Finding Scholarships

I am a senior and high school and searching for scholarships, and am having trouble finding reliable websites. A lot of the websites I have found link me to drawings that pick random winners-- many of which seem kind of sketchy. I have a high GPA and am fairly involved extra-curricularly so I was hoping to find some merit based scholarships. Does anyone have some tips on how to find legitimate scholarships?

The best and most financial aid comes from the university itself.

The online sites don’t give you the money you need and it’s typically only for one year.

You need the big bucks. Start filling and saving the FAFSA (FREE Application for Federal Student Aid). The universities use this application and the CSS profile to figure out dollars that you may qualify to receive. The application information then goes to the schools Financial Aid offices that you have listed on the app.

https://fafsa.ed.gov

I’ve already done my FAFSA and state aide and all of that. I’m looking for scholarships to cover the rest and books or other expenses.

Here’s the problem with that: if you do happen to get an outside scholarship, you have to report it to your school. Most schools take that amount and reduce your aid by that amount. Does that make sense?
So if you received $35K from the school and your outside scholarship was for $5K. Then that $5k is deducted from your $35K, so you get $30K of aid and it doesn’t reduce your EFC.

For reliable web sites, go to your guidance center at school. They usually have a list of available scholarships from your local Kiwani’s, VFW, Car dealers, and they have the names of reliable web sites.

@“aunt bea”

The student would need to check his college. At many places, outside scholarships can be used for UNMET need.

They cannot be used to satisfy the family contribution…and that is where students will see their need based awards reduced if they receive outside scholarships.

YMMV! However…so check each school policy.

As Aunt Bea mentioned, talk to your GC in your HS. There are frequently small local scholarships available.