Tips for Applying for Scholarships

Dreaming about your scholastic future? If you want to make your college dreams a reality, now is the time to start figuring out how to pay for school.
Awareness about scholarships and prudent financial planning can be the deciding factor for students to looking to attend top rated schools. As tuition costs increase, paying for college can become an obstacle for many families, but there are a myriad of scholarships out there to help you fund your education.

Here Jerry Pawlowitcz, a financial professional with AXA Advisors (www.axaonline.com), offers some tips which students can use before they apply for scholarships:

• What are you involved in? Identify skills and talents (like music or athletics) that you can incorporate into your scholarship and college application essays.
• Plan ahead. Students should research scholarships for the first year of college in their junior year of high school.
• Keep an open mind and take the time to review all scholarships. Read over descriptions and qualifications.
• Seek out academic counseling. Counselors have resources and can recommend the most appropriate scholarships.
• Be sure to select valid scholarships and be wary of scholarships that are "guaranteed" or require fees upfront.
• Be sure to look to employers, labor unions and associations. They often offer scholarships to children.
• Explore community resources such as local foundations, service clubs and religious organizations that may sponsor scholarships for which membership is not a requirement.
• Contact Dollars for Scholars, which is a network of scholarship foundations based in communities throughout the United States. Chapters often coordinate local scholarships via a single application process. For more information visit www.dollarsforscholars.com for local community listings
• Visit local libraries and bookstores where you will find a vast quantity of resources on scholarships that can help you find ones that are applicable.
• Start logging onto Web sites that provide scholarship guidance. To start:
  • Scholarship America (www.scholarshipamerica.org)
  • National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (www.nasfaa.org)
  • FinAidSmartStudent Guide (www.finaid.org)
  • FindTuition.com