WHAT ARE SCHOLARSHIPS?

You don't need to pay back the money, but Start early and look diligently. Finding scholarship money for college takes time, use reputable and accurate scholarship search services on the Internet to save time in the searching process It is a common misconception that scholarships are only for straight-A students. In reality, there are all types of scholarships for all types of students, including those with less than perfect academic records.

Also ask your high school guidance counselor about any local or state awards that you may qualify for, and be sure to contact the financial aid office at the college or university you plan to attend to learn if you qualify for any awards provided by the school. Don't psych yourself out before you start searching for scholarships. Scholarships are out there in all shapes and sizes to help you pay for college, and the only real reason you won't get any is if you decide not to search and apply for them!

Finally, students should ask their parents and friends to be on 'scholarship alert' for them, always checking local newspapers and bulletin boards for local scholarship listings.

3 different types of Scholarships :

Merit-based - financial aid for which financial need is not used to determine the recipient. The recipient may be determined by students’ athletic, academic, artistic or other abilities. The actual monetary value of the scholarship may be negligible, the scholarship being meant to motivate the student and promote the study of the subject. However, this is not always the case and the largest scholarships are almost always merit-based.

Examples of these are the National Merit Scholarships. Competition can be very keen for some larger merit-based awards and because of the subjective evaluation process, the best-qualified candidate does not always win.

Need-based - financial aid for which the student and family’s financial situation is a primary factor in determining the recipient. Usually such scholarship will cover all or part of the tuition and may even cover living-costs. Very often even need-based private scholarships require the awardees to be distinguished students, as the deed founding the award may include a phrase like: “for the studies of founder's favourite subject in founder's favourite institution of higher education for a talented youths of limited means from founder's home town/county/state etc.“ Need-based scholarships are sometimes the only way that students can afford to attend costly schools.

Ethnicity-based - financial aid where applicants must initially qualify by race, religion, or national origin. After filtering the applicants based on their ethnicity, additional factors are taken into consideration to determine the final recipients.

One serious note : BE AWARE OF SCAMS, If you have to pay money to get money, it's probably a scam, The best way to avoid being the victim of a scholarship scam is to remember the old adage: "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is". Be very careful about giving out your personal information to companies without credible, clearly stated privacy policies - the last thing you need is an email inbox full of spam and a mailbox full of unwanted solicitations.

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