Where:
Applying for scholarships should come after you finish the first steps in the College Selection and Affordability Blueprint. You first want to decide on what makes you happy in life and start thinking of career choices, well before you start applying for scholarships.
Receiving money via a scholarship at a school that doesn’t offer a program you are interested in majoring in, only hurts you in the big picture.
Point: only apply to schools that fit your overall college selection “picture”. Your college planner can “pull merit monies” available for you and compile a list of places where you should apply. This is included in your “College Plan” service.
When:
You have to keep in mind that schools had out the money on a first come first serve basis. You definitely want to be at the beginning of the line when applying. Most people think that applying for a scholarship automatically enters and application for them to get into the school. That is simply not the case. You have to apply to both- and keep them separate in your mind.
Most deadlines for scholarships are around October. This is before the college app is due to the school.
How:
After you make a list of schools, apply to each school individually filling out the necessary paperwork (your planner can help you if you need support).
Scholarship money is deducted from tuition in various ways:
1) Financial aid money- scholarship money = money owed
2) Student Loans – scholarship money = money owed
3) EFC – scholarship money = money owed
4) Straight tuition – scholarship money = money owed.
It’s important to run various scenarios because it could save you thousands in the end.
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Have you attended our free Info Hour Workshop? We go over everything you should know about applying for college, the financial aid process and college selection. You can register right here. It’s our most popular workshop!
