Archive for January, 2010
Where Do You Start Your Scholarship Search?
If cost weren’t a big factor so many more students will choose to go to college. Unfortunately the sad reality is that college education is very expensive these days and most people can’t afford to get a degree. Some can pay for higher education without blinking but a huge majority will need financial assistance to keep their college dream alive.
The most ideal form of student aid would be college scholarships because they dont need to be repaid. Through scholarships students can focus on their studies straight away without worrying about the problems of repayment after graduation. Preferably students should aim to finance most of their college education through scholarships instead of student loans.
However winning scholarship awards is also challenge. In order to have a good chance to win an award students must make sure that they are 100 eligible for the scholarship. But with so many scholarships being offered researching for scholarship awards can be overwhelming. To manage your time efficiently for searching for scholarship awards you must know where to start looking.
The best starting point would be information from your high school guidance counselor and this is helpful for two reasons. First guidance counselors have a lot of information about local scholarships that are offered to graduating high school students. Local scholarships comprise of specific scholarships offered only to people living in specific towns or states so competition for these scholarships will be reduced. Secondly your guidance counselor would also have some knowledge about your strengths as a student as well as your accomplishments in high school. This means that your guidance counselor may also suggest other types of scholarships that you could be eligible for.
Now that you know what you qualify for youll be able to search for more specific scholarships that suit your characteristics as a student. This extra knowledge makes scholarship hunting on the internet less tedious because you know what it is you are looking for.
Colleges and universities are another source for scholarships. Many schools offer scholarship programs for their students so it would be good to check the websites of the schools youre considering. Assess their scholarship programs so you can see which ones you can qualify for.
Your parents networks are overlooked sources for scholarships. Ask them about the organizations that theyre part of be it a community or a religious organization. These organizations may offer student aid for the children of members. Your parents companies may also offer the same benefit.
Lastly do not overlook corporate scholarships. Big corporations like Cocacola Toyota and Best Buy offer scholarship awards as a way of giving back to the community. Many of these awards are unrestrictive so they are open to most students. It would do you no harm to send in your application for these awards as well.
About the writer: J Clark is a writer for http://instantscholarshipsearch.com. His task is to provide information tips and advice for students in search of scholarships.
What Type Of Financial Aid You May Qualify For
Do you need financial aid to fund your college study? If you need it do you know what type of financial aids you can look for? Most students will search for scholarships first before they look for other alternatives while other students may just realize a few of them making them miss the other opportunities to get money to fund their education. Let’s explore the type of financial aids available for college students so that you have a better idea on what to look for.
There are many types of financial support given out by various organizations universities and colleges either private or government bodies to college and universities students. While a few of them are free money which do not to be paid back others financial aids are offered to the students in a form of loans that need to be repaid after the students complete their study.
In general financial aids for students can be categorized into 4 groups:
Group 1: Gifted aids Grant Fellowship and Scholarship
Most students know what scholarship is. But many are confused with grant and fellowship. What are the differences between these three and how you can qualify for any of them?
In fact both scholarship and fellowship are subgroup of grant. Grant is the gifted financial aids that provide to the students without the need to be paid back. In some extend fellowship is the same with scholarship which is the free money given to students for funding their education. Most often fellowship refers to a fund awarded to graduate students at universities or colleges. Whereas scholarships are awards at degree or certification levels based on merit or academic achievement. Since they are gifted free money many students are competing to win them and you need to outperform other competitors in order to secure one. Hence when you apply for these grants make sure you are qualified to apply and meet the application requirements else you application may not even get reviewed.
Group 2: Student loans
Most often students who fail to secure any grant will turn to apply for student loan if they really need a financial aid for their study. Student loans need to be paid back. But you should aware that there are student loans being offered with zero interest by charities and associations. If you need to apply for a student loan you may want to give first priority to the loans with zero interest so that you just need to pay back the amount you have borrowed. Other than the zerointerest loan some student loan may offers in partial scholarship form. It allows you to pay back only a certain percentage of the loan amount if you achieve excellent result in academic or merit.
Group 3: Work study
Most colleges and universities offer jobs to their students so the students can earn money to fund their education cost. This is a type of financial aid program to enable students to work at the college or university where they study and earn the money to support the tuition fee and part of their living expenses. Because of the vacancies are limited you need to apply it early. There are not many requirements you need to fulfil in order to qualify for the work study as long as you show to the school you need the job to get the money to fund your education.
Group 4: Waiver
Under some special circumstances schools may allow the students to attend their degree program without the need to pay for tuition fee and other related costs. This is a special financial aid program that enables students to attend the degree program for free but it has rather strict eligibility requirements that you need to fulfil if you want to qualify for it.
Summary
You are not limited to scholarships and student loan to get a financial aid for your study there are more than two types of financial aids you can look for. Hopefully you have understood them and make sure you don’t miss the opportunities for the type of financial aids you are qualified for.
About the writer: Amelia Turner is the author of http://www.youronlinedegree.info. This site featured over 120 online universities and you can get more information on over 1000 of Accredited Online Degree Program at this site.
What To Look For In A Roommate
Your college roommate what will he or she be like? Some people get assigned to a roommate their freshman year and it’s a match made in heaven for the rest of their college years. Other people have shown up at school to learn they must have done something bad in a past life or at least the nightmare of a roommate they end up with makes them feel that way. Roommate situations are tricky. Sometimes people who are the best of friends will not stay that way when they decide to live together. If a roommate does become your friend that’s terrific but you can have a great roommate experience without befriending your roommate. And before you decide that rooming with your best friend is the perfect solution for the sake of the friendship you should read the following tips.
Make Sure You Two Have Comparable Sleep Schedules
How boring does this sound? The fact of the matter is though that having the same ideas about when to be awake and when to be asleep can make or break a roommate situation. Imagine what would happen if you are a student who likes to burn the midnight oil but your roommate can’t sleep unless there’s total darkness and quiet in the room at eight o’clock? Before you agree to be roommates with someone make sure that if you’re a morning person he is too.
Similar Priorities
Party Girl and Bookworm would probably be a great sitcom but in real life these two should not room together. If you have a wild and crazy friend who wants to be your roommate it will only work if you’re wild and crazy yourself. Otherwise as much as you love your friend you’re going to hate her as a roommate when her wild craziness starts interfering with your ability to get anything done in the room.
Compatible Personalities
Ironically how much you like each other has the least effect on whether or not you’ll get along as roommates. If you and your roommate become friends for life think of that as a terrific bonus. You are much better off having a college roommate who keeps the same hours and has the same ideas about how the room should be used than by deciding to live with one of your best friends and then damaging your relationship because your schedules and priorities conflict.
About the writer: Elizabeth Saas is a frequent contributor to CareersandEducation.com. Elizabeth Saas is a feature writer that covers topics relating to MBA Programs and online colleges.
