So I guess this is more of a rant, but has anyone else worked diligently on trying to find and apply for scholarships? I have worked so hard including applying for those on Scholarship Experts, Zinch, and Cappex and have won N-O-T-H-I-N-G. It seems like I am wasting my valuable time missing out on sleep and a life. I am so tired of not winning anything and it seems like all those scholarship sites are a scam because you can never win and the companies are bias towards who they want to win.
Did you apply to colleges where you might be in the running for scholarships? The best scholarships come directly from the colleges directly…given to admitted students.
Many people apply for scholarships that are easy and accessible so you have tens of thousands of students like yourself applying.
Scholarships are not lucky draw. Not everyone got a fair chance by applying. They do select winners based on their criteria. My D did apply to around 4 or 5 external scholarships and received one because of her stat, community services, and essays.
Apply local. The smaller the competition, the better your chances.
The deadlines of some of the local scholarships in our area are March and April. I would not expect to hear back from them before May 1, when you have to make your decision on which school to go to. So counting on them for your decision won’t really work.
The amounts are usually $1,000 or less and often not renewable.
You also need to find out how the college will treat these scholarships, you have to report them. Some will allow them to stack with grants and scholarships and others will reduce their aid in response.
Don’t be disappointed if you don’t get any. My D got one local scholarship and a small one from the state (both external non-renewable). At the end, the school just took out the same amount from the grant and we gain nothing.
Those scholarship websites are largely a waste of time.
If you needed merit, then you should have applied to the schools that give them for your stats.
What are your stats?
Also, at least in my experience, many of the scholarships (especially scholarship experts ones that I’ve applied to) won’t be notifying winners/finalists until well into April, May, and June. Of course a few of them have given rejections, but again most are still in the reviewing process.
Yes, I do have a merit scholarship and am applying for the scholarships offered to my school. I am trying to increase my ACT scores since they superscore and I am at a 27(which to me is sorta bad), however I now have a solid study method to increase my score and merit scholarship. I thought some of the essay ones on websites would have less competition, but I was wrong. I am applying for local ones like crazy. I do have the minority thing going for me and the reasonable smart and musically talented, but I mean, I’m getting no outside help (besides FAFSA and loans). I’m just not sure how people win those ones on websites because I stay up and work diligently on those essays and have tutors that graduated from all those fancy schools check it and still win nothing.
Many of the well known private scholarships there are hundreds of thousands of applicants. With only one winner or for some a handful do you really think you have a chance? Better to look for lesser known scholarships. Many minority ones every year have almost no applicants. Dig for those.