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Financial Aid vs Scholarships?Financial aid?is “need based” for the most part. That means that eligibility for financial aid is primarily based on “income” and a family’s ability to pay for their student’s college education. To qualify for financial aid, a family must complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Financial Aid), the CSS Profile, and any financial aid form that a college may require. These forms have one basic purpose…to determine a family’s ability to pay. Financial aid takes on three forms of assistance which are all based on “unmet need”. The formula is: COLLEGE COST (minus) FAMILY CONTRIBUTION (equals) UNMET NEED. It is the “unmet need” which financial aid attempts to satisfy.?Scholarships?are primarily performance based. Most (not all) do not take a family’s ability to pay for college. Basically scholarships can be earned by having qualifying grades and test scores. You can also earn scholarships through athletics and the fine arts. Scholarships can come from a variety of organizations from the colleges themselves to private organizations, business and any other source that will demonstrate their generosity by helping students pay for their college education. There are no specific forms that need to be filled out to earn a scholarship. The application process is determined by the organization sponsoring the scholarship. It is also the organization that sets the conditions for which to earn a scholarship. To this end, organizations can set any number of conditions needed to earn a scholarship. This may include race, ethnicity, gender, physical characteristics, community service, interested major, an essay, or any other concept or requirement that the organization deems necessary to represent the scholarships purpose.?Understanding ScholarshipsSource:??Every scholarship has a different application deadline. Some can be as early as a year before you graduate high school. You should start your search no later than the beginning of your junior year and start sending out applications during the summer before senior year.?The best approach towards your scholarship search is to consider it like a full-time job. Just imagine if you were to have a part-time job after school. How long do you think it would take you to “SAVE” $500, $1000, $2000 towards your college education? Putting an equal time towards your scholarship search will reap great rewards towards finding the money necessary to help finance your education.?Finding a ScholarshipCreate a list of your qualifications?First, write down all your personal accomplishments, academic achievements, awards, extracurricular activities, and group affiliations. Next, list out your ethnicity, gender, geographical location, talents or passions, military service, your desired major/career, and anything you can think of that defines you and makes you unique in some way.?Each item on your list can be used as a filter on a scholarship search platform. The more categories you fit into, the more opportunities you’ll find.?Use a scholarship search platform?With so many scholarships offered by so many different organizations, a basic internet search would never uncover them all. A dedicated scholarship search platform will give you much better results and save a lot of time.?The best platforms have large, continually updated databases with plenty of academic, demographic, and geographic filters to help you find every opportunity for which you qualify. To find the right search platform for you, try checking out this comprehensive list of the Best Scholarship Search Platforms of 2017.?1.Big Future (College Board)20.Collegedata2.Start Class21.Goodcall3.Fastweb22.Peterson’s4.Scholarshipportal23.Sallie Mae5.24.U.S. DOE Office of Federal Student Aid6.Student Scholarship Search25.7.Scholarship Owl26.Scholarshippoints8.College Toolkit27Scholarship Monkey9.Unigo28Collegenet10.Niche29.Art Deadlines List11.Scholly30. Scholarship Finder12.Broke Scholar31.American Society of Mechanical Engineers Scholarship Finder13.Cappex32.National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering14.Career One Stop33.15.Chegg34.16.35.College-17.36.18.37.19. all potential sources?In addition to internet scholarship searches, think about smaller, local sources to which you already have a personal connection. If any of them offer scholarships, not only are you uniquely qualified through your association with them but they might also have a much smaller candidate pool, which increases your chances of winning.?Some examples of potential scholarship sources are:?Work:?If you currently have a job, your company may offer career scholarships or tuition reimbursement for work-related degrees. If you don’t work, inquire with a parent’s employer.?School networks:?Your local school district may have scholarship opportunities available in a variety of academic categories. If not the schools themselves, then perhaps organizations associated with them. For example, if you’re a member of the school’s AV club, a larger regional AV association may offer scholarships for technical degree seekers. Also, if you’re planning on attending the same college as a parent, check with alumni organizations for any potential funding opportunities.?Community organizations:?Veterans associations, social clubs, recreational sports leagues and more have been known to sponsor scholarships for students in their communities.?Religious groups:?Many churches and independent religious organizations sponsor scholarships for members.?Campus organizations:?Students already attending a college should research any opportunities with various campus organizations such as fraternities, sororities, academic groups, social clubs, and religious societies.?Search constantly?To make sure you don’t miss out on any opportunities, you should plan on searching and sending out multiple waves of applications, not just one batch.This is true even after you’ve started college. There are plenty of scholarships available for current undergraduates as well as graduate students.?Be aware of scams?The most common scholarship scams are ones that charge for information or services that are otherwise freely available. The key to avoiding all of them is to never pay for commercial financial aid services (such as paying a company to fill out your FAFSA for you) or for scholarship searches.?The U.S. Department of Education also warns against any scholarships that charge an application fee. If you come across one in your search, it’s most likely a scammer charging you to apply for an existing scholarship on your behalf.?If you ever have any questions about scholarships in general, or the validity of any opportunity you find, your safest, most reliable sources for scholarship information are:?Your library’s reference sectionYour college financial aid officeYour State Department of EducationUse this government resource to locate your state’s DOE agencies?Applying for a Scholarship?Gather any required paperworkA majority of scholarships involve more than just submitting an application form. Most request that you include additional materials as well. If you fail to submit them as a part of your application, you’ll be disqualified from the competition.?Supporting documentation?The supporting documents required for a scholarship application help prove your eligibility for the award. Not all scholarships require every document, but the most commonly requested ones are:?High school transcript:This is a documented record of your entire high school career. It details your yearly academic performance, final grades, standardized test scores, and any honors or awards you earned. You’ll need a transcript for any scholarship with a GPA requirement.?Standardized test scores:Your test score report details your SAT or ACT results and is usually included as a part of your high school transcript. If not, it can be obtained separately from your high school or the school district’s administration office. Any scholarship with a minimum test score threshold will request a copy of this report.?Financial aid forms:Need-based scholarships request forms proving the student’s financial need. Students can often satisfy this requirement by submitting their FAFSA information via a copy of their Student Aid Report. If not, the sponsor will most likely have their own financial forms that need to be filled out.?Letters of recommendation:This is when someone writes a letter on your behalf recommending you as a person worthy of winning a particular scholarship. It should directly address your qualifications for the specific award instead of just a blanket recommendation. Letters should come from academic or professional sources (teachers, professors, employers, clergy, etc.), not family or friends.?Curriculum Vitae (CV):This is an educational resume. It should list all of your academic accomplishments, study experiences, volunteer work, hobbies, interests, and educational/career goals. A lot of this information is included as a part of a scholarship application, so you’re less likely to need to include a CV than you are other documents, but you should have one prepared just in case.?Essays:Judges often use personal essays to differentiate equally-qualified students and help make their decisions. Scholarship essays typically have a main prompt that asks you to discuss a certain topic or answer a specific question related to the mission of the sponsor organization. They vary in subject, length, and format, so you need to be prepared to write separate essays for each application instead of just one that you can submit multiple times.?Other potential requirements?Supporting documents and essays are the most typical application requirements, but depending on the type of scholarship and level of competition, it could also require one of the following:?Special Projects:?Major/career-specific scholarships are known to ask applicants to submit projects based on their desired area of study. For example, students applying for scholarships in one of the arts could be required to submit relevant short films, songs, paintings, or photography portfolios.?Written exams:?Though they are rare, some prestigious, high-value scholarships with heavy competition require applicants to take a written exam in addition to submitting their existing grades and test scores to help determine the winner.?Interviews: Like written exams, face-to-face interviews with a scholarship review board are rare, but there are awards that utilize them. During the interview, you will be asked basic questions about why you deserve the scholarship and how you plan to use it if you win. Your responses and overall demeanor impact the judge’s decision.?Organize and track your applications?Try to use a scholarship search platform that includes tools for tracking your applications. If the platform you decide on doesn’t have those tools, or if you feel more comfortable using your own system, here are our suggestions for staying organized:?Make a separate file folder (either physical or digital) for each scholarship and sort them by application deadline.?Gather any required documents and keep a separate copy with each file.Create a single document that you can use to track of all your applications in one place. We recommend including the following information:Scholarship nameScholarship sponsorContact informationScholarship website address (if applicable)Application deadlineAward amountSummary of specific criteria (GPA, test scores, volunteer hours, etc.)A list of required documentation (transcripts, essays, etc.)Date you appliedCurrent status (not yet applied, applied – pending, denied, awarded)Total amount awarded (if any)Keep a copy of every completed application and add it to your scholarship file.Throughout the process, constantly update your files to ensure you don’t miss any deadlines, forget to include any required documents, apply for the same scholarship twice, or skip over an opportunity because you thought you already applied for it.?Manage your deadlines?For every scholarship, you need to give yourself plenty of time to gather all of the needed documents and complete any essays or projects. You should start working on those requirements as soon as possible to ensure that you meet all of your deadlines.?This is especially true of recommendation letters. With them, you’re dependent on someone else to complete a key requirement, someone who may not operate on your schedule. You need enough time to request a letter, allow the person to write it, get it back, and submit it with your application.?Double-check and proofread everything?Typos look unprofessional and can easily cost you a scholarship. With so many students competing for the same award, grammar errors in an application or essay are an easy way for judges to disqualify you and narrow the field.?You also don’t want to look over an application after you’ve submitted it and realize you forgot to list an accomplishment, such as an academic award, that could have given you an advantage in the competition.?Have a trusted friend or family member review your work before you submit it, no matter how many times you’ve checked over it yourself.?Congratulations! You have just won a scholarship!?When accepting a scholarship, please remember to be grateful to those who are making your college life – just a little bit easier. Learn the art of “gratefulness” and appreciate the generosity of others. A nice letter, a card and showing up at an awards ceremony will demonstrate to the sponsors that they made the right choice. Remember that your future may too someday put you in a position to help others and pay it forward. ................
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