Possibly you are stuck in a dead end job that you hate waking up for, or you might just need a change. Whatever the case may be, it is possible to go back to school at any age and get the skills required to get the career you are after. In most cases, schooling can become very expensive. For example, you will have to get books, supplies, and pay for transportation. This can be a serious burden on many families. If you find yourself in this type of situation it may be possible for you to receive a scholarship or grant. However, you must be willing to give the school a financial report as well as an essay attached to explain why you think you should receive the scholarship. Don’t be fooled, scholarships and grants are everywhere; if you are willing to work hard and take the time to look for them.
You must be willing to take the time to seek them out. This mostly consists of searching the school’s database of scholarships and grants. There are a couple of other methods that will work, but depending on the country you are going to school in these resources will be different. For instance, there are a variety of websites out there that offer this service to you completely free of charge. They do, however, ask that you sign up for their newsletter.
These types of web sites are excellent at searching large databases of information quickly. Also if you know exactly what you are looking for in the first place this is your best option. If you are looking to pick up a grant or possibly a student loan, but you don’t qualify for any scholarships and grants, don’t get discouraged because there are plenty of other options available to you. Just go and talk to a counselor at the school you plan on attending for help. It's their job to help you through the process. It's also important to stay motivated and not to get worried too much. Hopefully, you have found this information helpful, and are know on your way to getting scholarships and grants.

Article Source: Scholarship Guide