Scholarships and grants. Grants and scholarships. When you first hear these terms and think about the concept of “free money for college” or “free money” in general, it sounds too good to be true. This is why I’m going to give you a completely straight forward list of information to get you started in finding and applying for scholarships and grants.
So how do you get started?
It took me a little while to figure out where to find all of these elusive grants and scholarships without having to pay some grant program $30/month to even get close, only to find out that they have zero listings for grants in categories that I needed.
Don’t pay for those programs. They stink, and they’re a rip-off. In my opinion.
Instead, go to one of the following web sites that are specifically geared toward students – college students – and finding scholarships and grants for college. These sites are all social networking-type sites that connect students to colleges and scholarships. Kind of like freelance web sites, only without the fees.
So here is a list of some of these web sites to get you started on your path to getting a scholarship or grant money for school. Once you have a membership to some of these web sites, looking for scholarships becomes much easier, and you can apply directly on the web site – no need for even more research for most of these!
- Cappex
Cost: FREE
This web site is geared toward college students – and high school students – who are looking for their school as well as scholarships. The signup process is easy, creating your profile is easy and self-explanatory, and the scholarships made available are easy to apply to as far as the learning curve goes and all of the information is readily available. When you have a little time to explore, Cappex is a good place to start.
- Scholarships
Cost: FREE
This web site is also easy to maneuver, easy to create a profile, and you can search for schools as well as scholarships here. Simply fill out all of your relevant information and get started in finding your scholarships! The database will match up your qualifications, interests, and talents to colleges and scholarships that fir your needs.
The more of these scholarships you apply to, the more likely you are to find the best scholarships for you, and then the more likely you are to be able to apply to many of them and then get part or all of your education paid for. If you need more scholarship and school options, head over to Scholarships.com and see what they have to offer you.
- Zinch
Cost: FREE
This web site, I’ve found, is glitchy in the latest version of Firefox, but works really well in Google Chrome. That being said, it probably works well in Internet Explorer, too, so just make sure you know where you are and bookmark it if you’re applying for a scholarship. With browsers now, you can have a bookmarks bar and categorize all of your bookmarks like folders.
This is the method I’m using, too, and it helps me keep all of my web sites organized for work, school, scholarships, writing, and everything else. Once you sign up for Zinch, it’s easy to fill out your profile, browse scholarships, and apply for funding. The process is pretty self-explanatory, so it’s easy to get your profile finished and start the application process.
This web site states that students are more than a test score, and offers scholarship opportunities for students even if their GPA isn’t perfect or super high.
- College Prowler
Cost: FREE
This web site has information on schools as well as scholarships, and they offer a lot of different scholarships to apply for that often are pretty high amounts. College Prowler is a site created by students for students, so the information is relevant, useful, and effectively communicated.
This profile is also relatively easy to fill out, and college scholarships and schools are not hard to find. There are scholarships for pretty much all walks of life, backgrounds, and the information offered is easy to find and organized well.
- Scholarship Experts
Cost: FREE
Another site for easy access and applications to scholarships and schools, Scholarship Experts has a collection of schools and scholarships that are matched to your profile, too. The interface here is a simple and easy-to-maneuver one, with user-friendly features and an organized array of opportunities.
When you fill out your profile, you get scholarship and college suggestions based on your information, and it’s easy to apply.
Some General Notes
For all of these sites, there are a few important things to keep in mind:
When exploring scholarship sites and trying to keep track of your applications, it’s important to keep a record of your applications as well as the various web sites you use for the process. Keep your bookmarks in a folder and keep your application essays or projects in a folder on your computer.
Save your work… if you’re writing an essay or anything of the sort for the scholarship you’re applying for, save it as a Word document first so that you have a copy. This will ensure that, if your college wants to see it, you have a copy to show. I would suggest dating it and making sure you mention where you put in the application as well.
If you have any specific colleges that you’d like more information on, make sure you mention that in the appropriate wields of your profile. If you’re strictly looking at top online colleges, make sure you mention that. I have 3 kids and live about 40 minutes to an hour away from everything… I don’t want to physically have to go to school and lose that much time during travel both ways. I’m definitely not a commuter!
If you are matched with scholarships, apply! They all have deadlines, and they all usually require some sort of work to consider you, such as an essay or other project, maybe even an interview. There is fierce competition for scholarships and grants – don’t feel too horrible if you maybe don’t get the first several you apply for. Just keep applying! More money is always good, right?
Now that you know where to start looking, I wish you the absolute best of luck in finding the scholarships and grants right for you! Happy applying – happy writing – and enjoy your bright future!
