Tip for Scholarship applications!!!

   Oh my!!! I am going to graduate in five months!!! How on earth do I pay for college??? Well, you should have already been working on them but, if you haven't, all hope is not lost because there are quite a few scholarships you cannot even apply for until the first of the year when tax forms come in. So, here are a few helpful tips...
     Fill out your FASFA. You can do it online for free at the FASFA website, Never Ever pay for it. Also, on the "paying for scholarships" issue, never pay more than a postage stamp. If the website is not free then find a new one! (fastweb.com is a great, free site) After you have researched and done your homework narrow down the colleges that you are considering to three or four and focus on them, there a lot of scholarships that will only work through certain schools and programs in those colleges. There are also a lot of scholarships that work in any accredited college, you just have to hunt for them. Google scholarships for your desired major or for the schools that you want to attend.
    Do not be afraid of writing essays, you are not being graded, the worst the school or foundation will do to it is not pick you to receive the scholarship. If the scholarship requires an essay...write one!! If you write enough good essays, and turn them into enough places, one might win. When you need reference letters, make sure you give the person you want to write your letter AT LEAST two weeks notice before you need to have it in the mail. If you wait until three days before it is due, the first day he will forget to write it, the second day he will have to go to a funeral, and the third day he will leave it at home. Oh, and make sure you give them a list of your achievements and awards so they don't say you were in the band when you really played basketball or say that you are and A/B student when you really have a 4.4 GPA.  Lastly, go work on them NOW!!! If you wait too long you WILL miss out on the opportunity to get many of these scholarships.