Sources of Money 2: Search Engine Scholarship.com

On Tuesdays we review a source of financial aid available to help you pay for college

Margaret was returning to college to get a second bachelor’s degree. Her first degree, in social work, did not interest her. She wanted to teach and coach in high school. She worried that no one would offer scholarships to obtain a second degree. She completed her profile on the scholarship search engine Scholarship.com. It listed 64 scholarships for her. Not all of them were a perfect match, but they gave her hope.

Multiple Features on Scholarships.com

As with several search engines, you complete the profile to see a list of scholarships that match your experience. Make sure you always click “No Thanks” whenever you see it or they will sell your email address to other companies. You will find 2-3 questions on each page that should require a “No Thanks” for 1 legitimate question on the profile.

Scholarship.com (www.scholarships.com) provides several other great features. Look for them on the bottom of the home page. Click on the link you wish to explore. The specific scholarships will appear on the left side of the window:

• Remember as you complete your profile that every item listed provides money
• Scholarships sorted by grade level, major, state, and type
• Contests and sweepstakes (avoid them)
• Federal aid, information, tips, grants, and student loans
• Strategies for completing applications
• College searches
• Good information about campus life and other “Resources” to help you
• “List a Scholarship” allows companies, families, or individuals to offer money
• Examine the “Unusual Scholarships” at the bottom of the page

Cautionary Features on Scholarship.com:

• Clicking on the window in general tends to open an application for Discovery Card
• Once again, there will be 2-4 offers that require you click “No thanks”
• Delete the contests and surveys from the list of results
• Avoid the “We Help Colleges Recruit” section unless you want unsolicited emails
• Scholarships.com does not provide a summary page, but links you directly to the scholarship sponsor’s pages

We hope you get money from Scholarship.com.

Thursday we review how reusable letters of recommendation reinforce what you say