Although I fully believe students, teachers and
parents need time off to destress and have a little fun over the summer,
high school students would be wise to set aside some time during the next two
months to look for scholarships. Depending upon the age of the student, thirty
minutes to an hour each day could be devoted to doing this research. Doing so
while other teenagers are goofing off will pay large dividends when it’s time
to apply.
It’s helpful to create a routine. I
find getting tasks out of the way early in the day is best. This leaves the
rest of the day free for swimming, going to the movies or hanging out with
family or friends. Students will want to create a journal or folder of
scholarships they find. They should list the name of the scholarship, contact
details, how much is being awarded and the requirements. If an application is provided, students could keep a copy in a file or on their computer.
Many scholarships are out there, but they won’t
all be well suited for each student. Be sure to read the fine print. Avoid any
scholarships or grants that contain loans of any kind. Work-study grants or
scholarships will take away free time, but they won’t saddle graduates with
decades of debt. The goal is free college; that means debt free. No loans. Don’t
pay for information. Reputable colleges, universities and institutions do not
charge a fee for information. Also, refrain from giving out your contact
information at this point. You don’t want to be inundated with ads. Just search for scholarships and take notes about those that look
promising.
You can start searching by looking at the websites of
colleges you're interested in attending. You can also find information by searching
the field you're interested in pursuing. Type in “scholarships and grants for
students studying…..” Or, “scholarships and grants for future……. (engineers,
doctors, lawyers, architects, software designers, teachers, dancers, artists,
etc.)" in your search engine. But there’s another way to do this. You can use
the efforts of other people. My Twitter account (@elizawallace27) focuses on
free college. In addition to publishing tips on how to raise children who could qualify
for massive scholarships, I retweet information I think will be helpful. I
include tweets that announce scholarships or people who collect lists of
scholarships. Looking through my twitter feed, therefore, could save time.
I haven't checked out these scholarships or grants in
detail. I just want to make families aware of them in order to save time, and
hopefully, money. If you find something of interest, record everything and do a little research to be sure the scholarships are real. Remember, those who
do more, end up with more. While most teenagers won't start looking for scholarships
until they're seniors in high school, those who start early will have an
advantage. Play the game to win.
For more information,
you'll want my new book, Free College Awareness, coming soon
from Griffin Publishing and Watering Seeds. How to avoid needing college loans;
available soon to families of Pre-K through High School students.
You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com
Photo Credit: Pixabay
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