Searching for Scholarships
Quick update for Wisconsin students, especially scholarship searchers in the Milwaukee area: check out www.compassguide.org for scholarship information. As I mentioned in the book, I was the founding director of COMPASS Guide and it is still the only resource of its type available in Wisconsin, although, they have a greatly reduced staff now.
When conducting a scholarship search you need to move beyond the obvious. Sure, I can give you these links to scholarship databases, www.unigo.com, www.fastweb.com, www.scholarships.com, but it’s how you complete your profile and how deep you dig that will make a difference. Most of your competition is using the Internet to find scholarship listings so that doesn’t make you any different than the competition.
Savvy students do three things differently: (1) they do not rely solely on the scholarship websites or listings to find matches (2) they use popular search engines and other Internet based-tools to maximize their possible matches, and (3) they invest time in “old school” scholarship resources such as newspapers and word-of-mouth.
Successful students also realize that they should conduct a scholarship search based on multiple attributes not just their G.P.A. or intended major. Think about all of the characteristics that constitute you as a scholarship candidate. Leader, volunteer, member, honor student, athlete, entrepreneur, artist, etc. What’s your racial or ethnic background? Whether it’s African-American, Polish, Mexican, Laotian, Italian, or something else, scholarships exist for hundreds of ethnic groups.
Think of your scholarship search as a drop of water in a pond with circles rippling outward. One ring of information will lead to another, and another, and another. Make sure you are organized and prepared as you move forward.
Here is a scholarship tracking tool from the book in Word and here is a scholarship tracking tool in PDF. Download permission is granted for one-time personal use. ©2008 by Kimberly Stezala.
When conducting a scholarship search you need to move beyond the obvious. Sure, I can give you these links to scholarship databases, www.unigo.com, www.fastweb.com, www.scholarships.com, but it’s how you complete your profile and how deep you dig that will make a difference. Most of your competition is using the Internet to find scholarship listings so that doesn’t make you any different than the competition.
Savvy students do three things differently: (1) they do not rely solely on the scholarship websites or listings to find matches (2) they use popular search engines and other Internet based-tools to maximize their possible matches, and (3) they invest time in “old school” scholarship resources such as newspapers and word-of-mouth.
Successful students also realize that they should conduct a scholarship search based on multiple attributes not just their G.P.A. or intended major. Think about all of the characteristics that constitute you as a scholarship candidate. Leader, volunteer, member, honor student, athlete, entrepreneur, artist, etc. What’s your racial or ethnic background? Whether it’s African-American, Polish, Mexican, Laotian, Italian, or something else, scholarships exist for hundreds of ethnic groups.
Think of your scholarship search as a drop of water in a pond with circles rippling outward. One ring of information will lead to another, and another, and another. Make sure you are organized and prepared as you move forward.
Here is a scholarship tracking tool from the book in Word and here is a scholarship tracking tool in PDF. Download permission is granted for one-time personal use. ©2008 by Kimberly Stezala.
