Check this out!

If you're confused about the whole college admissions and financing game you're not alone. Fortunately, there are more resources than ever to help you along your college journey. And, although weeding through the books and websites can sometimes be overwhelming (there are a lot of sub-par sites out there), every once in a while a great resource will come along!

The U.S. Department of Education has recently launched a new site that helps students organize the college process. The cool thing is that this site features real-life students and their stories to inspire and motivate you in the process. 

If you have questions about college, paying for college, applying for college, and finding the right school, I definitely recommend that you bookmark this site: www.college.gov.

Have a great day!

Oh, by the way: if you want another great resource, sign up for my weekly newsletter by visiting my site: www.collegeboundresource.com.

Desire will win scholarships.

I'm on a diet. No, I guess you can call it a "lifestyle change." I need to lose some weight pretty quick because I'm going to be a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding and I don't want to be the one that ruins the pictures. Those strapless dresses are brutal.

You're probably wondering what this has to do with scholarships.

Losing weight is hard: it takes dedication to sweat off those pounds, discipline to eat the right things, and a strong desire to lose weight that keeps you from quitting. It's also hard because you don't see the results right away. In fact, sometimes it looks as if the scale hasn't moved and you feel like all that effort was pointless. Scholarships work the same way.

To win scholarships, you need dedication to search and find awards that you qualify for. You need a whole lot of discipline to take the time and apply to the scholarships you've found. And, MOST IMPORTANTLY,  you need a strong desire to win awards and pay for college that will keep you from quitting. 

Students who win a lot of scholarship money have a strong desire to pay for college without spending money out of their own pocket. If you want to win awards, you need to cultivate this desire within yourself. Trust me, you'll need it. Desire will keep you going even when you get rejection letters. (And you will; everyone does.) The difference between those who end up winning many scholarships and those who don't is the fact that they keep on applying even when they face the rejection-letter setback. Their desire carries them through and motivates them to keep applying. Desire is the fuel that rockets your scholarship search and application process forward, and to win awards you need to have it. 

Please stay tuned for an upcoming post as a follow-up. I want to give you some ways that you can conjure up a feeling of desire within yourself and become highly motivated to pay for college using scholarships. Until then, happy hunting! 

Can anyone win college scholarships?

The short answer? Nope. I know this might be hard to hear, but there are certain characteristics that make up scholarship winners. Some people haven't developed these skills. 

The long answer? With the right mentality, work-ethic, and planning scholarships are within anyone's reach.

Here are six characteristics of scholarship winners. If you want to win awards, start by developing these skills:

1. Creativity. 

Most scholarship winners are creative thinkers. Now, this doesn't mean that you have to be the next Mozart, but you have to be able to think outside the box. You look for scholarships off the beaten path, thus increasing the odds you win because there are less people to compete with.

2. Work Ethic.

There is no quick fix when it comes to paying for college. If a deal seems to good to be true, it is. Scholarship winners know that it takes some work to search for, find, apply, and then win scholarships. If it sounds like to much work for you, you're not going to win a dime.

3. Planning.

Scholarship winners plan ahead. They know that if they start looking for awards early, they can develop a plan of attack. Based on the scholarships they've found, they develop the skills required for these awards, earn the grades necessary to qualify, or join clubs related to their interests. 

4. Interpersonal Skills.

Applying for scholarships is more than an individual effort. Most require recommendations of some sort, and scholarship winners know that their relationship skills directly impact the quality of those recommendations. Developing genuinely good relationships with your teachers, coaches, friend's parents, and community leaders will help set you apart from other applicants through the stellar recommendations you'll get.

5. Leadership.

Now, this is cliche, I know. However, being a leader is more than being the captain of your sport's team. It's an attitude toward living. Most scholarship winners are self-starters that motivate themselves and in so doing motivate others. When you develop or possess this quality, it is evident in your essay or interview and manifests itself as confidence. When you inspire confidence in scholarship committees, they feel confident giving you money for college.

6. Resiliency.

Most scholarship winners apply to many awards with no luck. They receive numerous rejection letters. However, the people that win scholarships are the ones that keep trying and are resilient in their efforts: they don't give up. 

Notice, none of the traits of scholarship winners include straight A's, awesome athlete, or musical genius. Why? Because these things just aren't necessary to win awards. In fact, academic achievement, athletic ability, or musical skill are often the result of the characteristics listed above. The fact is, you (or anyone) can win awards if you spend time cultivating the skills I just listed. It worked for me.

Gap year scholarships.

Before you read this post, please see my previous post on gap years.

The conclusion of yesterday's article was that gap years are not for everyone, and they can be quite spendy. However, today I found a new book that explores all sorts of financing options--so your year off does not become another financial headache.

Where's the Map? Create Your Own Guide to Life After Graduation helps you create your own path to self-discovery (whether that is through college or not), lists scholarships available to those opting to take a gap year, and combats stereotypes about those taking a year off before college. 

The book authors are also offering scholarships for those interested. Applications are due August 1, 2008 and will be awarded in September.

If you are interested in more information about the scholarship program or the book, visit the website: www.wheresthemap.com.

Not sure about college? Consider a gap year.

Well, your parents may or may not like it, but more and more students are deciding to defer their freshman enrollment for a "gap year": 12 months of self-discovery, travel, or work depending on the situation. While this is a personal decision, a gap year is not always a bad choice. For more information on taking time off before you goto college (and to find out if it is a good decision for you), check out this article. 

Odd scholarships.

So, you don't have the typical "skills" required to win a scholarship, huh? Just to prove that anyone can win a scholarship for anything, here's a link to some pretty strange awards. Also, be motivated: what unique talent do you have? I bet there is a scholarship for it.  

What David Cook and American Idol can teach you about winning scholarships.

Last night, David Cook took away the title: he was crowned this year's American Idol. This win came as a surprise to me. Personally, I thought that Cook's competitor, David Archuleta sang better on finals night. The question is: why, then, did David Cook win? And what can he teach us about winning college scholarships?

If you watched the show from the early stages, Cook stood out as someone different: he was innovative, original, and most of all, memorable. People started labeling him as "the rocker." If you want to win scholarships, you need to be memorable, too. You need to be labeled. (I know this is a somewhat disturbing prospect, labels are so superficial.) However, labels help people remember who you are because you own a category in their brain. An association. I would argue that Cook won because he was better positioned as a rocker--a definite label--for a longer period of time. He was more memorable in the minds of the audience. Archuleta, while a beautiful singer and captivating performer, did not own a significant label in the audience's brain. Only recently did he become the "prodigy" or "phenom," and too late to capitalize.

Like Cook, as scholarship applicants, you must own a place in the scholarship committee's brain in order to stand out from the crowd and increase the likelihood you win an award. What is your niche? What is your unique talent or ability? How will you stand out? 

Today, literally everyone participates in everything (student council, NHS, sports, music, drama, etc.). Participation in a variety of activities is good, but not a way to stand out anymore. It is the depth, rather than breadth of your experiences that helps you stand apart. To find out how you can better package yourself (be remembered like "David the Rocker"), it is important to take stock of your activities. Are there any over-arching themes? 

For example, let's say you play football. What other ways did football manifest itself in your activity list? Did you coach a youth team? Volunteer for the special olympics as a coach? Work as a ref. for a part-time job? On student council did you organize a fundraising event around a football game? If this were the case, you did a variety of volunteer, work, and extra-curricular activities, and football was the theme that tied them all together--making you "Joe the football star" instead of Joe: Application 276.

Pam Proctor, author of The College Hook: Packaging Yourself to Win the College Admissions Game, identifies the top 10 "college hooks," or areas that people position themselves to increase their odds of gaining admission into top schools. These "hooks" translate easily into the scholarship application process as well:

1. The Athletic Hook

2. The International Hook

3. The Music Hook

4. The Political Hook

5. The Technology Hook

6. The Humanitarian Hook

7. The Science Hook

8. The Writing Hook

9. The Drama Hook

10. The Multicultural Hook

Do you have significant expertise, ability, or talent in any of these areas? Do you have significant skill in another area not listed? Take a look over your activities list: try to find a over-arching theme that can tie your activities together. If you do, you have the potential, like David Cook, to captivate scholarship committees, become memorable, and win awards that pay off huge. 

Why you need to look (and apply) for scholarships.

There are many ways you can fund your college education. The best way, in my opinion, is through scholarships. And boy have I heard the objections lately: "I can't get scholarships," you tell me, "they are too much work and I am not a [fill in your excuse here: 4.0 student, athlete, music prodigy, artist, etc.]."

The fact is, you can get a scholarship and the work is minimal in comparison to other ways of earning money. Here is why scholarships are so great:

1. Unlike loans, you do not have to pay scholarships back. They are a stress-free way to fund your education.

2. Scholarships are everywhere and for anyone. There are scholarships for being a loyal friend, skateboarding, making cool YouTube videos, and the list goes on and on.  

3. You can earn scholarships at any time. That's right, they are not just for high school seniors. Start looking for scholarships early (even in junior high) and continue looking for them throughout college and beyond. Once you learn how to find and win them, you realize they are not just for school. Traveling abroad? Starting a business? Involved in a non-profit? Scholarships can help you to reach many of your goals.

Now that you know how great scholarships are (which I am sure came as no surprise), get motivated to apply.  Applying and winning a scholarship takes a mere hour or two of your time, and the results are typically worth the effort. Consider this: winning one scholarship worth $1000 is the amount you would make working two 40-hour weeks during your summer vacation (and that's only if you have a well-paying job). To put it a better way, two hours applying for scholarships paid you $500/hour. Now that's a kick-butt paycheck.

The moral of the story? You can't afford not to apply for scholarships, so please don't give me any more excuses! 

If I Can Do It, You Can Do It.

In 1999, I was looking forward to college. I was tired of high school and excited for the next step in my "life journey." There was just one (huge) problem. My family landed in the financial in-between area.  On paper, it appeared we were more than capable of paying for college.  In reality, I was in charge of paying tuition. Scary? Umm, slightly. I had a mere pittance in life savings and it was spring of my senior year. How the heck was I supposed to go to college with no money?

I started applying for scholarships mostly out of desperation--I needed them. I didn't want my college memories to be of working long hours, struggling to pay my tuition every semester, and being stressed by balancing a full course load and a job. I wanted to leave college with memories, not a boat-load of debt.  So, scholarships were the way to go. I learned all I needed to know about scholarships through trial and error, through experience, and a lot of research on the subject. The good news? It worked! I paid for my entire undergraduate tuition with scholarships. All of it.  I have no debt, and tons of great memories from college. The bad news? It took a lot of hours learning the tricks of the scholarship trade, searching for awards, and packaging my application materials.

That's where this blog comes in. I will post content and information that will make your life easier. That way, you'll have the tools you need to make your scholarship hunt a success. I hope to help put you ahead of the pack when it comes to applying for and winning scholarships. 

Just remember, scholarships are out there waiting for you. All you need to do is try and apply--I look forward to helping you along the way. Hey, if I did it, you can too.