How To Apply for a College Scholarship

The price of college increases annually even in times of an economic recession. Most public and private universities have a plethora of expenses which is why the student is responsible for so much money with college tuition. It is my goal in this article to help you understand the different types of scholarships you can apply for and when and how you can apply for them.

If you are one of those students (or parents, if you are reading this), your child is one of those students, who knows where they want to go to college, for what major, and know what they want for a career choice, this type A student is already well ahead of the curve. They most likely have excelled in high school and even taken college level classes while attending their junior and senior year. You have most likely also seen a college counselor to seek advice and basically have an idea of what you are doing.

Unfortunately a good 75% of pre-college high school seniors really have no idea how to go about searching for scholarships and I am here to tell you how. I base my writing by looking back on mistakes I have made and hope to influence those not to make the same. I applied for college, literally, the last day my application was due. I went to a great university, however, I am paying for my education dearly. I have been told by many, you learn from your mistakes, but I have really opened myself up to other peoples’ ideas since making so many mistakes in the past. I hope to have those of you who read this avoid my pitfalls.

Finding scholarships can be a time consuming process, and scholarships can vary in their sources so be prepared to do large amounts of research.

Merit based scholarship awarded to those who have excelled academically. Merit based awards are the most difficult to obtain especially if you have not been the greatest high school student. Certain requirements for a merit based scholarship will most likely be maintaining a certain grade point average, majoring and excelling in a particular field of study, or showing academic superiority throughout high school and college.

Awarded to those who have excelled at athletics. These types of scholarships can be school specific as well so you shouldn’t be discouraged from applying just because you don’t think you are good enough for Duke or USC. GO FOR IT! The sky is the limit! Smaller schools such as Div I-AA and Div II may lend a much better offer your way because YOU are valuable to THEIR school whereas everybody wants to attend one of the elite Div I-A or Ivy league schools. If you are an athlete, apply to schools that value your abilities and performance.

The NCAA partially funds athletic scholarships for undergraduate student-athletes at Division I and Division II through membership distribution. Although this is the case, the scholarships are provided by the college or university and not the NCAA. To clarify, Division III schools only offer academic scholarships and do not honor athletic achievements.

Awarded to those in a specific field of study by the department of study. It is recommended that you know you major field of study and to inquire with your institution of choice about these scholarships. They are competitive and usually not abundant.

These awards are handed out by private organizations, corporations, or even departments in a related field of study toward your career choice. In this case, the difference between a career-specific and departmental scholarship is that enterprising business are involved. Multibillion dollar corporations such as Microsoft and Google hand out millions in scholarship money each year. They have strict guidelines to follow as they are highly reputable companies, but if you know that you want to work in the Information Technology or Computer Programming field, they may have something for you. Again, this is an example of one of the thousands of career-specific scholarships.

If you belong to a private organization such as a particular church group or have contacts within the chamber of commerce or unions, they are just a few of many private groups that, not only maintain large monetary funds, but also award scholarship money each year.

These are my particular favorite. As noted in my article, this type of scholarship has a very broad range. There are literally scholarships for anything and everything, and with some research you can find them. Are you a skilled duck caller? There is a scholarship for that. Is your last name Van Valkenburg? There is a scholarship for that as well! Have you been a proponent of vegetarianism? The Vegetarian Resource Group awards up to $10,000 for being a public vegetarianism advocate. The John Gatlin Institute provides a full scholarship to NC State University if you share the last name. Pretty crazy huh?? It really is amazing all of the different types of scholarships that are available.

The point is that there are an abundance of scholarships available to you. It takes work and research to find the most money for your education. If you are willing to put in the time it takes, and it will take time, finding a college scholarship or multiple scholarships can set you up in life. Wouldn't it be great to graduate without debt?? I sure wish I didn't have to pay my college loans! I hope by reading this, you now have a good starting point of where to go.