do i have to pay to apply for scholarships?

Question

or is it free?
how many scholarships do most people apply for ? how many scholarships did you get? do i have to be smart to be awarded scholarships? or is it like a random draw?

Answer 1

It is totally free to search and apply for college scholarships. Most base it on the essay you write as a part of your application or an interview. There is even a duct tape contest in which a person wears duct tape to the prom and is judged on their creativity. Very few are a random draw. You will be judged on style, creativeness in some cases, your plans, and originality. Before submitting any essay, I recommend having 2 or 3 individuals read it for proof reading and for making a good solid point. I will include some free resources to locate college scholarships.

First, the college's financial aid office and website has a list of private scholarships offered from outside organizations and companies. Sometimes a college major's website will list scholarships, too.

Second, the public library has a book listing scholarships with some not even listed on the web.

Third, the high school guidance office has a list of local scholarships and state scholarships & grants.

Fourth, fill out the FAFSA form because it will tap into need based financial aid from the state and federal governments along with the college itself.

Fifth, a campus work study job can help with money needed during the school year. The program is funded by the federal government. It will be a job on campus and most times can work to your availability schedule. There should be a box on the FAFSA form for it.

Sixth, good grades and SAT/ACT test scores do pay in the form of merit scholarships. Individual colleges and the state government hands them out. As a result, it pays to study and work hard on schoolwork.

Finally, I recommend joining several free membership scholarship search websites, but the best I have located is Scholarship Experts since they have a very thorough and lengthy survey to complete compared to Fastweb. There are scholarships for a variety of things including ethnicity, clubs, hobbies, and even wearing duct tape to the high school prom. Most are updated on a regular basis. Most offer a customized search based on information entered onto a form on the website.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Never never never never pay to apply, search or receive a scholarship. I applied for about 4 scholarships and received 2 in my college career. I have seen a scholarship for almost every person offered and some are random some require financial need some want essays and others are drawing contests.

Answer 3

It should be free, other than mailing costs or the costs to get your transcripts to send to them. If they ask for money, beware! They probably aren't legitimate.

That's the good news. The bad news is that scholarships are fairly rare; they account for only a very small part of the financial aid that goes to college students. Most go to the very top students and/or those with unusually strong talents (athletics, music, etc.). I've never heard of a scholarship being a random draw, and I would guess that of nearly 600 students in my department, maybe 20 or so have scholarships, and only maybe three or four pay for a substantial part of their education. What you need to look at is a total financial aid package. That would include grants (money given by the government to students whose financial status makes it impossible for them or their parents to pay for their education), loans (for most people, the largest part of the financial aid package), and work-study hours, which is money you can earn by working on campus.

In addition to the scholarships given through the university, you might look at what else you might be eligible for. For example, some companies have scholarships you can earn if you are the son or daughter of an employee. There are scholarships given to nontraditional (older) students, and even some donors have made money available to people who share a particular last name or who have a particular heritage. All of these things are competitive - in other words, you don't automatically get the scholarship if you fit the criteria, but if you apply and are the best of the applicants (and sometimes only one person will apply), you might get them.

Answer 4

You don't have to pay to apply for a scholarship. I would even suggest you don't. I have applied for several scholarships and won 2 of them. You don't have to be smart, but many scholarships ask for an essay. But, there are some that have random draws. One of scholarships I won required an essay. The other was from my college and required a certain GPA.