College Scholarship Resources?

[golfgal]

What websites or books did you use to find college scholarships? Our guidance office is very good about having scholarship information but it is mostly for local ones. Any suggestions, we need to start that process.

 

[momrek06]

OP, you can go to any Barnes & Noble/Borders and they will have volumes of books on college scholarships. The "how to get into college" section of these stores is where these books are located.

Also check your local library.

 

[Becky2005]

I just found out about this website:

http://www.collegeboard.com/

I was told someone used it to look for a school but I saw they had a tab for scholarship information. I did a brief test drive of it to see what was out there & a bunch of things came up.

I thought it looked good from the brief look. My DD is only a Sophmore so we are basically just dabbling right now.

 

[My sister's princess]

fastweb.com is a great scholarship search engine

 

[N.Bailey]

We too are going thru this process. Actually, my son just received his letter today that he was accepted at the school of his choice. I also have a daughter who is graduating this year, so we really have our work cut out for us in finding as much scholarship money as we possibly can.

The school my son applied to gave me this list to get started.
fastweb.com
collegeanswer.com/index.jsp
scholorships.com
collegeboard.com
fdncenter.org
fundingopps2.***.com
adventuresineduction.org/sbase/
collegeview.com
finaid.org
fastaid.com
collegenet.com/mach25
grantsandfunding.com
mapping-your-future.org
princetonreview.com
keycollege.com/indextwo.htm
faam.org
petersons.com/ugchannel/
freshinfo.com
salliemay.com
yahoo.com/education
collegescholarships.com
researchresearch.com
gmsp.org
srnexpress.com
srnexpress.com
chase.com/educationfirst
blackstudentfund.org
nasfaa.org
uncf.org (United Negro College Fund)

http;//firstgov.gov (says this is a 1 stop portal that allows searching by topic rather than by agency)

Adds:
Check local churches organizations, clubs such as Kiwania, American Legion, and the Eagles, banks, high school counselors, and local newspapers and magazines.


I was also told that every Walmart gives out $1000 to 1 student a year, but that most don't advertise that.

 

[kendall]

FastWeb is pretty good. Another is SchoolSoup

 

[jsmith]

From experience-all those sites are good for general stuff-but most of the really useful information we got came after my boys were accepted-schools generally dont give out information on what is available specific to that institution until a student is accepted.

 

[Sparx]

ALWAYS DO YOUR FAFSA!!

that is the most important step to getting financial aid. its strictly need-based. no academics come into play. and even if you think you don't have any "NEED" i'm sure you do, unless you have 100,000.00 laying around, then you have need! thats the biggest mistake people make. they assume that "need based" means that they won't get it. well, the money is just lying around out there, and someone has to get it. might as well be you, kwim?

www.fafsa.ed.gov

after the fafsa, look at your college, and see what they offer. i got a 5000/year scholarship from my college, simply for writing an essay.

after that, look locally. many local businesses/individuals offer small scholarships, and again, someone has to get them, it might as well be you.

 

[allison443]

ALWAYS DO YOUR FAFSA!!

that is the most important step to getting financial aid. its strictly need-based. no academics come into play. and even if you think you don't have any "NEED" i'm sure you do, unless you have 100,000.00 laying around, then you have need! thats the biggest mistake people make. they assume that "need based" means that they won't get it. well, the money is just lying around out there, and someone has to get it. might as well be you, kwim?

www.fafsa.ed.gov

after the fafsa, look at your college, and see what they offer. i got a 5000/year scholarship from my college, simply for writing an essay.

after that, look locally. many local businesses/individuals offer small scholarships, and again, someone has to get them, it might as well be you.

Just to clarify, FAFSA is not a scholarship application. It determines your eligibility for government financial aid. It also generates your EFC (estimated family contribution) which is used by the individual colleges in awarding financial aid packages.

The policies of individual schools vary, however, some schools do not require the FAFSA in order to receive merit-based scholarship.

 

[allison443]

and even if you think you don't have any "NEED" i'm sure you do, unless you have 100,000.00 laying around, then you have need! thats the biggest mistake people make. they assume that "need based" means that they won't get it. well, the money is just lying around out there, and someone has to get it. might as well be you, kwim?

That statement is really not accurate. A family's ability to pay according to the FAFSA is calculated on many factors, not just if "you have 100,000 laying around."
Many families are surprised when they see what their EFC is calculated to be. There are many factors that play into that.
Just look at the stats for any college. They will tell you what percentage of students receive need based aid.
Of course, it's a good idea to file the FAFSA, or at least run an online EFC calculator to see what your EFC will be.

Good luck to the OP!