The thought of getting free money to complete your education can be exciting. But once you start to search for scholarships, some of that excitement may fade.
Why? Because wading through all of the available scholarships can be daunting. And even though there are so many out there, you may not find any that fit your needs.
Well, before you give up on your scholarship search, know that there are ways to improve it. And this improvement process begins by avoiding these mistakes when trying to find financial aid.
1. Skipping over scholarships due to their titles.
When looking for financial aid, don’t assume that you’ll find scholarships with names that are a perfect fit for your situation. For instance, some scholarships may have names that seem completely out of your range. They may seem like they’re intended for other types of students, when you could actually be eligible as well.
A perfect example of this is the AES Engineering Scholarship. Just by looking at its name, you’d think you have to be an engineering student to qualify for the award. However, a closer look at the scholarship shows that it’s open to all fields of study. In other words, you could get this scholarship even if you’re studying nursing and not engineering. But if you skipped over it due to having “Engineering” in its name, you’d never know that.
Want another example? How about Lounge Lizard’s Web Design Scholarship. Again, by looking at the name, you’d think you have to be a web design student to qualify. A closer look at the eligibility rules shows that you don’t have to be, though. All that’s needed to qualify is to submit a web design file, which you could easily do, regardless of your field of study.
In short, read the eligibility requirements for all scholarships. You could find several diamonds in the rough that could put a huge dent in your college costs.
2. Only searching for scholarships in your field.
When starting your scholarship search, it’s a good idea to look for financial aid in your study field. So, if you’re going after your nursing degree, a quick search for “nursing scholarships” would be a smart move. However, making that your only move is a mistake, as you can find many more scholarships outside of that limited scope.
Think outside of the box when doing your search. If nursing is your field, look for scholarships in health care. If you’re studying accounting, look for finance or business scholarships. By expanding your scope, you open the door to more financial aid opportunities.
3. Stopping your search prematurely.
Scholarships differ in many ways. Some may be for high school students, while some may be for college sophomores or adults looking to go back to school. Keeping this in mind, you should never stop searching for scholarships until you get your degree.
By searching throughout each step of your college journey, you can keep finding scholarships to make it much more affordable.
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