Hey all!!
I’m thinking about scholarships and have no idea where to begin! I’ve tried looking a little, but nothing really jumped out at me. I’m willing to try for any kind, although I’m not a great essay writer. I do enjoy photography, learning French, playing cello, and doing creative, artsy stuff. Any suggestions for scholarships? Thanks! 
Maybe ask @kidacat since he applied to 57 scholarships.
How much can your parents pay each year for 4 years? What are your stats? How much do you need in scholarships to make college affordable.
The best scholarships come from the college you will be attending. Where are you applying?
Did you talk to your guidance counselor about local scholarships?
Try something local. It would be a lot easier to get those, although in small amounts.
My parents can afford to pay for a public instate (Texas) college–they just got done paying for my brother’s private college tuition out of state. So I’d say around $20,000ish. However, they said that the amount I earn in scholarships is what they will pay towards medical school. More scholarship money = the less I have to pay for med school (quite the incentive)!
I’m an A/B average student (3.4 UW, 3.9 W) in honors classes, and I made a 29 on my ACT. I’m actively involved in orchestra and take part in a couple clubs inside and outside of school (French Honor Society, Photography club, etc).
I’m applying to Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and a couple other Texas schools. I’m planning on talking to a counselor at A&M and my school counselor, but I’d love to hear what others have found!
Sounds like you have a good plan. You can apply to outside scholarships if you want to, but never count on them; the most reliable – and, generally, largest – strategy is to find merit money at schools. Staying in-state is a good idea as far as this goes.
If you do want to apply to outside scholarships (on top of applying for scholarships at colleges), I can give you my (partial) list from senior year. Personally, I never had any luck with local scholarships – rejected from every single one, even though I won multiple national programs. I think it just varies from student to student, but the locals are always worth a shot.
Applying to a bunch of private scholarships may not get you what you want. Not only do many have a “need” component, but they’re also typically only for frosh year. Not going to reduce each year of your college costs to $20k.
If you want multi-year awards, you should apply to the schools that give them for YOUR stats?
Are you retesting? An ACT 29 is right below the mark for many larger awards. Often an ACT 30 or 32+ is needed.
That said, schools like Texas Tech, UT-Dallas, and a few others might give you awards for your scores.
There are other “private” scholarships that your counselors can point you to. Try asking them.
That’s what I did. Great decision, on my part.