When to apply for scholarship?

Paying for College
1

<p>I am currently in my junior year and have already started worrying and fretting about college... I live in Spain and as a result am applying as an international student. Since college in the US does not come cheap, I have done some research on scholarships, although I can't seem to find many that could apply to me (take the CollegeBoard scholarship search for example... I state that I am an international student and the first scholarship that comes up is one that requires the applicant to be a US citizen). </p>

<p>Besides my troubles finding adequate scholarships, I have a lingering doubt: when does one apply for a scholarship? After being accepted by a college, or before? On one hand, some scholarships are only granted to "designated institutions" and paid directly to the college to cover for tuition, etc, and on the other hand, without the financial aid provided by the scholarship one wouldn't even consider applying to the college...</p>

2

<p>you definetely dont have to wait until you're accepted by a college to apply for scholarships. i know of some scholarships that require you to be a junior in High school (like the Discover Card one), so you should start soon. i started applying for a few towards the end of my junior year. but it was a the beginning of this school year when i REALLY started applying for a bunch of scholarships, especially hispanic/minority ones since i'm puerto rican. i know what you mean about collegeboard. i only checked the puerto rican and hispanic box and scholarships only for black students came up.</p>

<p>there are 3 basic ways to get "free" money for college.
1 outside scholarships (not for a specific school)
2 ummm..."inside" scholarships (ones given by the university if you go there)
3 and fafsa/css profile financial aid</p>

<p>hope this helped. buena suerte!</p>