Scholarship Advice for Students

By Danny Menter on April 17, 2012

We’ve all had that sinking feeling watching the total on the register climb steadily upward under a massive pile of textbooks, pens, calculators and folders — the hope that there would be some money left over to pay rent slowly fading way. How did school get so expensive? The average tuition rate has been on the rise over the past 20 years, increasing almost 37% between 2000 and 2010. That’s almost a $5,000 difference. Meanwhile Florida has downsized their Bright Future Scholarship program to the point where a 100% scholarship no longer covers 100% percent of tuition.

Photo by espensorvik via Flickr.com

Coupled with an ever increasing workload from professors, students can feel drained and unprepared to keep up with what’s expected of them. Many students are now turning to scholarships to help cover the difference and are discovering that you don’t have to be a world class athlete or a math genius to snag one.

The first step in landing a scholarship is doing your research. How much are your bills going to be at the end of the month? How much of that will be covered by financial aid or government grants? Fill out the FAFSA first to make sure you’ve exhausted every opportunity for free government grants. Although the Pell Grant and Stafford Loans are need based, it doesn’t hurt to spend an hour filling it out with your parents to find out. Often times the school will award aid to students just for filling out the application early, a good idea is to start getting your paperwork ready in February to be sent out in March. When you have a rough idea of how much you need you can start narrowing down your search to the award amounts you need. FinAid.org and sites like it show you how much scholarships are worth as well as information about guidelines, savings and loans.

Next, find out what you’re good at. Do you write short stories in your free time or take photography classes? Do you like camping or building models? Most scholarships are based around three different areas: academics, athletics or the arts; with a wide variety included in each category. If you have a hobby there is a scholarship out there for you, no matter how strange (The Eileen J. Garret scholarship is awarded to students interested in studying the paranormal).

This next step is the easiest but probably the most difficult for students: look for one. Set aside a few hours at least one day a week to doing research on the web. There are literally hundreds of websites dedicated to helping students look for scholarships. Sites such as Fastweb.com guide you from the moment you apply to tips on how to write your essay and financial planning. FSU’s scholarship page is a great resource to start with especially if you’re a current student. Write down qualifications, deadlines, and word-counts, the little details are the ones that set you apart from the competition. If the scholarship you’re applying for requires you to write an essay, and most do, proofread it. Send it to the Writing Center on campus; a polished, well formatted paper will shine and show that you’re serious and dedicated.

Last, don’t get down on yourself. There’s no limit to how many scholarships you can apply for so if you don’t get pick picked for one don’t give up. It’s a numbers game.

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