By Natalie Dresner, Social Media Editor
So you just got your acceptance letter to the college you plan on attending. Everything seems to be going your way, until you remember the cost of tuition for this dream school of yours. Many high school students find themselves in a situation where they have too great of an income to receive financial aid, but they also do not have enough money to pay for the education they desire.
Most people have heard of scholarships and how they can substantially reduce the out of pocket cost for a higher education. It can be overwhelming when looking for a scholarship. Often students do not think they are qualified for a scholarship. In reality, there are so many scholarship opportunities and more likely than not there is some kind of scholarship that applies to you.
Scholarships cover a large range of topics from sports, academics, hobbies, heritage, ethnicity and even eye color; the scholarship possibilities are endless. Since there are so many options, it is difficult to know where to start.
Websites such as highfivescholarsships.com are great at finding scholarships for each individual student. The process begins by filling out a profile where the student will state his or her extracurricular activities, hobbies and other information scholarships are offered for. Next, a list of available scholarships appear from different companies and organizations.
Apply for any scholarship you can, even the ones that do not apply to you. There is no harm in applying even if you are not confident you will receive the scholarship.
One scholarship opportunity that is commonly overlooked is the A+ scholarship program. Many students do not plan on attending a community college and will not participate because they believe the program only has use at a community college. However, this is not true.
Many universities suchs as Lindenwood University offer a scholarship similar to that given by the community colleges. Most of these universities will have another requirement in addition to the completion of the A+ program. At Lindenwood for example, the amount of money offered to the student is based on ACT scores as well as successful completion of the A+ program.
The biggest piece of advice anyone can give you is to try for as many scholarships as you can and do not rule any of them out because you do not think you will receive them.
