<p>Is there anybody who has gone to college in previous years and has explored Non-Need based scholarships? These days, most scholarships tend to factor in need, which is something I do not have on paper, but I actually do have. Any help would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>Most scholarships come from the governemnts and from the colleges themselves. There are a number of scholarships available from outside sources but they are statistically very few in comparision to the first two sources mentioned. Fastweb is a good source for some of those and keeping your ears open for local scholarships is another good source for that small section of funds.</p>
<p>In order to get merit scholarships, your best bet is to find out which schools give them, and where you stand among the applicant pool of that college. The best awards tend to be the schools where you are outstanding. The USN&WR Ultimate College Guide gives a list of schools that give a lot of merit money, and you can then see where you stack up in the stats at those schools. It also helps to get out of your area where the school might get many, many apps. For instance BC is much more likely to give one of of their scholarships to someone from the South, Midwest or West rather than from the NE or Mid Atlantic area. They are flooded with Catholic school grads from those areas standing in line to go to BC and they don't need to buy a student with that profile. If you fit a need or desire the school has, it also increases your chances. Female engineers are desireable, particularly in schools that have lopsided M/F ratios and males fare well when things are the other way around. If the school has a small department for which it is not well known, that is a special niche where you might be better recognized.</p>