<p>Wow, this is my first post since my freshman year (whether it's good or bad that I've stayed off of CC, that's up to you).</p>
<p>I am now near the end of my junior year and have come looking for advice on scholarships from you seniors. I have made the scary realization (or rather my parents have) that I have not applied to a single scholarship my entire high school career. But I think I have some problems: most of the good scholarships out there are for seniors, and a lot are also for specific colleges. </p>
<p>Let's make it short and sweet:
What do you recommend that I do?</p>
<p>almost all scholarships are for seniors. you don't need to worry too much about it right now.
keep an eye on your local community scholarships... probly your guidance office has info about that stuff
also check out FastWeb:</a> Scholarships, Financial Aid and Colleges
Remember, your biggest scholarships will come from the colleges you apply to, so start writing some essays. outside scholarships are realistically not going to add up to much. many of them are so specific that most people don't qualify... such as your mom has to be a librarian or seomthing, and many of them are based on need, so that excludes some people. generally, the biggest time to apply for outside scholarships is around this time next year, right after you've turned in your college apps
*ps how are near the end of you junior year? it's only halfway through.</p>
<p>Thank you JohnC for stating what I keep trying to tell people here....outside scholarships are great, but they are usually not a realistic way to pay for a large part of your college education. The bigger scholarships are incredibly difficult to get and the local ones which you have a better chance at attaining are usually for only one year and provide from a few hundred to a thousand dollars. And, once you get through your freshman year, there are very few scholarships available. </p>
<p>Institutional scholarships (those through the university) are a better bet. But to get them, you have to apply to schools where you're in the top few percent of the applicants to have a realistic chance, so this is by definition NOT going to be a reach school.</p>
<p>If you know what you want to go into then tell the colleges when you apply because sometimes there are scholarships for freshmen thinking of certain careers. For instance, math, teaching and nursing are really looking for people and may help with scholarships.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the info--I am very relieved to know I am not late.</p>
<p>I have a Fastweb account now, and have a ton of scholarships that show up. The only thing that scares me is my chance of actually winning; I'd rather not waste hours writing an essay on Robert Louis Stevenson only to find out that I did not win the scholarship. Do most of the small ($500 or less) scholarships have much competition? Thanks again!</p>
<p>P.S. lol, you're right, John, I'm only halfway thru, but I guess I'm a pessimist (or just bad at math)</p>
<p>No, you're an optimist, cooljoe! You're almost a senior!</p>
<p>I agree with entomom that the most likely place to find a scholarship is through the school you will be attending. Some wonderful schools have fantastic renewable scholarships. But, the more selective the school is, the less likely it will offer merit scholarships. So do your homework. Here are some links that might help you:</p>
<p>Look at the merit award column. I actually copied and pasted all the data into an excel spreadsheet and sorted by that particular column; it helped to see it in that order.</p>
<p>After the specific universities and local scholarships your best bet might be corporate scholarships, especially if they are state/county/area specific.</p>
<p>Concerning colleges awarding merit aid, there is something that I just realized--I made a terribly stupid decision in choosing Harvard as my top college for the PSAT since I believe it doesn't even award money to National Merit Scholars. I should have chosen some other colleges, and I am REALLY beating myself up over this.</p>
<p>I have checked with my school, and apparently it has some pretty generous scholarships to offer to the senior class (one year a student got $12000 in scholarships).</p>
<p>cooljoe, if you're selected as a NMS Finalist, you have until March or April to designate your final 'top choice' college (unless you're just worrying about other colleges seeing your scores) - if you're selected as a semifinalist (around September), you send in a card with your top two choices, and later (if finalist) choose your top choice, which is ultimately what determines which school gives (or doesn't give) you NMS money. In other words, stop beating yourself up over it - you're fine. Good luck with the scholarship search!</p>