Students should be strategic in their scholarship search process. Here are some helpful hints: 

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*Apply for scholarships that are advertised by the colleges you will or have applied to. Oftentimes, you must submit these scholarship applications at the same time as your regular application. Check the financial aid pages of each school you are applying to.  

 

*Start by thinking small. Focus on scholarships open to smaller groups of individuals, such as local and Maine-based organizations before applying to scholarships that are open nationally.

 

​*Find scholarships that are focused on a particular major, or a demographic detail that pertains to you, such as "scholarships for women in STEM fields", or "scholarships for students with demonstrated financial need who are entering the trades".

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​*Create a spreadsheet or list of scholarships you intend to apply to, organized by deadline. Need a spreadsheet template? Email Ms. Lindsay and she will happily share one with you. 

 

*Once you have exhausted your search for local/state/industry-related scholarships, expand your search to large scholarship search sites, such as those listed below.

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Scholarships.com: The free scholarship search is one of the most established and robust, tracking a reported $19 billion in scholarships. After you fill out a profile, the site will use your criteria to filter through all scholarships to generate a short list.

 

Fastweb.com: Fastweb is also a free scholarship search provider that claims to have more than 1.5 million scholarships in its database. Like scholarships.com, the site will find scholarships in its database and email you matches, deadlines, and newsletters.

 

Chegg.com: Chegg is a textbook website that has a scholarship search function, offering more than 25,000 scholarships. The site also offers online tutors to help students with their scholarship essays.

 

Cappex.com: Cappex allows students to search both schools and scholarships, with a database of more than $11 billion in scholarships. 

 

The College Board: The College Board’s comprehensive BigFuture site helps students look up information about colleges and how to pay for school. Its scholarships search engine provides information on more than $6 billion in scholarships, financial aid, and internships.

 

Niche.com: On Niche.com, students can gain a sense of each school's "personality" by reading student reviews. They can also search for scholarships. Niche pairs students with scholarships that match their qualifications, with student-friendly categories like no-essay scholarships.

 

 GoingMerry.com: After you fill out a profile, the site will use your criteria to filter through all scholarships to generate a short list of scholarships that you may qualify for.