Scholarships and grants are both types of gift aid, which is money that does not need to be earned through employment or repaid. Although the two terms are used as synonyms, there are important differences.
-Eligibility for a grant, such as the Federal Pell Grant, is based on financial need.
-Eligibility for a scholarship is based on merit, such as academic, athletic, or artistic talent. For example, there is a $10,000 scholarship for creating a prom costume out of duct tape. The winners demonstrate an incredible amount of creativity and an elegant design sense.
To submit an application for need-based financial aid, such as grants, use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Each scholarship provider receives scholarship applications. Finding the scholarships for which you qualify should be your first step.
How to Find Scholarships
It’s critical to launch your scholarship search right away. Many scholarships have deadlines not just in the spring but also in the fall of the senior year of high school. Even in elementary school, there are scholarships available for students in lower grades. After you enroll in college, you can still submit scholarship applications. Use a free scholarship matching website like Find Scholarships for College for FREE | Fastweb and Big Future from the College Board to look for scholarships. Finding scholarships only takes a half-hour or so. Making the scholarship applications is the real work. Scholarship listing books can be good for random exploration of possible scholarships. You can find them in local libraries, bookstores, and on Amazon.com. Spend less. Smile more.. Before buying any book, check its copyright date. If it was published more than a year or two ago, it is too old to be useful, as scholarship information changes frequently. On bulletin boards outside your school counselor’s office or close to the jobs and careers section of the library, you might be able to find information about small local scholarships, like a PTA scholarship.
On bulletin boards outside your school counselor’s office or close to the jobs and careers section of the library, you might be able to find information about small local scholarships, like a PTA scholarship.
Scholarship Application Tips: How to Increase the Number of Scholarship Chances
Your chances of applying for scholarships increase as you receive more scholarship matches.
In addition to the required questions, most scholarship search websites also include optional questions.
Students who respond to the optional questions typically match twice as many scholarships as those who only respond to the mandatory ones.
The reason for asking the optional questions is that they cause matches with particular scholarships. If you don’t respond to the questions, the scholarship search site won’t match you with those scholarships.
How Many Scholarship Applications Should You Submit?
You should submit an application for each scholarship you are qualified for. Don’t restrict yourself to applying for only one kind of scholarship, such as a non-essay, less competitive, or generous scholarship.
Because there are so many gifted students, winning a scholarship depends on luck as well as talent. By submitting applications for more scholarships, you can raise your chances of being selected for one.
But if you do not meet the requirements for the scholarship or if the deadline has passed, don’t submit an application. Your scholarship application will not be taken into account. Do not give up if you receive a rejection. Even students who win scholarships worth a billion dollars face numerous rejections for each one.
Is that difficult to apply for the scholarship?
It takes less time than it might seem to apply for numerous scholarships. After submitting your first dozen or so scholarship applications, you’ll discover that you can begin recycling your previous scholarship essays by customizing them to the objectives of each scholarship provider. If you mention a scholarship program in your essay, just keep in mind to change the name.
Even for the less generous scholarships, applying is still a worthwhile use of your time. Let’s say you submit ten applications for $500 scholarships and receive only one. If each scholarship application takes an hour to complete, that’s $500 for 10 hours of work or $50 per hour. Compared to babysitting or snow shoveling, that pays more.
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