Arbor View High School Counseling

SCHOLARSHIPS

Researching and Applying for Scholarships

Outside Scholarships: Many organizations and foundations offer scholarships for students attending college. Conducting a search for scholarships in the community or on the web may provide additional opportunities.

Specific Colleges and Universities:  Just about every post-secondary institution that you apply to will offer scholarships and financial aid for incoming freshmen. These opportunities are not available through the high school guidance office but rather by contacting the college or universities’ Office of Financial aid. The webpage of the college or university that you are considering should have a link to incoming freshman scholarships and the steps needed to apply. These scholarships are going to be more competitive at the major state universities (IU, Purdue). Private colleges/universities tend to offer more opportunities for scholarships to help offset the much higher tuition costs. Bottom line: Contact the college or universities Office of Financial Aid.

Merit-based Competitive Scholarships: These scholarships are funded through numerous organizations, some local and some national. The number of scholarships out there are far too numerous to list here. The best way to find out which scholarships fit your resume best is to go to the list of scholarship search engines provided.  Basically, these sites have you fill out a personal profile that will include your GPA, extra-curricular activities, community involvement, and everything else from gender to ethnicity. The database will catch the scholarships that you would be competitive with. Remember, these are open competitions, available to students throughout the country so just filling out the application does not mean you will win it. Scholarship searches can be a daunting task but very manageable if you get started early on during senior year. Never use a site or service that charges any fee to locate scholarships for you and never apply for a scholarship that charges a fee. If you are skeptical about any service or scholarship that you come across, always contact your counselor.