The Scholarship Book Your Guide To Easy Scholarships

The Scholarship Book: Your Guide to Easy Scholarships
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Your Guide to Easy Scholarships: Getting Them Makes Your Life Easier!
Copyright 2010 Easy Scholarships 101
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Written By: Thomas H. Anderson Edited By: Mrs. Terra Kern, "aka" MissTerraK, from The Fun Secrets of Stress Relief Date Published: December 14th, 2010 Edition: Version 1.0 Link to Guide: Scholarship Book Link to Home Site: Easy Scholarships Link to YouTube Channel: easyscholarships101's Channel About Site: Easy Scholarships 101 is a site where you can find all sorts of information about scholarships, grants, and other forms of financial aid that are available for current and future college students! It is a gateway that connects visitors to various scholarship resource sites where they can create accounts and find financial aid programs that may be a suitable for them; based off of their personal profiles, where they live, and the information that they input.
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Disclaimer:
This report is an educational document about how to receive financial aid funding for college. All pictures included are for illustration purposes only, and they all link to the original sites that contained them. Any scholarships that you win from following the suggestions in this document will depend on your efforts and the decisions of any potential judges. This information is true to the best of the author's knowledge and his ability to relate it. While the author has endeavored to present the content accurately and honestly, the author disclaims any responsibility or liability for errors, omissions, or the accuracy or reliability of the information presented. By using the information herein you assume all risks associated with the use thereof. The author shall not in any event be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, special, incidental, or consequential damages, including and without limitation, lost revenues or lost profits arising out of or in any way connected with the use of
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this material. The information contained in this document, "Your Guide to Easy Scholarships", is provided "as is". Easy Scholarships 101 makes no warranties, expressed or implied, and hereby disclaims and negates all other warranties, including without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property or other violation of rights. Also, Easy Scholarships does not warrant or make any representations concerning the accuracy, likely results, or reliability of the use of the materials on its Internet web site, in this guide, or otherwise relating to such materials or on any sites linked to this site.
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Furthermore, you are not allowed to: modify or copy the materials contained in this guide without proper permission use the materials for any commercial purpose (no selling); this guide is absolutely *free* remove any copyright or other proprietary notations from the materials. Easy Scholarships has not reviewed all of the sites linked to its Internet web site and is not responsible for the contents of any such linked site. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Easy Scholarships of the site. Use of any such linked web site is at the user's own risk.
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The Table of Contents:
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The Table of Contents:
The Introduction:...................................................................9 The Various Scholarship Search Providers:.....................................12 What Exactly Are Scholarships?:................................................15 What Exactly Are Grants?:......................................................17 Scholarships Vs Grants: What Are Their Similarities and Differences?:. . . .20 The Other Forms of Financial Aid:..............................................24 Student Loans:..................................................................25 Work-Study: ...................................................................28 Fellowships ......................................................................30 Bursaries.........................................................................31 College Tax Credits.............................................................32 What Are The Different Types of Scholarships?:.............................34 Scholarships By Category (or Type):.............................................37 Scholarships By Degree Type, Major, or Career-Field:.......................40 Scholarships by Race (Minority Scholarships):..................................43 Local Scholarships And Where To Get Them:...................................46 Scholarships, Financial Aid, and The Tax Implications:........................49 Myths and Fallacies About Scholarships:........................................51 Scholarships Scams & Fraudulent Activities To Watch Out For:..............69 General Scholarship Tips That Will Help You Succeed:........................80 Tips For Successfully Filling Out The FAFSA Form:...........................88 Scholarship Applications and Strategies plus Tips For Success:.............100 Scholarship Cover Letters and The Importance of Them:....................112 Scholarship Resumes and The Resources to Properly Create Them:.........115 Scholarship Letters of Recommendations and Their Importance:............118 Scholarship Essays and Tips to Write Them:..................................121 Scholarship Interviews & How To Prepare For Them:........................134 Scholarship Books and Guides You Should Buy:................................137 The Conclusion For This Guide:.................................................142
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The Introduction:
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Hello, and thanks to you for desiring to read my guide about how to get grants and scholarships for college and thus downloading it! I have written this guide primarily because I have seen an increasing concern in the need for financial aid money to ease the burden of rising education costs; especially with the current economic depression, massive layoffs and job losses, inflationary prices, and all of the other major problems that are going on not only domestically here in America, but around the world as well... This informative guide will answer many, if not most, of the questions and concerns you have with getting a grant and/or scholarship for college, as I know how frustrating it is to be in debt, especially when you are going to school to get a degree in a career-field that is supposed to get you out of debt; and not back in to it, LOL! After you have properly digested the information that is contained in this guide, you will certainly have a much better chance at actually receiving scholarship and/or grant money to help you out with rising education costs, so take notes whenever it is necessary and feel free to ask me questions at the Contact Us form on my site. Last but not Least, I would greatly appreciate it if you guys
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and gals could share my Scholarship Guide (and website) by doing the following things for me: Post it on Twitter. Post it on Facebook. Post it on MySpace. Send it to your Friends & Family Members (through email, etc...). Post it on Forums (Message Boards) and Chat Rooms that You Are a Member of. Post it on website's that you actually *own* and operate yourself. Bookmark it (Digg, Delicious, Reddit, etc...) Etc (Etcetera)...
Now that our introduction is complete, let's proceed to the Myths and Fallacies about Scholarships:
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The Various Scholarship Search Providers:
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In this section, I will give you a list of all of the reputable scholarship-search providers that are out there on the Internet. Using the tools that these providers have created for students will make your online search for financial aid a lot easier, and many times, they will often give you the direct-link to certain scholarship listings so that you can directly sign-up for them! However, you will have to take a few minutes to create your own profile, so be sure to use real information and don't input any fraudulent details such as a false name, false address, and so on if you want to get any accurate results. With that said, here are the primary scholarship providers on the Internet: FastWeb Scholarships.com FindTuition.com Scholarship Experts Broke Scholar FinAid College Toolkit U.S. Department of Education Careers and Colleges College Scholarships College Board Peterson's Award Database
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Next Student College Data Sallie Mae ScholarshipsAndGrants.US For a review of many of the services listed above, visit these links right here: A Complete and Honest Review of Many Scholarship Search Services Educational Grants, Scholarships and Awards Directory 25 Excellent College Scholarship Search Engines
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What Exactly Are Scholarships?:
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In this section, I will explain to you the proper definition of the phrase, "scholarship", and I will explain what a scholarship is: A scholarship is financial aid that is awarded to you to help out with furthering your education. Typically, college scholarships are given away based on selective criteria based on values, hobbies, academic merit, characteristics, personality types, grades, and so on that are determined by the donor or scholarship sponsor. Essentially, you can look at scholarships as being a form of "free money" that's given away to help students go to college without paying more for it! Also, scholarships do not have to be repaid (they are gifts), as they are totally free. You may be able to receive them from churches, community groups, public organizations, private organizations, schools of all kinds, and even the job that you work for (possibly). Furthermore, most scholarships will only pay off some or all of your college tuition fees, while some will also pay off your dormitory costs (room and board), and also your textbook fees as well. Last but not least, scholarships are normally given out based on merit instead of financial need, unlike grants and bursaries.
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What Exactly Are Grants?:
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In this section right here, I will teach you what a grant is, and this will help you see the minor (or major) difference between a grant and a scholarship: A grant for education is a monetary gift from the government that is used by a student for educational purposes. In America, a grant can be put in either one of these categories; a grant to a school or higher education institute and a grant to an individual (you). Grants are funded from tax revenues, and just like scholarships, they will not have to be paid back as long as you use the money for the right reasons (school). Furthermore, as long as you're at least 18 years old, you are automatically able to apply for and receive free grant money from the U.S. government! Even naturalized and foreign national students (with certain VISA documents) can get grants for college! Also, just like scholarships, you will not have to worry about such things as: credit checks collateral (security deposits) co-signers bankruptcy
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low income repayment Last but not least, grants are awarded based on financial need, athletic skill, academic merit, and "abilities" that you may have. Even though this guide is not about grants "per se", I decided to give you a few resources that you could use to find them for your own education needs. Besides, scholarships and grants are almost "interchangeable", so I figured, "why not give these people resources specifically for grants", LOL! Nevertheless, here are the resources you can use: Grants | Financial Aid | Scholarships.com Federal Pell Grant Program Careers And Colleges .com - Find Scholarships, College Grants, Colleges, and Loans Grants & Contracts - ED.gov School Grants and Financial Aid for College Students FinAid | Other Types of Aid | Grants College Grants For Felons | Grants for Felons Education Grant Resources Free College Grants to Pay for Your Higher Education School Grants, College Scholarships, Financial Aid and More Free Grants for College Students ~ GoCollege.com The College Grants Database: Free Student Grants for School
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Scholarships Vs Grants: What Are Their Similarities and Differences?:
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In this section of my guide, I will discuss the similarities and differences between college scholarships and grants, so that you can understand the small variations between the two. I hope that this section doesn't sound "redundant" to you, as it's basically a comparison of the "What Are Scholarships" and "What Are Grants" portions of my guide... Nevertheless, here are the similarities and differences between the two terms:
The Similarities:
Neither one of these demand that you pay the money you receive back to the lenders. Both of these have certain requirements, even though they will vary at times. Most scholarship programs require that you keep a certain GPA level, while grant programs require that you meet certain financial, physical, and other requirements before you can receive any funding. You can receive both forms of financial aid from public and private industries. You are only able to receive a maximum amount of money from the grants and scholarships you receive. You have to fill out applications for both items before you receive any financial aid.
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Because these two words are interchangeable, it's hard to tell them apart, and because of this, even I get confused sometimes on the differences between the two. Also, organizations often offer scholarships on need and merit which makes it very hard to find a distinction between the two phrases.
The Differences:
Scholarships are probably harder to obtain than grants, as grants require less strenuous qualifications. Applying for scholarships requires that you stay at a certain GPA level (or higher). A grant is usually tax-exempt money granted from a nonprofit organization, different corporations, and foundations. Grants often require the student's to send in proposals to the donors, which is a description of why you're in need of the money and what project(s) you plan to use the money for (be honest). Grants are frequently given out because of imbalances between taxation and spending requirements, which means they will give away grant money to re-create a balance between the two. While scholarships are generally for college, grants can be for entrepreneurs, small businesses, real estate developers,
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and a number of other fields. Grants aren't always given to people who plan on attending college, as stated above. With grants, once you qualify, you may not have to fulfill any extra requirements, unlike most scholarship opportunities. Grants are available for almost anybody, while scholarships are usually limited to a specific applicant "pool". Scholarships usually are based on academic qualifications, or "merit-based", while grants are more based on financial need, or "needs-based". You may lose a grant if your financial situation at home changes, and you can lose out on scholarship money if you fail to continue to meet certain specifications outlined for you. Scholarships are often sponsored from organizations that aren't non-profit, unlike grants.
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The Other Forms of Financial Aid:
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In this section of the guide, I will write about the other forms of aid besides grants and scholarships: loans, bursaries, work-study programs, and fellowships:
Student Loans:
Student loans, unlike both scholarships and grants, are borrowed funds that require payback on the money leaned out to you, and if I can humbly recommend so, I recommend that you avoid these things like the plague, unless you really want to go to college, LOL! Nevertheless, what's the point of paying back money when you can attain enough scholarships and grants to not have to worry about college tuition fees at all? I suggest that you think about that question for awhile... Furthermore, loans often require "co-signers" which are people (like a parent, spouse, or friend) who will make a legal promise to pay off your loan if you can't do so your self! Simply put, if somebody co-signs for you, your loan will become their problem if you can't make payments, so always pay on-time whenever it's time for payment. Loans can generally come from anybody or anyplace, but the main source of them is from the federal government (Federal Perkins
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Loan), banks and credit unions, parents, friends, employers, and etcetera. Getting a student loan is like asking your best friend for money and them requesting that you pay them back, possibly with interest if you take too long, LOL! Besides, being in debt "up to your eyeballs" is no fun... Nevertheless, there are two primary kinds of loans, and they are as follows: Government Loans - These are loans that the government doles out to students attending college. The loan will generally be "capped" by the college that you end up going to, and it can include enough aid money to pay off your tuition fees, housing and board, and possibly your college textbooks as well. The governmental agencies will decide which kind of loan that you will be offered, and they go by doing this in several ways. Furthermore, you may be offered a Subsidized Stafford Loan, which is when the federal government will pay off the interest of the loan while you pay off the loan itself. With Subsidized Stafford Loans, your interest will not accrue until you either (1) graduate, (2) drop college half-way through, or (3) leave the school. Last but not least, it's better to get a government loan than a private loan, as these loans are designed to benefit you, the
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student, and they offer the best rates, policies, and terms of condition. Private Loans - A lot of students don't qualify for loans from the government, and this is often for the following reasons: (1) they aren't U.S. citizens, (2) they've failed to register for "selective service", (3) they've enrolled in a school that is "unapproved" for governmental funding. Nevertheless, a private loan is a loan from a bank, credit union, online lender, or a financial institution that requires you to establish a sufficient amount of credit, or you may be required to co-sign with somebody (like a parent, etc.) who does have credit in good standing. Also, unlike government loans, you'll usually be charged a higher interest rate with less negotiable terms. At last, here are a few resources you can checkout to receive student loans for school: A Big-A** List Of Student Loan Resources Student Loan Lenders : Federal and Private College Loans Student Loan Resources - Chase Student Loans Federal Stafford Loans Student Loans for College FinAid | Student Loans Student Loan Borrower Assistance Private Student Loan Lender List
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Sallie Mae - Education Loans For All Types of Students StudentLoans.gov However, remember what I said: If you can, AVOID these things like the plague, as they will put you through financial and emotional HELL!
Work-Study:
A federal work-study program is one that gives both undergraduate and graduate students with the highest amounts of financial need employment opportunities. Typically, with a federal work study program, you will not be required to have any extensive work experience. Students will receive their work study award (Notice of Award from the financial aid office) by working part-time at a college for usually up to 20+/week (40 hours week maximum) in the Fall as well as the Spring semesters. Also, if you want to go this route, you will have to be enrolled in school at least half-time or full-time (depending on the college). Furthermore, a lot of work-study programs will encourage you to participate in community service or career fields that are related to what you're studying in college.
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Moreover, you can be expected to be paid the minimum wages for your state, and your earnings will be limited to the amount of money that's on your FWS award letter. Work-study programs are an excellent way for you to get some job experience while you earn money to pay off your tuition fees and textbooks. Also, since you're employed, you can use the money for whatever else you want besides college tuition! However, as expected, you must have a FAFSA filed to qualify for work-study assistance. Also, you may be given a more flexible schedule during midterms and finals because of the work-study programs, which means that you'll have more time to study for your tests! Last but not least, you'll be paid every 2 weeks (bi-weekly) with a regular check, similar to what you would expect at a job outside of a college, but since this is regular employment, you will have to file your earnings with the IRS. Here are a few work-study resources that you can checkout: Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program Student Aid on the Web Federal Work Study - Financial Aid What Is College Work-Study?
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The Federal Work Study Program for College College Employment with Work-Study
Fellowships
Fellowships are available to students as a way to give funding to a specific research or study program. Basically, a fellowship is like a petition to teach a lecture at the college, teach a course, or anything similar to that. Even though fellowships are "gift aids" and don't have to be paid back, they can only be used by you to reach a particular academic goal (like funding a research project). You should only apply for fellowships if you're sure of the career path that you're studying for, as that's what they are mainly used for. Because of this, they are best for undergraduate and graduate students who've chosen a certain field of study. Although it was somewhat difficult to find information on fellowship resources, this is what I was able to complile for you, my friend: Free-4U - Fellowships Types of Graduate Fellowships Article Graduate Student Fellowships Council of Graduate Schools - Fellowships and Financial Aid
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Fellowship Resources on the Web Graduate Fellowships - MSU Fellowships and Scholarships - List of Postgraduate Awards
Bursaries
Bursaries are basically grants (don't have to pay them back) that are given by the federal government to students who have either performed excellently in academia or have demonstrated great acts of citizenship in their communities. This is a needs-based grant that is based on how much financial need a student has, so you will need to provide a financial disclosure form and prove that you actually have financial need. Also, these things are mainly for students who are impoverished (poor) or lacking financial means. However, as with anything, if you discontinue a course or college semester, you may have to pay back a certain percentage of your bursary money. Furthermore, a great way to determine if you are eligible for a bursary is to know if you are eligible to receive a loan (which has to be paid back, though). Last but not least, bursaries are typically only available in
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Britain/England/The United Kingdom or whatever you want to call the place (LOL), and Canada and Australia as well, but not here in America!
College Tax Credits

You can receive eligible tax credits which is when the IRS allows students and parents who file and owe taxes to claim 1 of 2 educational credits. The good thing about tax credits is that they will reduce your overall taxes paid pound-for-pound, dollar-fordollar. Nevertheless, the credit you may receive can only be used to cover college tuition expenses, college textbooks, and other fees. When it comes to college textbooks, the tax credits can only be used if your books where paid by the college on condition of your enrollment. Also, the college tax credits don't factor any grants or scholarships that you receive, and your room/boarding fees and other "negligible" fees will be counted. Check with your tax advisor to get more information on tax credits for school! Here are the tax credits that you can apply for: The Hope Tax Credit - Offers a maximum credit of
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$2,500/year (from $1,800) for each family. The Lifetime Learning Tax Credit - Offers a maximum of $2,000/year for each family. If you want more information about tax credits for higher education, visit these resources: IRS.Gov - Tax Benefits for Education American Opportunity Credit: Questions and Answers Tax Information for Students Tuition and Fees Tax Deduction TurboTax - Bigger, Better College Tax Credit Claim This New College Tax Credit - CBS MoneyWatch.com Tax Benefits The College Tax Breaks Explained Obama to Congress: Make College Tax Credit Permanent
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What Are The Different Types of Scholarships?:
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Even though there are literally thousands of scholarships and grants that you can win, there are only 4 main scholarship categories that you need to worry about as you complete your search for financial aid. Because there are a host of reasons why somebody would even want a scholarship, there must theoretically be several kinds of scholarship awards that they can win, right? Here are the different types of scholarships: Need-based: These financial aid awards are awarded to you based on the ability of you and/or your family to "foot the bill" for college (expected family contribution or EFC), or in other words, how easily it could be to pay off your college tuition fees. Also, need-based grants are awarded primarily by our federal government, but they can be awarded to you by colleges and private scholarship sponsors as well. Because of the competition, need-based scholarships are harder to get than merit-based ones, but nevertheless, you are still able to receive these rewards if you put in the time and due diligence. Last but not least, if you want to sign-up for this type of aid, you'll most likely have to fill out the FAFSA form. Merit-based: Merit-based awards are rewarded by states or schools and are based off of your individual, academic, athletic, artistic, and/or other extracurricular achievements that you have. Typically, a school will give merit scholarships to students with
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strong GPAs, both in high school and/or college, high SAT and/or ACT scores, leadership skills, community service, and other qualities that are deemed suitable by the sponsor(s). Also, meritbased scholarships may be renewed over and over again if you can continue to meet the academic requirements set by your sponsor. Student-based: Student-based scholarships are the ones that depend on your race or ethnicity, nationality, gender, family history, religion, certain talents, medical history, or anything else that would be deemed "specific". As far as this category of scholarships is concerned, you will see that the awards for minorities (African Americans and Hispanics) are the most awarded forms of aid for this category. Career-specific: Obviously, career-specific grants are rewarded to students who are in pursuit of a specific career field such as Criminal Justice, Business Administration, Nursing, Biology, Mathematics, and so on. Education and nursing scholarship awards are the most frequent financial aid being given out to students today! In fact, if you're planning on going into nursing, you could very well receive a full-ride scholarship to college, thanks to the ever-increasing demand for this field!
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Scholarships By Category (or Type):
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In this section of the guide, I will discuss with you the different categories of scholarships that you can win. Scholarship awards are available for every characteristic, talent, ability, or trait that a person can think of, and in fact, they even have scholarships for left-handed people as well as people who are shorter than 5 feet (60 inches tall)! Here are some samples of all the scholarship types that are out there: Atheistic Scholarships Dancing Scholarships Bible Scholarships Diabetic Scholarships Cancer Scholarships Disability Scholarships Full Tuition Scholarships "Going Green" Scholarships Local Scholarships Military Scholarships Religious Scholarships Gender-Based Scholarships (Men and Women) Weird Scholarships (Left-Handed, Overweight, Tall or Short Height, etc...)
It doesn't matter if you're an athlete, single parent, an artist, dancer, atheist or agnostic, "gay" or "straight", or anything else,
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as you can receive aid for all of those category types! There has to be at least one or a few scholarships online that you can sign-up for if you have certain traits, talents, and characteristics that fit (or appeal) to you. Furthermore, since categorical scholarships are usually not needsor-merit-based, that will make it easier for you to receive free aid money! Here are some resources that I've compiled for you that list scholarships by category: Scholarships by Type | Scholarships Information | College Scholarships Scholarship Types ~ GoCollege.com College Scholarships by Student Type | U.S. Scholarship Guide Search Student Scholarships - List of Scholarships by Category Scholarship Search by Category - Scholarship Search - America's Career InfoNet
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Scholarships By Degree Type, Major, or Career-Field:
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In this section of the guide, you will read about the various scholarships that you can get in whatever degree program(s) you want to major in. Just so you know, your major in college will potentially determine how your life will be during your tenure in school, but more importantly, it will also determine how your life will be after you walk across the graduation stage (hopefully). Also, while you're in school, your perspective may change for the better and you can meet people who will later on become your friends and associates. Also, depending on what you major in, you may be able to apply for a lot of financial aid options that are available in your chosen career field. Below are some of the most popular majors available for students like you: Education Scholarships Nursing Scholarships Engineering Scholarships Computer Science Scholarships Accounting Scholarships Business Scholarships Criminal Justice Scholarships Culinary Scholarships Law Scholarships
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Music Scholarships ...and so on... And continuing with that note, here are some resources that you can use to find scholarships in certain career fields: Scholarships by Major | Scholarships Information Scholarships by Major - Scholarships4Students Student Scholarships Listed by College Major and Field of Study Search US Scholarships by Major, Degree Programs Majors Scholarships | Free-4U More Major Scholarships | Free-4U Degree Types and How to Find the Appropriate Scholarships
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Scholarships by Race (Minority Scholarships):
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In this portion of the guide, I will let you know where you can go to find information about scholarships for minorities. Typically, a "minority" is somebody who is of African-American ("black") descent, Hispanic ("latino"), Native American ("indian"), Asian, and any other nationality/ethnicity that would not be deemed "white" or "Caucasian". Just so you know, there are many millions-and-millions of financial aid that is accumulated every year just for minority students, which is why there's no excuse for anybody, minority or "majority", to not be able to go back to college with the tuition paid for! Nevertheless, here are a few resources you can visit to learn how (and where) to apply for race-specific financial aid awards: Minority Scholarships | Scholarships Information 100 Free Minority Scholarships 200 Free Scholarships for Minorities from Black Excel Minority Scholarships | Free-4U Minorities: College, Graduate Scholarships, Financial Aid Grants Minority Scholarship Opportunities for Various Disadvantaged Students The White Man's Guide to Getting a Minority Scholarship Minority Scholarships: Medical School, Nursing, Public Health FinAid | Other Types of Aid | Minority Students 55 Scholarships for Minority Students
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Scholarships, Internships, Fellowships, Financial Aid - Minority, African-Americans, Latinos, Hispanics, Asians Scholarships & Financial Aid for Minority Students Scholarships4School - Minority Scholarships
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Local Scholarships And Where To Get Them:
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In this section of the guide, I will discuss ways that you can apply for local scholarships! For those who don't know, a "local" scholarship is simply an award that's available for certain (specific) communities, cities, states, counties, churches, geographic areas, and anything that would fit that category! Local scholarships aren't available for everybody nor are they available everywhere, which is why they're "local" in the first place, get it (rhetorical question, LOL)?! Scholarship providers often want to see prospective students in their local regions succeed, and because of this, they frequently create local scholarship programs for students to enter in. Luckily for you, there usually isn't much competition, unless you live in a large metropolitan area or something, which means that your odds of winning the local grant will be much higher than if the scholarship was a national one that everybody could sign up for. Because of this, even though you may win more financial aid money with a national scholarship, a local scholarship may be the more attractive and easy way to finance your college education. Therefore, I have provided a few resources you can use to find local scholarships - by state, region, community, etc... Scholarships by State | Scholarships Information | College Scholarships | Financial Aid
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Local Scholarships - Scholarships.com Find Local and National Scholarships & Financial Aid in these Major Cities Scholarships by State for Students Scholarships by Major City - FastWeb.com Local Scholarships | Student Scholarship Search Local Scholarships | College Board How to Find Local Scholarships | eHow.com Zinch.com | I am more than a test score - After you register, click on the "Local" tab at the top and put in your zip code to find local scholarships within 50 miles of your area.
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Scholarships, Financial Aid, and The Tax Implications:
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Even though I'm not sure if "taxes" crossed your mind, LOL, there are a few things that you should know! I talked about "education tax credits" in the section titled, "The Other Forms of Financial Aid", which has information that directly correlates with this section of the guide. Since I'm certainly not an established tax-accountant and I actually HATED accounting, I'm not going to do too much explaining in this section! Instead, I recommend that you go to these resources to learn what you must do in regards to the IRS and your potential scholarship awards: FinAid | Scholarships | Taxability of Scholarships Is Your Scholarship Taxable? - Fastweb Do I have to pay tax on academic scholarships for college tuition and books? Differences Between the Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Credit Planning for Taxes and Scholarships - ScholarshipExperts.com Taxes on College Scholarship Money | Financial Aid Finder Scholarship Impacts On Taxes And Other Financial Aid How to Calculate Taxes on Scholarships and Grants | eHow.com
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Myths and Fallacies About Scholarships:
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There are so many myths and fallacies about scholarships that a lot of prospective student's avoid even applying for them in the first place! Unfortunately, this is a sad ending to a potentially beautiful "story", so to speak, because if the student had the proper facts, information, and understanding about scholarships and college grants, they would not give up so easily in their search. Furthermore, if people had the right knowledge about the different forms of financial aid, they would find that winning money for college is not as hard as they may have initially thought. Nevertheless, I have compiled the following myths so that you can "avoid the hype" of the misinformation that's available out here on the Internet: 1. "People with high grades and academic achievements are the only ones who can receive scholarship and grant money"! This is the biggest myth of them all, as most people who receive any type of financial aid money are not usually "straight-A students" or Valedictorians, but the so-called "average Joe" (according to academia) who's grades are above "average", so to speak (pun not intended). Typically, grants and scholarships are given out to people with different talents, backgrounds, ethnicities, interests, religions, and so on, and you can even
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receive scholarships if you are left-handed, dyslexic, or anything else that you can imagine! By the way, a lot of the best grant opportunities are for student's who are into the performing arts (music, drama, dance), painting (or drawing), writing, science, serving the community (community service), nursing, or other fields in which people choose to go to college. Also, you'll find that such opportunities often do not even look at your grades as criteria for whether or not they'll accept you; and that's good for people who may not have earned the best grades in school! Also, there are some granting programs available that do not even care about your GPAs (grade point averages), while others will care if you have a GPA over 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, or at least a 4.0 GPA! As a final note, not all scholarship opportunities require that you submit an essay or resume, either! However, with programs that *do* factor in your GPA scores, they will want to see your other achievements and background information as a measure of who they will (and will not) give financial aid money to. As a last note, there are *literally* scholarships for just about anything that you can imagine; no lie! 2. "You'll have to show them a huge list of all the extracurricular
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activities you've been in"!

Fortunately for us all, attaining scholarship grant money from suppliers is not really so much about "quantity", but more about quality! Such providers want the most *qualified* student's as recipients of their funding, and not the most "quantified" ones. A common fallacy, especially amongst those still in high school, is that you have to spend your entire time doing community service and other extracurricular activities just to look "good" on your application! Even though this is sometimes true, that doesn't mean that it will "always" be true... If you really want to distinguish yourself from the "herd", show the scholarship organization how focused you were about a certain thing or activity, instead of showing them that you're a "jack of all trades, master of none" when it comes to listing a ton of activities that you were involved in; most of which you would not care about if it didn't "look good" on your application. Attaining scholarships is more about showing the organization who you are as a person and what you're all about through the primary activities that you really love to participate in! 3. "All Scholarships Contests Are Fair To The Applicants"! I wish this was always true, but more often than not, it's not! Most contests have their own biases of just who-it-is that they
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want to enter (and win) into their contests, and this may mean that you are not the person that they are looking for. Such contests are primarily looking for people who exhibit certain qualities, accomplishments, standards, and so on, so if you don't meet those standards, I suggest that you keep on looking until you find the scholarship that is just the right fit for you as a person! Nevertheless, a good thing about contests is that the playing field is very narrow, as they grant-giver will value certain things higher than others, which may be to the benefit of you! For instance, what you submit as an application to one contest may instantly disqualify you in another, so check to make sure you don't always submit the same information at every contest, and always try to meet the qualifications if you can; this is known as the "ideal" applicant, just so you know... 4. "There's No Difference Between Applying For College & Applying For Grants and Scholarships"! When applying for college, you don't usually have to worry about whether you can get in, as it's less competitive than applying for scholarship money! You are usually able to get into a college if you are able to meet whatever standards that they set forth; but don't forget about being able to meet the monetary "standards" either, as you will have to pay the college fees before you can get officially be enrolled in the college, anyways!
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However, with scholarships, you are actually competing with other students to see if you outrank, or out-qualify, them! Because of this variation between colleges and winning scholarships, you have to be a lot more creative to stand out from the "crowd" (other applicants) to gain any sort of substantial advantage over your competition. This is where crafting a great scholarship application would come in handy, as it would show your reader's that you're not the "typical" applicant and your personality (who you are) becomes a lot more "realer" than everybody else's "cookie cutter" applications! Also, a great scholarship application can make for a good application for a particular college, but this is not always true when it's the other way around; good college application makes a good scholarship application... 5. "You Must Make Perfect Grades To Get Any Free Financial Aid Money"! In conjunction with what I said for #1, having "straight A's" does in no way guarantee that you will receive a grant! Yeah, it certainly does help, but scholarship sponsors prefer student's who are wellrounded and unique, instead of people who are great at making perfect scores but are lackluster at pretty much everything else that they've done!
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Also, the overwhelming majority of federal aid, state aid, and pell grants are awarded not because of the grades you have, but because of the financial need that you have! Also, to keep on receiving those forms of financial aid, all you have to do is maintain an average GPA (like 2.0+) to qualify every year, and that's definitely not a hard thing to do! 6. "There are Billions of $$$'s That Go Unused as Scholarship Money Every Year"! Yeah, there is a lot of truth to this statement, but it's not completely true! If you didn't know, the money that has went unused for the previous year will often be "earmarked" for prospective student's who meet certain qualifications (specified by the sponsor). Also, this unused money may be doled out (given away) for people who have a certain last name, first name, short or tall, ethnicity, religion, or any other trait that an organization likes. Also, the reason why scholarships aren't often awarded is because of deadlines not always being met, unfortunate timing, or certain eligibility standards that keep a lot of people from entering. Overall, if there's "billions" of unclaimed scholarships out there, you would have to factor out the employee benefits, as they supposedly account for around 80-85% of all the "unused" (unclaimed) scholarship money that is sitting out there in "cyber space" somewhere!
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7. "If I Made B's, C's, or D's in School, I will not win any Scholarship Money"! In conjunction with Myths #1 & #5, people who make less-thanperfect grades are still able to receive grant money for school. If you can show that you've participated in various extracurricular activities and done enough community service, you are a very good prospect for potentially earning yourself a scholarship! 8. "You Cannot Receive Grant Money Unless You Have Financial Needs or Are On The Low-Income Bracket"! People from the lower-class and middle-classes receive scholarships all the time! In fact, the overwhelming majority of scholarship and grant recipients are people that are NOT "rich", or as they say in the 21st century, "come from a lot of money"! They are no different than you or I, but the only thing they did was to (1) apply for a particular scholarship, (2) meet the qualifications if there were any, and (3) win the scholarship! In this case, it's as easy as "1, 2, 3", LOL! Also, even though a lot of middle-class families will not qualify for certain federal and/or state grants, they can still qualify for federal student loans and other non-needs based scholarships (and grants) that are out there!
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9. "Having High SAT Scores & Grades Are The Only Things You'll Ever Need to Worry About"! Yes, having great grades and nice SAT scores are very important, but as I've already said, they aren't the only factors that determine if you are able to get a scholarship! Once again, sponsors of grants want students who are very well-rounded when it comes to grades, community service, extracurricular activities, and so on... Moreover, if you can showoff your participation in a scholarship essay or student resume, it can help you win a scholarship as well! 10. "There's Too Much Competition, So I Can't Possibly Get a Scholarship"! There are literally thousands of scholarships out there, and many of them have little, if no, competition whatsoever! I'm pretty sure that you can find at least a couple of programs that match the things that you do well, as well as your particular qualifications, so all you have to do is go out there and research and look! You'll surely find something out there; that is, once again, if you look in the first place! Also, have you forgotten that many churches, jobs (employers), charities, YMCA's, private-owned organizations, and other places give away financial aid money to people just like yourself? If you
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never knew that small, but important, fact, I'd suggest that you start venturing out TODAY to see what opportunities you can find out there! You may have to write an essay or participate in a speaking engagement, but that's a lot better than totally paying off your college tuition "out of pocket" (all on your own), isn't it (rhetorical question)?!?!?! 11. "Since I've Made Great Grades, Scholarships Will Come To Me Instead of the Other Way Around"! Yeah, you may make good grades, but VERY few students are given completely full-ride scholarships to go to college! Most of the time, people who make the best of grades will have to depend on various financial incentives to pay off school, such as loans, grants, scholarships, federal pell grants, state programs, and so on. The more financial incentives you have going for you, the better off you'll be, so don't go "hoping and wishing" that you'll get a scholarship for yourself! Instead, go out there and "make your own luck", if you know what I mean... 12. "When I Apply For Loans, It Will Make It Harder To Receive a Grant or Scholarship"!
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A lot of parents come up with this fallacy because they think that schools will put a damper (reduction) on the amount of scholarship money that their child(ren) are awarded! However, each school has a different policy on the matter, and a lot of schools will actually not even factor in you receiving a loan when giving out scholarship money to students. Also, even though you don't need to file a FAFSA application to apply for scholarships, not having one completed will make it harder for you to receive the eligible scholarship programs that require one, and it will also make it much harder to receive any federal student financial aid, too! 13. "You'll Only Receive A Scholarship If You Play Sports"! Yeah, being a star athlete always helps, but most people haven't developed the brawn required to even be a star athlete! Besides, society should focus more on giving people who can use their brains more scholarship money instead of people who can only use their bodies ("brawn"), but that's another topic all in itself, LOL! Anyways, most people who receive athletic scholarships do NOT receive the "full-ride" that is often talked about by parent's and athletes alike! Instead, they will get some of their tuition paid for, but the rest of the tuition will still have to be paid for... Also, if you want to know the truth, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has stated that about only 2% of America's
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teen athletes even receive scholarship money to pay for college, LOL! If that's not good news, I don't know what is, my friend! Besides, if you are persistent, research what opportunities are out there, fill out a lot of scholarship application forms, and send those items before the deadlines, you could receive enough scholarship money to totally (or almost) payoff your college tuition, too! 14. "Wait Until Your Senior Year of High School To Begin Your Scholarship Search"! You can wait until your senior year of high school all you want, but by then, your competition will be way ahead of you! However, if you choose to start searching at the beginning of your senior year, do so as soon as possible, as a lot of scholarship opportunities end in January, so the quicker you begin, the better your chances will be for attaining a scholarship! Actually, you need to start your search when you're a Junior (11th Grade) instead of waiting until the 12th Grade (Senior Year). 15. "Only People Who Write Pulitzer Prize-Winning Essays Are Awarded Scholarships" Actually, this is definitely not always true, even though there's definitely nothing wrong with writing an "award-winning" essay,
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LOL! Much of the time, it's not so much "how" you write as it is "what" it is that you're writing about! If the essay has certain requirements and instructions, it'd be more important to actually follow those instructions (to the T', so to speak) than it would be to write like a professional. 16. "Only High Schoolers Can Win Scholarships" A lot of scholarship money is given to people who are undergraduate students, older students, people out of college, people in college, and so on, so you should be able to spot this fallacy from a mile away! 17. "Most Scholarship Money That Is Awarded Is For Insignificant Amounts"! So, are you telling me that you consider $200, $500, $1,000+ to be "small"? If so, you don't need to be applying for scholarships, let alone going to college (in my humble opinion)! Nevertheless, if you can win like 5-10 scholarships that are around $1,000+ EACH, that would be $5,000-$10,000 worth of scholarship money that you will not have to pay, yourself, for college! If the thought of that doesn't feel too good, I'm not sure what does! Besides, every dollar that is freely given out to you would be
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worth more dollars that you would have saved if you graduated and had to pay back the money with interest (loans) for ALL of your educational expenses; you can trust me on that! You may not be able to pay off every penny of your tuition with scholarships, but even if you could save a couple of thousand bucks every year, it would add up BIG TIME over the long haul! 18. "Finding Scholarships Too Too Much Time, And You'll Be Ineligible For Most Scholarships, Anyways"! This is another fallacy, as you can setup different profiles (try Scholarships.com) with certain scholarship sites that will match you with different scholarship opportunities within 20 minutes of you giving them enough information! After this, you'll receive a list of all the scholarships that you may be eligible for, and all you have to do is contact each scholarship provider and do whatever it is that they tell you to do! If you're not going to follow the rules, what's the point of even wanting scholarship money in the first place?! 19. "The Scholarship Application Process Is Something I Only Have to Do Once"! This is definitely not true, because you will most often need to look for scholarship money to take care of the next semester (and/or year) of college! Often, the money can run out or it will
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not be enough to cover all of your financial aid for the current (or next) semester, which is why you should never give up in your search until you are able to cover all of your financial aid expenses (whenever possible)... Also, you have to submit your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) application every year to qualify for another round of loans, grants, scholarships, and the other aid that is out there! As a reminder, you should begin your search before January 1st of each year to see what's out there for you! 20. "Receiving Scholarships ALWAYS Pay For ALL Of My College Tuition Fees"! Yeah, if you receive enough money, this may be true, but as with all of the other myths, most of the time this will not be the case! Even athletic scholarships only pay a portion of the athlete's tuition, if you did not know! Also, there are some scholarships that renew each year, but you have to fulfill certain GPA requirements, and other things too, for the money to be extolled out to you all over again each year! 21. "People Who Attend Community College Can't Receive Grants And Scholarships"!
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Just about every secondary education/community college school offers their own financial aid benefit packages, so this is another fallacy that is repeated a little too much! Nevertheless, once you compile a list of schools that you'd like to attend, consult with all of them, especially the community colleges, to see what financial aid benefits they offer. 22. "People Who Have GEDs Can't Receive Scholarships"! People who are either (1) pursuing a GED (Graduate Equivalency Degree or General Education Development) or (2) have already completed a GED are able to find scholarships and grants, and many of the ones they find are specifically tailored just for people who have received their GED's! 23. "I Can Only Receive One Scholarship At A Time"! By now, you should know this is a lie, but if not, here's the proper understanding: The more scholarships that you apply for, the higher your chances of winning multiple offers will be! A lot of future and current students have the misconception that you're only "allowed" to win one scholarship (and that's it), LOL! If that were the case, most people would certainly not be doing any graduating any time soon, that's for sure! Besides, like I stated above, most scholarship and grant money is only sufficient for a short amount of time, and then you will need
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to earn more scholarship money to finance the rest of your degree. By the way, there's (1) no law saying you can only apply and/or win a certain number of scholarships, (2) there's no limit to the amount of scholarships you can get, (3) applying for scholarships is a "numbers game" in that the more applications you submit, the higher probability than you will win more than one of them! Last but not least, even though I encourage you to submit as many applications as you'd like, I'd recommend that you only apply to the ones that you are a great candidate for, and for those that you are a match for, be sure to submit a very compelling application to increase the odds of you winning! 24. "Only Young People Can Apply For Scholarships"! This is a big lie, as more than 50% of the people who go to college are over 25 years old, and many of them wouldn't be able to afford college if they didn't win some at least some scholarship money to take the burden of financial aid off their shoulders (at least somewhat)! Also, because of the current economic recession (or depression) that we are in, a lot of students are changing jobs and/or their professions to finish their undergraduate and/or graduate degrees, and most of them are using some sort of financial aid
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money to pay for all of the expenses! Moreover, programs like the Jeannette Rankin Foundation are offering scholarship and grant opportunities to women who are 35 years and older! There are other scholarship programs for people (men and women) who are much older than that, too! 25. "You'll Get More Scholarship Money When You Pay Somebody To Look For You"! LOL, thinking like this is probably the main reason why there are so many scholarship scams out on the internet! I have a section in my guide talking just about the "scams" and "fraud" involved in this industry, but always be aware of any site, company, or program that asks for a fee, credit card, or anything else that you deem "untrustworthy", as you certainly do not want to be a victim of identity theft (or anything similar)! Besides, everything you can ever want to know can be found for FREE, on the Internet, but hopefully this guide that was created just for you will answer the majority (if not all) of your questions!
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Scholarships Scams & Fraudulent Activities To Watch Out For:
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Before you read the following information, you can go to the following sites to check the legitimacy of a scholarship offer before you sign-up for it! Also, if you have been scammed out of your money before and you want to report a scholarship scam, or fraudulent activity, please go to the following sites: The Better Business Bureau The National Fraud Information Center FinAid: How To Report Scams Office of the Inspector General
Nowadays, there are a lot of parents and students who have been scammed by a lot of the so-called scholarship "opportunities" that are available here on the Internet! Because they did not know about the warning signs of fraudulent scholarships, they ended up either (1) losing a lot of money, (2) the victims of identity theft, or (3) paying for information that should have been free in the first place. According to some sources, people who have been manipulated by such fraudulent activities "give" away about $100,000,000+ ($100 Million) to fraudulent organizations every year, which is a lot of money if you ask me! After they have been scammed, their money is usually given to imitators of legit government agencies,
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scholarship sites, lenders, and so on. Often, especially in my own experiences, scammers will use names that look-and-sound "official", but if you look really hard, there will be *something* WRONG with the name! Also, be very leery of any "scholarship e-mails" that you get, because some of them are from scammers sending e-mails that look honest and legit, but are in turn, created to abuse your trust and manipulate you into giving away your hard-earned money... With that said, here are a few things you should look out for when it comes to spotting a scam (fraud) "a mile away", so to speak: 1. Whenever "scholarships" ask for money up front (before you receive anything), run away as quickly as possible! True scholarship providers are almost always free, so if you have to pay for knowledge, I can almost guarantee you that you're involved in a scam! Most scams like this will ask for a money order, credit card, bank accounts, and so on, but if you were to submit this information, you will barely get any information that is worth looking at! People who submit their information to such schemes think that they will only lose time with the particular service(s), when they will also lose money, too! 2. If the "opportunity" asks for an application fee, it's more than
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likely practicing fraudulent activity! Normally, such scams require you to pay $5 and more for the application fee, and there are thousands of misguided individuals who are unfortunately a victim of such scams! Very rarely will these services give out scholarships and grants, even though they just made like $100,000+ on "application fees"; that is, if they give out financial aid money in the first place! 3. In conjunction with #2, there are scams that will ask if you want an extremely low-interest loan for your education, and then they will tell you that you have to pay a "fee" before you receive the loan. What usually happens after you pay these guys is that you will NOT receive any loan, but they certainly will receive the money that you sent to them! If you didn't know, legit lenders never require any up-front fees whenever you submit an application to them, and also, legit lenders usually issue money from a reputable bank or honest lender! If they don't do either one of the prior things, I recommend that you should avoid them like the plague, and whenever possible, show your bank manager the "loan" offer to see what he/she has to say about it! 4. If you see a scam that tells you that you've "automatically" won a grant or scholarship worth hundreds and/or thousands of dollars, but then tells you that you have to pay a "fee" or "taxes" (real scholarships are tax-free) before you've received what you
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won, stay away from it! LOL, from the last time I checked, whenever you *win* something, it's almost always free, which means that you will not have to take out your wallet or purse for anything whatsoever; unless it is to receive money! Also, common sense would tell you that you usually can't win something if you didn't sign-up for it in the first place, so if that's the case with you and these "prizes", I'd recommend that you be extremely suspicious! Also, another variation of the prize-scam is that the sponsor will send you a check for the scholarship, but then they will require that you send back a check to pay off "the taxes" owed or some other fee that they like to charge to get money dishonestly out of people. Furthermore, they will send you a check that offers more than the amount of the scholarship, and then they will require that you pay back the difference! For instance, they may send you a check for $5,938, even though the prize is $5,538, which means that they want you to payback a $400 difference... 5. This is another common sign of fraud, as some scholarship "matching" sites will "guarantee" that you will win free money and then they will promise you that they'll refund the money back to you. More often than not, they'll take all of your money and then go "poof" like Casper, but if they do send you a listing of
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scholarships that match your profile, they will make it "impossible" to get a refund back from them! 6. If you hear a sales pitch from insurance companies, brokerage firms, and any other related field, most of the time, they will offer a "free" financial aid seminar that is created for you to invest in their insurance, annuity, debt, and investment products! If they imply that buying their products is a prerequisite to getting financial aid, this violates both state and federal regulation laws, and you will then know to avoid these guys too! Also, be leery of letters in the mail about "free seminars", as most of them are designed to get money out of you somehow or someway! However, there are some free seminars that are legit, but always use your discernment (intuition) if you want to attend them... Nevertheless, here is some good information about "seminars" and other reported scams out here: Scholarship Services - Are they all Scams? - BBB News Center Scholarship scams 23 Warning Signs of Scholarship Scams How To Avoid Scholarship Scams Signs of a Scholarship Scam 7. The Federal Trade Commission urges students to look for these
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signs, all of which may pertain to fraudulent activities: "The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back." "You can't get this information anywhere else." "I just need your credit card or bank account number to hold this scholarship." "We'll do all the work." "The scholarship will cost some money." "You've been selected by a 'national foundation' to receive a scholarship" or "You're a finalist" in a contest you never entered. Whenever the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) says something, you can bet your money that it's "law" (official), so take note of what they are warning to us! Also, even though I've basically explained the 6 FTC tips throughout this guide, you can go to these sites if you want an additional explanation of the tips above: Can You Spot a Scholarship Scam? FreSch! Be Wary of Scholarship Scams FinAid | Scholarships | How to Report Scams FinAid | Scholarships | Protecting Yourself from Scholarship Scams FinAid | Scholarships | How to Investigate Suspicious Offers 8. As far as telemarketing and phone calls are concerned,
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sometimes, a "caller" that claims to be a representative of the U.S. Department of Education will call your household to "offer" to replace your or your child's student loan with a "grant" worth about $8,000. However, the sneaky thing about this is that the "caller" needs your bank account number to charge a fraudulent processing fee! However, if you didn't know, The D.O.E doesn't provide any plans to replace your loans with grants, and they also do not charge any processing fees to obtain Title 4 (IV) grants... I recommend that you never give out any contact information unless you have already had consistent contact with the company or service, or only if you are absolutely sure that whomever you're dealing with is honest, reputable, and offers a legit service. 9. As far as financial aid "consultants" are concerned, most of them are not to be trusted! If they do not actively work at a high school or a college, it's best to either (1) not work with them or (2) do extensive research about them and their organization before you invest in them; that is, if you invest in them in the first place! The financial aid officer who usually works at the financial aid office of your college is the best person to contact when it comes to college tuition! It is their job and focus to make sure that you can pay for college in the best manner that is possible for you, and
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they also know a lot about the state funding that is available for student's! Also, officers will have your best interests at heart since they will not personally profit on whatever information you request and/or sign-up for; you can't say that for most of the outside financial aid consultants and institutions! Outside service representatives will charge a fee for you, which is something that you don't have to pay as everything you could ever want is available for free here on the Internet! However, the ones that are legit may make your scholarship search a lot easier, and they may also be able to cut down on the time it takes to find them... 10. If you can't find any contact information or a way to contact the organization, I recommend that you should not perform any business with them! Any legitimate organization will have contact information, especially upon your request, and they will have a valid e-mail address, phone number, and a real mailing address that is NOT a "PO Box" (Post Office Box)! If you can't find any of these, it's best to avoid them! 11. If you contact an organization and they never give you a "straight" answer, definitely avoid them! If all you're doing is asking them simple questions and they don't want to give you a real answer, this is definitely a tell-tale sign that they won't be legit and honest with you if you were go deal with them.
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12. This always made me laugh, personally, but if they go overboard with words like "national", "education", "federal", "pell grants", and so on, and then try to display a seal or "copyright" that looks legit, they may be a fraudulent organization! Now, I'm not saying that this is always true, but be very vigilant and aware of such things in your scholarship search... 13. Most so-called "success stories" are nothing but paid testimonials used to entice readers into investing in such services! Actually, this is a "broad" tip, as this not only applies to the college niche, but pretty much every niche and topic that is out there, LOL! Often times, if you will scroll all the way down to the bottom and read the "disclaimer", it will actually tell you that every testimonial was/is a "paid" one, and you may not get the same results! If everything worked as it should, there would be no need to "pay" people to "fake" testimonials, as they would want to give a real testimonial for free! 14. If you see "misspellings" of certain words like "scolorship" or "grrant" (notice the mis-spellings, LOL), that should let you know that the people running the service are most likely scammers and spammers out to get a quick buck! How can you trust an organization that cannot even correctly spell the same thing that they are offering to you (scholarships), LOL (rhetorical question)!?!?!?!?
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15. As far as fake websites and "sounding official" are concerned, please know that "FAFSA.com" is NOT the real "FAFSA.Gov" site, as the ".com" FAFSA (scam) charges you money after you enter in your personal information, while the ".gov" FAFSA (the real one) offers everything for FREE! Always, always, always check to see that the sites you are visiting are all legit and reputable, as they may very well "look legit" until you do your due diligence and find out that something is wrong!
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General Scholarship Tips That Will Help You Succeed:
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Hello, in this section, I will give you a few tips that you should follow if you want to increase your chances of receiving a scholarship and/or grant for college! Unfortunately, because many prospective students fail to know and understand these tips, it makes it much harder for them to succeed at winning any substantial amount of financial aid money. With that said, let's begin: 1. If you want to increase your chances of attaining a college scholarship, please start your scholarship search as early as possible! If you're still in high school, don't wait until you become a Senior in the 12th grade! However, if you're out of school, start before January 1st or start as soon as the scholarship contest opens so that you give yourself a better chance to succeed; versus preparing late and being somewhat "sloppy" before the scholarship's deadline approaches. 2. If you're required to send in many resumes and write a ton of essays, be sure to have many people proofread it (besides yourself) for mistakes! It's alright to have one person go over your work, but if you have multiple people checking your material for errors, you're more likely to catch them all before you submit an application. Resumes and essays with errors will make you look like an "unworthy" candidate to scholarship campaigns that require them, so thoroughly proofread for spelling and grammar mistakes before you mail them to the sponsor...
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3. If you want to be successful at winning scholarships, don't only look to the Internet as the sole provider of your financial aid! Scholarships available online are available to almost everybody, and because of this, you will have a much harder time winning them because of the competition that you may face. Instead, look for scholarships that are around you locally or regionally, and also look for grants that are available from possibly your employer, your church, your local recreation center, and so on. Scholarships that are not on the Internet give you a much better chance of receiving them... 4. Please do not overlook (ignore) any scholarship that is (1) locally-based or (2) considered "cheap": $100, $200, $400, $500, and so on! If you win enough $100-$500 scholarships, you may be able to possibly pay off your college tuition for several semesters, so never turn away free money! I don't know about you, but I will not turn down even a nickel ($0.05/5 cents) on the ground, so that should let you know how I feel about free financial aid money! 5. Please do not rely on your parent's to do all of your work for you, as going to college is something that you, and not your parents, will have to do. 6. Don't apply for only a few scholarships and then expect to win! Instead, apply for every scholarship that you feel you are a possible candidate for, which will be a lot if you thoroughly do
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your research! I recommend that you keep signing up for various scholarship opportunities so that you will win enough money to totally exceed what you have to pay for a semester's tuition. If everything goes as perfect as you want it to, you will have enough money to completely pay off your college tuition, and I know that's what you want! 7. As far as jobs go, some employers offer scholarship programs for you and/or your children, which is a nice incentive as certain companies! You can talk to the human resources department at your company to see if they are offering anything like this... 8. Another tip that I have for you is that you should visit your local library, as a librarian can lead you in the right direction when it comes to financial aid money for school. Also, if you go to the library, as them if they have books about financial aid, grants, scholarships, college, and so on, because I can guarantee you that these books will have at least a few scholarships that you can win! 9. As far as local scholarships go, one tip that I would recommend for you is to search scholarships by state and/or possibly by county! For instance, I live in Texas, so I would type in "texas scholarships", and I live in Dallas, Texas, so I would also type in "Dallas Scholarships" to narrow down the search even further! If you or your child (if you're a parent) is still in high school, you could have the high school counseling office search for scholarship contests that are available locally, which may be
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exactly what you need... 10. Be sure to stay on top (keep track) of the deadline's for the scholarships that you apply to, as you want to have everything turned in and submitted before it's too late! 11. Be sure to go to the financial aid office of whatever college(s) you want to attend to see what types of financial aid offers they have, and if possible, ask them if they have a catalog that you can use. Colleges offer all kinds of scholarships that are often not published nationally, which means that your competition will only be limited to the student's at the college(s) you want to attend! That can be a good or bad thing though, depending on how many student's go to your school and also depending on how many of them actually sign-up for the scholarships and grants... 12. A common fallacy about scholarships is that people think most college money comes from them (scholarships), when the majority of school money comes from the federal and state governments, institutions both private and public, employers, grants, bursaries, loans, and tuition discounts! 13. If you're going to school to earn a degree in a particular fieldof-study (like Criminal Justice), check to see if your college offers awards specifically for students in that field! Since not everybody goes to school for a degree in criminal justice, you have a much greater chance at actually winning a free financial aid
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award in this career field! Also, if you're not yet in college, you can check online to see if there are scholarships available in your own field of study, and I can guarantee you that there always are scholarships for whatever you want to study! 14. Use a scholarship database or search engine, as these will help match you up with scholarship programs that match you and the profile that you create on these sites! However, some of these scholarship search providers will offer you "promotional" scholarships that may be advertisements to make them money, so always be aware of who you give your information to, and "what" you are giving your information to as well... 15. Don't assume that if you don't have perfect grades and aren't that athletic, you won't get any financial aid! If you didn't know, you can get awards based on your interests, talents, personality, hobbies, ethnicity, background, and so on, and you can also get scholarships if you're tall and if you're short. In fact, there are $1,000+ scholarships for men and women who are left-handed; no lie! 16. Even though there's a separate section in this guide about essays, understand that because most people hate to write essays (including you, LOL), you will have less competition and few applicants to compete with! Thanks to this, your chances of qualifying will be much higher! Also, make a physical copy of everything that you submit, from the essays, to the resumes, and
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other application materials as well! If you didn't know, some contests allow for you to change your application, which is why it's always important to keep copies of them on hand for when you want to revise something! Also, it's good to keep copies of your material just-in-case things get misplaced on the way to the sponsor. 17. It's best to only apply for grants and scholarships that would make an "ideal candidate" out of you! It'd make no sense to apply for a scholarship that's geared towards Biology students if you have no interest in majoring in Biology (or anything related)! If you do apply, you will have a very low chance of winning, and that's a waste of your time (in my humble opinion)! Also, if you were to win, you would have to use the money in the way the Biology program specifies, which sucks if you aren't a Biology student... 18. Even though you should apply for a lot of scholarships, don't apply for them at one time! If anything, organize them by their deadline dates and then sign-up for them in that order, being sure to meet any requirements that they ask of you (essays, resumes, etc...). Managing your time in the right manner will help you submit a better application, as you will be able to focus better and not take the scatter-brain approach to applying for scholarships and college! 19. Treat applying for scholarships the same way you would if you were laid off from your job and you had to go search for another
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one just to keep food on the table! The more time you spend on your job, the more money you will earn, and the same philosophy should be applied when searching for grants and scholarships... 20. Another recommended tip to get free scholarship money is to let your friend's, family, and everybody else know that you're hunting for money for school! Who knows, if you're a young student, your parent's employer may have scholarships you could apply for, or somebody at your local community center (churches, recreation centers, bars, hangouts, stores, etc...) may know somebody else who knows a lot about scholarships! Money can come from the strangest places and sources, so never be afraid to let people know that you're trying to attain money for school... 21. Whenever rejection happens, and it WILL happen, don't let if affect you negatively, whatsoever! Besides, since you're applying for many scholarships, you're bound to get accepted by at least a few sponsors! Also, checkout this Scholarship Podcast (click the link) that features a woman who won 15 (out of 60) scholarships and paid off her tuition fees of $130,000 for her 4-year college stay! If that's not a success story, I don't know what is...
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Tips For Successfully Filling Out The FAFSA Form:
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In this section of the guide, I will explain the things that you need to know for filing the FAFSA form, and you will receive a few tips so that you may be able to further increase your eligibility for financial aid. You see, at the beginning of every year, or January 1st, the government re-issues the newest version of the FAFSA so that you can keep on applying for financial aid for the next (or upcoming) year of school. The re-lease of the FAFSA every year is almost the same as the FAFSA from last year except that it may (or may not) have a few changes added onto it. Also, the way you fill out the FAFSA will determine your EFC, which stands for the "expected family contribution"! Your EFC is basically an estimate of how much potential money you and/or your family will be expected to pay every year for college tuition. Actually, the EFC is so critical that most colleges will use it to determine how much financial need you have, which also determines how much you will pay every year for college. Please note, however, that this calculation is different from college to college. Furthermore, the FAFSA is not only used for eligibility of financial aid, but it's also used for non-federal student aid funding. However, there's often limited funding for non-federal aid, which means that you should turn in your FAFSA early before the funds are delayed.
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(P.S: The term "financial need", in this case, refers to the difference between the cost of you attending a certain school and your EFC. Most of the time, people with low EFCs will receive more student aid; for obvious reasons, of course.) If I were you, I'd avoid "www.fafsa.COM" like the plague, as it's a SCAM that charges you for what is offered freely at "http://www.fafsa.ed.GOV/"!!! Anyways, once you're ready to fill out your FAFSA application, be sure to have these items on hand: Your or Your Parent's Social Security Number Your or Your Parent's Driver's License (if any) Your or Your Parent's W-2 Forms and Other Records of Earned Income Your or Your Parent's Federal Income Tax Return - IRS Form 1040 Your or Your Parent's Federal Income Tax Return (If You're a "Dependent" Student) Your or Your Parent's Untaxed Income Records, Like Social Security, Aid to Dependent Children, Child Support, Welfare, Pensions and Veterans Benefits Your or Your Parent's Current Bank and Mortgage Statements Your or Your Parent's Current Business and Investment
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Records, Including Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds and Certificates of Deposit (COD) Your or Your Parent's Alien Registration Card or Permanent Resident Card(If You're Not a United States Citizen) Here are a few resources that you should checkout to learn more about the FAFSA and the proper way to fill it out for financial aid: FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid FAFSA Online Tips for the 2010-2011 FAFSA Funding Education Beyond High School FAFSA4Caster U.S. Department of Education FinAid Student Finance Domain Free Education Guides Financial Aid News Cut Your College Costs Financial Aid Supersite FAFSA Learning Money4College Student Financial Aid Services FAFSA Blog
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I hope you digested all of the information above, because here are a few tips that you should follow if you want to successfully fill out your FAFSA form: 1. As to be expected, the first tip is to submit your FAFSA file as early as possible, despite the fact that the deadline is June 30th of every year. People who want the largest sums of financial aid always do their best to submit the application as soon as possible after, or on, January 1st, and they don't procrastinate when it comes to free money, either! Moreover, grants such as the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) are always given out on the firstcome, first-served basis, which means that those who file first will usually get the most money, while those who file late will get the "crumbs" of financial aid money. Also, before you file the FAFSA, make sure that you've filed your tax returns first! Last but not least, if you mail your application physically (instead of online), be sure to request a certificate of mailing from your
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local Post Office so that you can prove that you sent your forms before the deadline, should anything "bad" happen to you and/or your application. 2. As far as taxes go, even though I'm certainly no accountant, I recommend that you complete an IRS 1040 application before you work on your FAFSA application. Almost 4/5ths of the FAFSA application is based on the information that you use to file for taxes every year, which means that by completing a 1040 first, you'll save a hell-of-a-lot more time than if you didn't file it first. Just so you know, the FAFSA really asks if you've completed your tax returns for the previous year(s), and not if you've filed your tax returns. If you didn't know, you can complete a tax return on the first day of January and wait to file it until April 15th, but because of the "first come, first served" premise, I wouldn't delay the filing of your FAFSA just because your taxes aren't done or because you're waiting to file them on April 15th... Last but not least, the FAFSA only cares about your taxes "paid" and not the taxes you "withheld", as most people get these two different terms confused. 3. As far as your family is concerned, you may receive a fatter check if your sibling's or parent's can go to school at the same time as you. Like I stated above, most federal aid is given away based on your need, which is how high your college tuition is versus
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the amount of income and savings that your family earns each year. Even though your family may not be able to receive an increase in income to pay off school fees, if several of you return to school all at once, it will probably result in a bigger aid check for everybody, overall! 4. Once again, like I've stated above, in order to receive aid every year, you have to consistently fill out the FAFSA at the beginning of each year for the rest of your college stay. The National Association of College Financial Aid Administrators says that almost 1,500,000 (1.5 Million) students fail to receive free aid money every year because they don't re-apply. 5. Even though you absolutely want to file your FAFSA as soon as you can, make sure that everything on your FAFSA is correct. Pay extra attention to every instruction and the worksheets that you have to fill out. Always correctly read and fill out the questions on your FAFSA about who is/isn't a "dependent" student. Moreover, when you write down where you live, you'll destroy your chances of receiving aid if you say you live on 394 Rohn Blvd., when you really live on 394 Rohn Ave. (Avenue); there's a big difference, and that's a big mistake! Also, when you jot down your address, list your permanent address and not the address of the campus or any other place in which you don't live (permanently). If all else "fails", meaning you don't have a permanent home address, then put down an address where you
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know you will be able to pick up and receive mail on a reliable basis... 6. Don't leave any blanks on your FAFSA, especially if it asks for a monetary amount. If you're not sure that something applies to you, instead of leaving it blank, just write down a "0" (ZERO) or "non-applicable" in the field. Even though you may naturally think that leaving something blank already means "zero" for the field, FAFSA may not see it like that and it may have a negative effect on how much free aid you'll receive. Simply put, completely fill out the form! 7. Even if you don't think you'll receive aid every year, file a FAFSA regardless! Filling out your FAFSA is absolutely free, and when you file it online, you'll avoid having to pay for a postage stamp, LOL! Furthermore, a lot of schools and states will use FAFSA results to dole out state-based and institutional aid, and private grants and scholarships, and you could potentially be the recipient of such free aid. 8. You can apply for 30 schools, but you'll only need to fill out just one FAFSA application! Because of this, you can send your application to all of them, and then they'll use your information to process possible aid info for you automatically! 9. Submit all required forms with your application, even if some of them don't apply to you (remember what I said above). Also, if a
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certain school requires additional paperwork, submit the paperwork too! 10. Filing your FAFSA online not only is postage-free, but it's the quickest way to receive results, as they receive your data instantly unlike sending it through the mail (extra processing). Just so you know, when you file online, you can catch and correct any and all mistakes before sending in the final application. 11. If you renew your FAFSA every year, you will only have to verify the information that was carried from your original forms (in previous years), make the appropriate changes if possible, and note down any extra information whenever it's necessary. Once you renew, your award will be updated if your financial information has changed in such a way that it impacts your eligibility amounts. 12. If you choose to submit a physical version of the application, be sure to use black ink to print and write clearly. A lot of FAFSA apps are delayed because people write sloppily or use illegible data. 13. When you jot down your name and social security number, write them down exactly as they appear on your social security card. For example, your friends may call you "Matt", but if you're name on the Social Security card is "Matthew Robbins", then you'll have to put down your full first-name as well as your middle (if applicable) and last names. If you want to update the name on
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your social security card, do so before you complete the FAFSA app. If you put down the wrong social security number on your FAFSA, you should complete a whole new FAFSA using the right number rather than changing the number you put down on your SAR (Student Aid Report). 14. As far as your DOB (date of birth), put the actual year you were born and not the current year when you report your DOB. 15. In regards to the section about "drug convictions" (Question 23), if you leave this field blank, your application could likely be delayed. If you have questions about how to appropriately answer the question(s), please call this number right here: 1-800-4333243 (the Federal Student Aid Information Center). 16. Once again, as far as taxes and Questions 37 and/or 85 are concerned, write down the income tax paid from your (and/or your parent's) actual income tax return forms, and not your W2 form. 17. When it comes to your marital status, only put a "yes" if you're married right now (currently). 18. Always be sure to sign your FAFSA before you submit it, which is why it's important to obtain your PIN Number. The PIN is your own electronic signature that can only be assigned to you, and you alone.
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19. Don't send in a copy of your income tax returns, as you will only be contacted when your info needs proper verification. Instead of sending a copy of your tax returns, make a copy of them (and everything else) for your own personal record-keeping purposes! Actually, don't send in copies of anything unless it's something that is actually requested by FAFSA and/or the college's financial aid office! 20. Round off all monetary figures to the nearest dollar amounts, and avoid commas and decimals. 21. As stated above, read every instruction carefully, as words like "you/your" refer to the student's, while other questions will refer to the parent's. 22. Before you file the real thing, I'd recommend that you do a "test run" where you get a printable copy of the FAFSA and do a "practice" completion of filling out the form! Doing this will help you make as few mistakes as possible, and it also helps to ease the stress of filling these things out. Also, having a printed copy makes it a lot easier to talk to a financial aid officer if the time ever comes. 23. According to the Department of Education, it only takes about an hour and 30 minutes (90+ minutes) to fill out a FAFSA if you have all of your information with you. This means that filing a FAFSA is not as stressful as it may look!
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24. When filing your FAFSA, don't forget to list the college(s) you plan on attending, but be sure to find the college's Federal School Code before you list them in your application. 25. Last but not least, I recommend that you proofread over your application and check to see that you've filled out EVERYTHING correctly! Even *one* small mistakes can delay your application process, so be sure that your spelling, grammar, social security, tax return, and all other fields are "picture-perfect", so to speak! After you've proofread your application one last time, submit it and then print a copy of the completed application for your own personal records. After you've submitted your application, it will go the Central Processing System (the CPS) which makes use of the Federal Methodology to calculate your results and give you a Student Aid Report (SAR). After your SAR info is compiled, it will be sent to you, your school's aid offices (listed on your FAFSA), and also your state's financial aid office. Most important of all, always keep a copy of everything you send out and receive (recordkeeping purposes)!
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Scholarship Applications and Strategies plus Tips For Success:
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In this section of this guide, I will explain to you all of the details and tips that you need to know about while you are filling and sending out scholarship applications. I would have to say that most college students spend too much time in choosing colleges, majors, classes, and so on, but many of them neglect to focus on the thing that will potentially get their financial aid fees reduced: the scholarship application! In many ways, scholarship applications are not that much different from college applications, as you often have to (1) filter down a big list of possible choices and (2) craft an "award-winning" application that shows off your hobbies, achievements, leadership skills, recommendations, and so on... Even though scholarship sponsors and the competitions they host receive tens of thousands of applications every year (or semester), only a few students receive any scholarship money, despite the fact that many, if not most, of them probably deserve to win. Why is this, you might ask? Well, even though people think the "best" applicant is the one who should win, it's usually the person who does the greatest job at delivering his or her case (in the application) who ends up winning the scholarship. If you want to become this "person", and I'm pretty sure that you do, you have to adhere to the right tips and strategies that will give you the correct approach to applying, and hopefully winning, a good portion of the awards that you apply for!
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Moreover, like a homework assignment that has been crafted poorly for school, the average scholarship judge can spot a mediocre scholarship application from a mile away, and then they will discard it as if it's trash! Because of this, this will make it much easier for them to eliminate unqualified students, but if you follow the strategies outlined here, your application's won't be the ones getting thrown away! Also, as far as scholarship judges are concerned, these are the criteria that they will use to eliminate as many applications as they can: (1) Eliminate every non-qualifying applicant as soon as possible to reduce the volume of possible candidates. (2) Eliminate any applicant who doesn't have every form filled in (blanks), or eliminate applicants if they filled in "N/A" whenever we asked of something that possibly didn't apply to them. Applicants should at least put down a sentence (or two) if they are asked of something that doesn't describe them or the situation that they are in, as it looks more professional than leaving fields "blank" and/or "Not Available". If they ask, "what is your history with the military", it's best to write, "I've never had any affiliation with any military branch" instead of leaving the field blank (or "N/A")...
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(3) If there is even one spelling error or grammar mistake, eliminate the applicant. Furthermore, almost all of the scholarship applicants who won financial aid money did so for these reasons: (1) They met every requirement and qualification that the scholarship's sponsor outlined for prospective students. (2) They were very strategic in how they filled out their application's and they selected the scholarships that they felt they had the best chances of qualifying for. Here is a list of strategies and tips that you should adhere to: 1. I'm probably repeating myself, which is something that you may notice a lot in this guide, but if you want to prepare the most "qualified" application, you should first of all start your scholarship search early! When you start looking for grants and scholarships before everybody else does, you will have more options and more time to craft a compelling application (and essay). Also, you will have more time to not only request and reply back to the information that you receive, but you'll have extra time to complete your application and revise it if you make mistakes! 2. Be sure to read all of the guidelines, deadlines, and eligibility
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requirements before you fill out an application, as you don't want to waste time filling out an application that you're not even qualified for. Besides, you may want to question the scholarship sponsors by contacting them before you go on to fill out various application forms. 3. As far as organizing is concerned, be sure to create a file and folder for every scholarship application that you apply for, and you can separate your items by dates, names, deadlines, and etcetera. Having a calendar on-hand may help you out, too. BTW, a lot of the scholarships that you apply for may require that you have some of these items, all of which should be properly organized in their own respective folder(s): Financial Information From Your Parents (Tax Returns, Etc...) Essays Transcripts Test Scores (SAT, ACT, etc...) FAFSA Forms and Other Financial Aid Forms Eligibility Proof Letters of Recommendation
4. As far as proofreading is concerned, be sure to not only use the spelling-and-grammar checker on your favorite word processing software, but also use the "spelling-and-grammar checkers" located in your head, which are your brain and your two eyes, LOL!
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Even moreso, have a friend, family, and/or associate read your application(s), as they may see errors and mistakes that you did not catch the first time. 5. Only leave the fields in your applications blank only if you're proof positive that the sponsor does not mind! Whenever possible, however, be sure to actually contact them to see if they want every field/form filled out, as some sponsors are really strict about such things, unfortunately... 6. Following whatever instructions that give to you "to the T", or in other words: to the letter! If the application tells you to not go over 500 words, don't go over 500 words! You may want to wrap up your guide at 499 words if you're really that proficient, LOL (just kidding)! Also, if the application tells you not to send any "supporting materials", which are materials that were not requested by the sponsor, don't send them in! Actually, some scholarships will disqualify you if you don't obey them in a perfect manner, so make a special note of this strategy right here... 7. As far as typing and printing your application and essay are concerned, do whatever they ask of you! If they want you to type everything up, do so, but if they want you to write it out (in print), obey them as well! Hopefully, you'll get lucky and find sponsors who'd rather you type everything up, LOL!
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8. Be sure to scan and copy every application that you send in, as you don't want to be in a situation where your application materials get lost and you have no other copy available to send back to the sponsor! 9. As far as making copies of everything is concerned, if you're going to reuse a cover letter or essay from another application that you have previously sent in, be sure that everything is correct before you attach it to the new application. 10. Be sure to sign your signature and date every application that you send in! 11. As far as mailing your applications before deadlines is concerned, be sure to mail all of your applications with USPS Certified Mail, and even better, request that the sponsors give you a return receipt so that you can know (for sure) that they received your application. 12. Make a list of every scholarship offer that you feel you're qualified for before you fill out any applications! Don't waste your time applying for financial aid from these sponsors if your GPA, degree major, ACT/SAT tests, and other requirements do not meet the minimum guidelines that they require from applicants! Besides, there are potentially thousands of scholarships that you can qualify for, so don't waste your time on the ones where you
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know (after checking of course) that you don't meet the specified requirements. 13. Once you narrow down your list of scholarships to create an application for, do the following things: (1) Check to see how long you have to complete the application, as far as deadline's are concerned. (2) In consideration of the deadline, ask yourself if you have enough time to even completely prepare for the application's requirements. (3) Ask yourself if the scholarship award is worth all of the work that you may have to put into its application forms. Even though a lot of scholarships are worth less than $1,000, many of them may be worth putting in the time to sign-up, as every little bit helps towards keeping your college costs down. Also, it's easier to receive smaller scholarship amounts than it is to win scholarships worth thousands and tens-of-thousands of dollars! 14. If you really want to make things easy on yourself, you should prioritize your applications by (1) how far away is the deadline, (2) how much preparation is required, and (3) how much will the scholarship award me. If the scholarship offer's deadline is far away, place a "check mark" by it, if it doesn't require any strenuous preparation, place another check-mark by it, and if it
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pays a lot of money (this is subjective), place yet another checkmark by it! If an offer can meet all three of the above requirements, and thus three check-marks, you know it's something that you *must* apply for! If anything, apply for these offers first before you apply for the "lesser" scholarship offers... 15. This probably the biggest strategy that you must follow, besides meeting all of the qualifications and requirements, and it is writing a masterpiece of an essay! Most scholarship sponsors will rely very heavily on your essay when it comes to choosing you (or somebody else) as the winner, so be sure to put as much time into writing essays as you do when it comes to filling out applications! A lot of the time, you only have to write a few essays before you are able to re-use them in other applications, as not every scholarship opportunity asks that you write a specific essay that is tailored specifically for their application. (P.S: There's a separate section in this guide about scholarship essays and how to write them, so go there whenever you're ready...) 16. Pay attention to *details* as if you were getting paid $500/hour for it! Those who pay attention to details are the ones
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who win scholarships, and not lose them like most people! Follow every rule to the letter as best as you can, no matter how big or small, and you can rest assured that you will win at least a few scholarships! 17. If you're required to type out your application, don't use any "fancy" fonts unless you're required to! Instead, stick with using the standard "Times New Roman" or "Arial" fonts! Be as neat and legible as possible, as you may be quickly eliminated if your essay is hard to read... 18. Place your name on every page of your application, and if possible, try to see if you can get a page number on every page of your application. The reasoning for this is that it's possible that certain pages/parts of your application may become lost or scrambled, but if you have your name and page number on every page, it will be much easier to retrieve your complete application. 19. Be sure to replace the requested items in your application package in the order that they are requested in. For instance, if they request material in this order: Cover Letter Letter of Recommendation Transcript SAT/ACT Scores FAFSA Forms
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...then layer your application in the exact manner, with the cover letter as the first page and the FAFSA form as the fifth page! 19. A lot of sponsors don't like staples to come with applications, so instead of doing this, it's best to use paper clips to keep your material neatly kept together! In fact, only place your application in a "special folder" if they ask you to. You can use an envelope to encase your application, but don't fold it as that will create creases in your application! Furthermore, the only time you need to be "creative" is when you're writing your essay, as many applicants have been eliminated for being "creative" with everything but the essay... 20. Be as relevant as possible! For instance, your application does not have to list everything that you have ever done, especially if you've done things that are extremely irrelevant to what you're applying for! For instance, if you're applying for a criminal justice scholarship opportunity, it would not make any sense to tell them that you're a member of the swim team... If you're going to write about what you've done, try your best to tie it in somehow to whatever it is that you're applying for. Like the example given above, if you're going to tell them about the swim team, somehow tie it in to how it made you want to go into the career field of criminal justice! Now, I don't know how you can
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correlate the two, but I'm pretty sure it's possible, LOL! For additional information about scholarship applications, go to the following resources: Preparing the Scholarship Application Video: Tips for the Scholarship Application Millennium Excellence Awards Judging the Scholarship Application Tips on Applying for a Scholarship : College Scholarship Positions Scholarship Application Tips ~ GoCollege.com 10 Killer Tips for Scholarship Applicants Scholarship Tips IU South Bend: Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships Scholarships | Scholarship | Online Education | Graduate*-*Online Degree Scholarships Student Scholarship Application Tips - How to Apply for Scholarships JustColleges - Craft a Winning Scholarship Application Effective Scholarship Application Tips General Application Tips
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Scholarship Cover Letters and The Importance of Them:
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In this section of the guide, I will teach you about the importance of cover letters whenever you have to submit scholarship applications for contests. When a scholarship committee reviews an application, the first thing that they should see would be your cover letter. Your cover letter basically lets the judges (or sponsor) know your statement of purpose, which is basically what drives you to be who you are, and it also showcases why you want to go where you want to go in life. The cover letter should basically showcase your personality, goals, and background. Simply put, it's an introduction of you to the organization! Moreover, your cover letter should show how the scholarship is a perfect fit for you and your goals, how the scholarship will be a great opportunity for you, and why it will be an opportunity for you. You will do a lot of "self-selling" in the cover letter! And with that said, here are a few sites you can visit to learn more about cover letters for scholarship applications and how to properly craft them: Sample Cover Letter Scholarship Sample Cover Letter - CVTips.com Cover Letters How to Write a Scholarship Cover Letter | eHow.com
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101 Cover Letter Samples for Jobs and Scholarships Cover letter - simple how to guide - Think Scholarships? How to Write a Cover Letter | Scholarshipnet Writing a Cover Letter/Personal Essay for a Scholarship How to Write Cover Letter for Scholarship | Scholarships Info Scholarship Cover Letters, Sample Scholarship Cover Letter Effective Cover Letter Writing Scholarship Cover Letter Dos and Do Nots How to Write a Cover Letter for a Scholarship How to Write a Cover Letter for a Scholarship Application | eHow.com Tips on Making Your Cover Letter Shine
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Scholarship Resumes and The Resources to Properly Create Them:
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In this section of the guide, you will learn about scholarship resumes and how you can go about compiling one! If you didn't know, "resumes" aren't just for job applicants, as you may (or may not) have to submit them whenever you apply for different scholarships, grants, and colleges that are looking for people just like you! However, make sure that your resume is well-presented, professional, and neatly crafted before you send it out to the scholarship agencies! Doing this can be the difference between failure (losing the offer) or success (winning the money)... A common misconception about scholarship resumes is that they are created to show off all of the scholarships you've won, when in reality, you are supposed to craft them to show off all of the great things you've accomplished throughout your life. Showing off what you've done will help you stand out from all of the other applicants! Here are a few resources (and samples) that you can use to help you properly craft a scholarship resume that is pleasing to your potential judges: Sample Scholarship Resume How to Write a High School Scholarship Resume Format For Resume For College/Scholarship Application How to write a CV/Resume - Think Scholarships?
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Scholarship Resume | Scholarships or Grants How to Write a College Scholarship Application & Resume | eHow.com How to Make a Resume for Scholarships | eHow.com Writing a Scholarship Resume ~ GoCollege.com Sample Scholarship Resume | scribd.com CollegeBasics.com - Sample Resume Writing Resumes for Scholarship/Admission Applications Creating a Scholarship Resume Scholarship Resume Outline 7 Sections Of A Perfect Student Resume How to write a resume Students: It's Never Too Early to Write a Resume
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Scholarship Letters of Recommendations and Their Importance:
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In this section of the guide, you learn will learn about the importance of the letter of recommendation for you and your scholarship application. High school students, friends, relatives, and everybody else who wants to win scholarship money will often be required to submit a "letter of recommendation" with their application. This letter may either make or break an applicant, as committees will often use it to determine as the deciding factor in who they choose as the winner(s). They say that one of the worst things about applying for scholarships is actually figuring out who's the best person to write your letter of recommendation. Besides, if you're still in high school, it sucks when your teachers tell you that they can't write your letter for you as they have to write a "million" (an exaggeration) other student's letters, LOL! However, since your teachers will most likely write the same letters for all of their students, it can be to your advantage that you don't get the same teachers as everybody else to write your letters of recommendation. Trust me, you want yours to stand OUT from the crowd, as it may be the deciding factor that nets you free financial aid money! Here are some resources and samples you can use to craft your own letter-of-recommendation:
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Scholarship Letter of Recommendation Sample Scholarship Recommendation Letter (Sample) Sample Scholarship Letter of Recommendation Sample Scholarship Recommendation Letter - LoveToKnow College Letters of Recommendation Advice for Scholarship Applicants~ GoCollege.com Scholarship Letters written by professionals Letter of Recommendation for Scholarship Money: 10 Keys How to Write a Letter of Recommendation FinAid | Scholarships | Winning | Letters of Recommendation Tips for Writing Letters of Recommendation The Scholarship Letter of Recommendation | Scholarships.com How to Write a Scholarship Recommendation Letter | eHow.com Scholarship Letters of Recommendation - Scholarship Recommendations Can Make a Difference Scholarship Letter of Recommendation: The Worst Scholarship Recommendation Letter Application Scholarship Recommendation Letter Format Getting Started with Writing Letters of Recommendation Letters of Recommendation for Scholarship Applications ScholarshipExperts.com How to write a recommendation letter - Think Scholarships? Think EastChance.com Sample Scholarship Letter of Recommendation Help Writing a College Recommendation Letter An Important Part of the Application Process
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Scholarship Essays and Tips to Write Them:
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If you want to actually learn how to craft an essay, visit these resources and take notes about what they tell you to do! Also, if you want to see "sample" essays written by/for other people, the area below this section will help you out, greatly: Scholarship Essay Recommendations - Scholarship Essay Tips and Trends Scholarship essay - Free Essay Writing Tips How to Write a Good Scholarship Essay: Writing Tips & Careers | eHow.com Scholarship Essay Writing Tips - Essay Writing Center Tips For Formatting Scholarship Application Essays Scholarship essay tips ~ Blog ~ CollegeScholarships.org FinAid - Writing the Scholarship Essay -- by Kay Peterson, Ph.D. Scholarship essay writing: help, ideas, topics, examples How to Write an Essay for a Scholarship Writing the Great Scholarship Essay Scholarship Essay | Custom Scholarship Essays Writing Service Tips for Writing a Scholarship Personal Essay Here are some "sample" essays that you can use for inspiration (don't plagiarize, though): Liberal Arts: A Gift of Understanding and Freedom (Sample Essay) Essay Advantage - Writing Samples Scholarship Essay Examples
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SAMPLE - Scholarship Essay Sample Scholarship Essay - Sample Scholarship Application Essay Admission Essay Samples for Collegepage=sample Scholar Essay Samples - Scholarship Essay Tips - Get Scholarship Essay
In this section, I am going to teach you about scholarship essays, and I will display the strategies that you will need to take action on to make sure you write your essay in a "scholarship winning" way (wink wink)! If you didn't know, writing essays is probably the most difficult, time-consuming, and tiresome activity of submitting scholarship applications, but it's usually the primary factor in whether you'll win or lose in a scholarship contest. Luckily for you, if you adhere to my scholarship application strategies, you will probably beat out 70-90% of the other applicants who will be eliminated before their essays can even be read! Scholarship committees will require applicants to craft essays to see what kind of person you are, what your accomplishments are, where you're going in life, and most importantly, whether or not you are the kind of person that they want winning financial aid money from them.
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Even though GPA, SAT and ACT scores, community service, leadership skills, and similar characteristics all matter, it will be your essay that will "qualify" you for the winning prize, because you can "bet on the casino" that the other applicants will have very similar (or better) qualifications as you, and the only thing that separates you from them is the quality of your essay... When it's all said and done, your essay will either "make" or "break" you and your scholarship application: either you win potentially thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, or you'll lose out on having thousands of dollars to pay off tuition fees! Either way, you'll ultimately be the one to decide, either way... Nevertheless, here are a few guidelines that you must obey if you want to amp up your chances for winning an offer: 1. First of all, before you even begin to write your essay, be sure to know and follow all of the rules! If I were you, I would not even break a minor rule, whatever it may be! Also, be sure you have a very firm grasp of whatever topic it is that they want you to write about, so do some thorough research before you begin writing so that you can write the best essay possible! The judges of your essay will instantly be able to tell if you did your "homework" on your essay, and whether you wrote according to the guidelines...
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Last but not least, if the prompt tells you to, "Write about how you feel about tax increases for the rich", this is exactly what you are supposed to write about and nothing else! As I've said many times before, follow the rules "to the T" and you will be lightyears ahead of your competition; or the 10%-20% who even pass the application process! 2. Even though it's good to meet the essay's deadline, it would be great to submit your essays a few weeks in advance if possible! The awesome thing about submitting your application (with the essay) is that if you (or the sponsor) encounters any problems, you will be contacted very early to fix the problem before it's too late. Also, because of potentially having some extra "downtime" on your essay, you can improve your essay and word it in a better way... 3. If the sponsor has a list of values on their website or application, read about them and make an attempt to show them how you support and live by the same values that they themselves exude. Also, explain to them a set of circumstances in your own life where you had to exude the same virtuous values that their organization adheres to. However, this rule primarily applies to essays that are about you, your life, your achievements, and more importantly, the essays about why you should be the one to receive their financial aid
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money! 4. If you want your essay to be better than your competition's, I recommend that you show the judges that you have done more research about the topic than everybody else! For instance, if you have to write about "President John F. Kennedy", you can tell them about the "coincidences" between him and Abraham Lincoln, or you could show them how his astrological sign is that of the Gemini, which is something that most people didn't, or don't, know! 5. Another tip to craft a winning essay is to write more "drafts" than your essay! The reason for this is that with each draft, or revision, your writing style, grammar, sentence structure, and prose will continuously improve, and your intuition will tell you about which revision you should craft into your "final draft" (the completed essay). Trust me, I can promise you that most applicants do not write drafts, so you will be far ahead of them if you will take the time to do so! 6. Even though Pulitzer Prize Winning words are cool (the "big" words), your essay doesn't have to include them, LOL! Your judges will be able to tell if you're using words because (1) you know when and how to use such "big" words or (2) because you're trying to overcompensate for something because your writing quality isn't up to par!
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"Big Words" won't always end up becoming "Big Money", if you know what I mean... 7. If you have to write an essay about a question, or questions (plural), be sure to actually answer the question(s) in your article, and do not "skip" around the question unless you want your application thrown out "into the wind"! 8. Because scholarship judges are looking for applicants who are (1) qualified but more importantly, (2) original or unique, show them how creative and unique you and/or your writing are! Even the most boring topic can become very interesting if you approach and write it the right way! For instance, if you're writing about playing music, don't start your essay off like this, "I play the trombone, piano, and the drums"! Instead, write something more creative like, "The reason why I am able to play and understand three different instruments is because of the wide range of circumstances that I've encountered in my life"! I don't have to ask you which one would "wow" the judges more (the 2nd one), LOL! 9. If you want to set yourself apart from the crowd, definitely be yourself, as the judges want to learn about you, your accomplishments, how you feel about things, and so on! Basically, you want them to come into your world, so to speak, so that they
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can know and understand WHO it is they are reading about (or from)! Even though it's cool to describe your actions, it's better to tell them how you FEEL about things and events, as your essay will be different than most applicants who can only talk about the actions they've taken. Anybody can write about their accomplishments, but most applicants don't write about the pain they had to endure to achieve their goals, and most applicants don't write about how they felt once their dream became a realized (manifested) reality! 10. If you want to further separate yourself "from the flock", show the judges that you are able to use vivid and descriptive images to describe things, as images will help you describe experiences a lot better! Using images will appeal to the judge's five senses, and they will do more than just reading "another" essay; they will be able to "see" what it is that you're describing! 11. I would have to say that from personal experience, and also from what I've researched, the thing that you should spend the most time crafting in your essay is the introduction paragraph. If you can "nail" (perfect) the introduction, everything else will "fall in place" like a stack of Dominoes falling one after another, if you know what I mean! If you can't craft an intro worthy of stealing the show and grabbing the judge's attention right from the first or second
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sentence, you have failed right from the get-go! However, if you're like a lot of people who aren't good at crafting introductions, you can write the body and conclusion paragraphs and then craft your intro from what you wrote in them. Everything must be coherent and flow the right way though, so if you want to go this route (or the intro-first way), your body and conclusion paragraphs must flow with what you stated in the introduction, or else you'll have a non-winning essay! Furthermore, be sure not to give a summary of the entire essay in your introduction, as that is the purpose of the conclusion paragraph! If you summarize your essay in the first paragraph, there'd be no point in reading the rest of your essay... Last but not least, your intro doesn't have to totally give away what you're about to talk to the judges about, as creating intrigue is often better than "giving away the goods"! Intrigue appeals to human emotion if you didn't know... 12. As far as the conclusion paragraph is concerned, this is where you are able to impress your judges, persuade them, and/or wrapup the whole essay with a brief summary of what you just wrote! However, sometimes a summary may not be needed, as judges sometimes don't like re-reading in the last paragraph what they just read in the previous paragraphs!
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Also, please do not say these typical phrases in the last paragraph: "this is the summary", "in conclusion", "conclude", and so on, as the judge is smart enough to know it's the last paragraph, LOL! If you really want to write a masterful conclusion, somehow link it to your introduction statement which will create a sense of balance in your article, from point "A to E", so to speak: "A" being your intro, and "E" being the conclusion paragraph! 13. After you read and revise your essays, delete everything in them that doesn't have any relation to what it is that you're supposed to write about! If you're writing about swimming, don't say anything about "selling pancakes" unless you can tie in pancakes into swimming; I don't know how you could do that, but I'm pretty sure some of you are very creative, LOL! 14. Just like we were taught in school (before college), I'd recommend that you brainstorm for your essay, and then outline whatever ideas come to you before you actually start composing the article! However, you should apply this skill to your LIFE, as a whole, instead of just to writing essays, but that's just my humble opinion... Nevertheless, outlines and brainstorming will help you to expand and focus your thoughts on a particular outcome, and it will help you create a "sum of the whole", or in other words, a "picture" of the completed product before the "product" or goal is actually
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completed! Outlining will protect you from the "loose" and "incoherent" writing that most applications suffer from, and this will put you in the TOP percent of candidate's who will possibly be selected to win... 15. As far as "polishing" is concerned, be sure that you're thorough, precise, honest, and neat! As far as being thorough and precise are concerned, fully explain every idea that you write about as this shows that you (1) can backup everything you wrote and (2) you actually know a lot about what you just wrote about! If possible, give examples, specifics, and scenarios about what you wrote, all of which can visually "illustrate" everything that you're trying to convey to the judge(s). If you're vague (and boring) like most applicants. you'll just show the judges that you couldn't elaborate on whatever it is you said in your essay = this equals *failure* on your part! 16. Just like anything that you wrote for an institution, always have a close friend, family member, and/or associate read what you wrote before you submit it! When we read what we wrote, we often will "miss the mark" on our mistake's and not notice them, but most times, somebody who is not *you* will notice the potential spelling and grammar mistakes in your article so that you can correct them before you submit the FINAL application (with
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the essay). 17. There are a lot of scholarship essays that are so general that you can submit the same essay to all of them! However, only do this when you're sure that the rules allow for this, as you don't want to ruin your chances of winning scholarship money. The good thing about a lot of scholarship offers is that the topics often overlap, meaning you can recycle your previous essay(s) with the new offers, cutting down the amount of time it takes to write multiple essays over-and-over again... 18. Even though "slang" is cool when you're talking to your friends, I'd recommend that you do NOT use it when writing an essay, unless your essay is about slang, LOL! Also, do not use certain "slang phrases" if you know the judges will not understand what you're talking about! For instance, even though the phrase, "I'll be a monkey's uncle", represents disbelief about something, I can almost guarantee you that your judge won't understand what that ancient-1930s phrase means, LOL! Nevertheless, if you "insist" on using slang, keep it (1) to a minimum and (2) convey exactly what you meant by the phrase... 19. Try to step in the shoes (empathy) of your judge and ask yourself how would you honestly feel about your essay if you were
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the one either accepting it for consideration or denying it: would you accept your own essay if it was not written by "you"? When you think like this, you will come from another point-of-view about your essay, and you may make considerable changes to structure it in a way that you know a judge will like! 20. Do not plagiarize at all, and only write a story that only *you* can tell, which is in your own words and your own experiences (not somebody else's).
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Scholarship Interviews & How To Prepare For Them:
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If you've made it all the way to being interviewed, you are in "good hands" as that now means that you're a finalist in whatever scholarship competition that you have entered in! Once you've reached this portion of the selection process, you can "almost" rest easy knowing that your financial aid anxiety is about to end, LOL! Luckily for you, not all scholarship awards require that you be interviewed by any judges (or committee)... Furthermore, if you meet the judges face-to-face, they'll be able to get a better understanding of who you are, how mature you are, your personality type, and so on, which helps to separate the "real from the fake", so to speak... Normally, you won't have to worry about getting interviewed unless you are a finalist in a scholarship program that pays out "big" money (high award offers). Also, some interviews are over the phone (teleconferencing), which is good for those of you who don't really like attending interviews! Here are some resources you can use if you ever have to participate in a scholarship interview. If you want to actually "win" after some of these interviews, you better take notes on the information provided in the resources below: The Scholarship Interview Scholarship Interview Tips ~ GoCollege.com Scholarship Interview - College Confidential
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How to Answer the 10 Most Common Interview Questions How to prepare for an interview - Think Scholarships? The Scholarship Interview; "Making" It or "Breaking" Graduate Scholarship Interviews: How to Prepare for Academic Questions for University Studentships Scholarship Interview Tips FinAid | Scholarships | Winning | Interviews How to Dress for a College Scholarship Interview | eHow.com Scholarship Interview Techniques Five tips to help you shine during a scholarship interview Collegenews
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Scholarship Books and Guides You Should Buy:
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In this section, I am going to list some books and guides that you may possibly want to check out for even more information about getting financial aid, grants, scholarships, loans, and so on for college! All of the following books are available at Amazon.com, just so you know... Here are the books you may want to check out to further your scholarship search: The Ultimate Scholarship Book 2011: Billions of Dollars in Scholarships, Grants and Prizes Getting Financial Aid 2011 (College Board Guide to Getting Financial Aid) Kaplan Scholarships 2011 The Scholarship & Financial Aid Solution: How to Go to College for Next to Nothing with Short Cuts, Tricks, and Tips from Start to Finish The Scholarship Book 13th Edition: The Complete Guide to Private-Sector Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants, and Loans for the Undergraduate Scholarship Handbook 2011 (College Board Scholarship Handbook)
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How to Go to College Almost for Free
Scholarships, Grants and Prizes 2011 (Peterson's Scholarships, Grants & Prizes) The Scholarship Scouting Report: An Insiders Guide to Americas Best Scholarships How to Write a Winning Scholarship Essay: 30 Essays That Won Over $3 Million in Scholarships The Everything Paying For College Book: Grants, Loans, Scholarships, And Financial Aid -- All You Need To Fund Higher Education Get Free Cash for College: Secrets to Winning Scholarships The Sports Scholarships Insider's Guide: Getting Money for College at Any Division (Sport Scholarships Insider's Guide) The Best 373 Colleges, 2011 Edition (College Admissions Guides) Athletic Scholarships For Dummies A Parent's and Student Athlete's Guide to Athletic Scholarships: Getting Money Without Being Taken for a (Full) Ride
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The Sports Scholarships Insider's Guide E2: Getting Money For College At Any Division The A's and B's of Academic Scholarships: 100,000 Scholarships for Top Students Taming the Tuition Tiger: Getting the Money to Graduate--with 529 Plans, Scholarships, Financial Aid, and More African American Student's College Guide: Your One-Stop Resource for Choosing the Right College, Getting in, and Paying the Bill (Black Excel) Full Ride to College: How to Win Scholarships and Get Admitted to the College of Your Dreams Scholarships 101: The Real-World Guide to Getting Cash for College
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The Conclusion For This Guide:
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Now that you are finally through reading my eBook guide, I hope that you not only (1) learned something new, but (2) found some useful information that will help you out in your search for scholarship and grant money! I put in a lot of hours to write this guide, so I have a "vested" interest, so to speak, in your progress with finding scholarships to waive any current or future college debts that you may have... Last but not least, I may (or may not) update this guide depending on the comments, criticisms, and responses that I get, so if you want to post how you feel or receive the latest version of this guide, visit this link right here: http://easyscholarships101.net/scholarship-book And with that said, I'd like to sincerely express my gratitude upon you for downloading this guide and supporting me and my site, and I'd furthermore like to wish you the best of success in obtaining scholarships and grants! If you ever need anything, contact me here: http://easyscholarships101.net/contact-us I'd really appreciate it if many of you could share your success stories with me, so that others may see the usefulness of my guide!
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Farewell, My Faithful Friends!

The Scholarship Book Your Guide To Easy Scholarships

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