Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Find Funding for College 8: Scholarship Search Engines

scholarship fundsThis continues our series on how to pay for school with someone else’s money. Today we will describe how to use scholarship search engines. Friday we will provide you a list of scholarship search engines.
Scholarships reward you for what you have done and who you are. Scholarships do require payback. They may require you to maintain certain standards to continue receiving the award. Some scholarships insist you must use the money for certain expenses (tuition, books, computers, housing or other). Other scholarships allow you to use the money to pay for any expense related to being a student (food, transportation, housing, equipment, lab fees, and more).
Scholarship Search Engines Help Identify Scholarships
Scholarship search engines identify billions of dollars of scholarships. They ask you to create an account and complete a profile. Usually each question opens the door to more money:
  • Education info: current status, interested colleges, possible majors
  • Personal info: birthdate, gender, citizenship, ethnic heritage, religion, and sports
  • Student activities: memberships, performing arts, work history, leadership
  • Parents activities: work history, memberships, and more
Search engines provide a list of scholarships matching your answers. Review 10-15 a day from your list. Decide to save, delete, or apply. The list includes:
  • Name of the scholarship with a link to a summary and to the sponsor
  • Amount
  • Deadline
  • Frequency they offer it
  • Type of award: scholarship, essay, grant, contest, survey, promotion
  • An action button to let you determine future action
Tips for Using Search Engines
You need to exercise both wisdom and caution when using a scholarship search engine:
  • Click it if you did it: click basketball if you played on any organized teams
  • Click it and join it: click clubs or activities you have not joined—then join them
  • Always click no thanks: they get very tricky: big banners saying “YES!” and .5pt fonts saying “No Thanks”.  Always click “No thanks” or get spammed
  • Avoid all surveys and most contests: delete all surveys (or promotions) immediately and most contests. You seldom win and always get spammed.
Friday we will provide a list of scholarship search engines

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