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or the high-school senior, choosing one college out of thousands is a formidable task. More overwhelming is hunting
for scholarships and grants among the hundreds of thousands available each year from private businesses, individuals,
and colleges. Where do you begin? And how can you boost your chances of snaring some of that money? Start your search early. Students often don't give college much thought until their last two years of high school. "But we think you should look at scholarships and grants much earlier than that," says Richard Flaherty, president of College Parents of America, an advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. That's because what you do throughout high school may bear on scholarship and grant eligibility later. The point is not to shape your high-school experiences around a campaign to win money for college. But whatever interests you choose to pursue during high schoolin academics, extracurricular activities, community involvement, or athleticscan make you eligible for certain scholarships and grants. "If you don't find that out until your junior or senior year of high school," Flaherty points out, "you may not qualify because you didn't know" what qualifications and experiences you'd need. "The downside," Flaherty adds, "is that you'll have to monitor the scholarships and grants (you set your sights on) because these come and go." Below we'll look at sources that will help you keep up-to-date. But before you start scouring sources, you need to take another step first. |
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Bet on that "sure-thing" scholarship and you may miss deadlines for legitimate aid applications. |
Know yourself Poring through huge listings of scholarships and grants can be disheartening and a waste of timeunless you do some self-assessment first. That will help you zero in on awards you have the best chances of winning. You even may want to write a personal profile, looking at factors such as:
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Where to search The World Wide Web has a wealth of scholarship/grant information you can obtain free. Key sites include:
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A self-assessment will help you zero in on awards you have the best chances of winning. |
Remember that your credit union has loans to fill the gap that scholarships and grants won't. |
What about search services? By visiting the Internet, your guidance office, and your library, "You'll find more information about scholarships and grants that meet your criteria," Flaherty contends, "than any scholarship search service could find for you." The search services he refers to have proliferated in recent years. As college costs keep soaring, more students and their parents clamor for financial assistanceand feel tempted to pay someone to help them find it. Some scholarship search services are legitimate, some aren't (see "Scholarship Scams" for points on spotting the frauds). Flaherty recommends using a reputable search service only if "you're intimidated by the process," he says, "or you have no research capability whatsoever." Otherwise, you can do the same searching yourself for free. If you do use a service, ask for names of people in your area who've used the service in the past. Talk to those people directly, rather than relying on customer testimonials the service provides. Bear in mind that even if you hire a search service, plenty of the work still will fall on you. Only you know all your qualifications and interests. Only you can fill out the application forms with the pertinent information. "All the service will do is identify programs for you," Flaherty notes. "But you're going to have to do some extensive work up front and to apply for the grant or scholarship." |
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©1999 Credit Union National Association Inc. |