• Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Disclosure

TeensGotCents

Why wait to live a centsible life?

  • Common Cents
  • Job Cents
  • Shopping Cents
  • College Cents
  • Mom Cents
  • Blog Cents

How to Find College Scholarships

by Maeghan Teel Leave a Comment

It’s amazing how much college costs these days, and many people write it off as too expensive and they never get that degree that could make them more money in the long run. But with as much as college costs these days, there are a lot of scholarships out there that can offset the insane cost of college.

Check out these helpful ways on how to find college scholarships!

Good news is that it’s a lot easier now days to find these scholarships. There are a lot of $10,000 scholarships out there and a million other $5,000. There are many that don’t even require you to write an essay like this one from Unigo that’s worth $10,000. (https://www.unigo.com/scholarships/our-scholarships)

Unfortunately, many of these scholarships require you to already be enrolled as a student or future student in a college. However, because of this you have to already be dedicated to spend a large sum of money. Good news about this is these same scholarships also allow you to apply up until you graduate from college.

You won’t get every scholarship you apply for.

Know that you won’t get every scholarship you apply for. You probably will get one out of every hundred you apply for. Don’t let this scare you though. Someone once told me to think of this as a part time job. Spend about 14 hours a week doing this and you’ll be able to make more than you would at a part time job.

Keep in mind that every penny counts. Yeah those little $500 scholarships might not seem like much now, but in the long run that could be two or three months’ worth of payments when you calculate in the interest on the loan, if you have one.

For those of you with a loan this “part time” job is probably more ideal than a part time job. For those of you trying to pay month to month, keep in mind that there is no guarantee of a scholarship exactly when you’ll need it. This doesn’t mean it can’t still help though. By adding this to your part time or full time job you might not have to work your senior year.

Make sure you check out the colleges to see what kind of scholarships they offer. Some offer full ride scholarships if you apply early enough. Some have little perks like I got with getting all of my first semester textbooks paid for.

Have fun with it.

There are so many wacky scholarships out there, like ones for having blue eyes, or for writing a 100 word essay on what car freshener is best. People want to help out college students by giving out these scholarships, it isn’t always about writing the best essay, some of them don’t even require an essay.

Don’t over edit.

Don’t spend hours and hours spell checking and looking for grammatical errors in your essays. Yes, there are many scholarships where this counts, but keep in mind it’s not your application to Harvard. These people want to give students money they deserve, not find the next article for the New York Times. Definitely check your essays but keep it to a reasonable level when checking those itty bitty details.

Don’t Give Up!

If you get to about your fifth essay and you lose interest, take another glance at the dollar signs. The hours you spend on the essay could save you from several monthly payments, if not a year or two of payments. The few hours you spend on each essay could save you weeks’ worth of pay. Just keep the end goal in mind and stay focused.

Before you write this off as another thing that rarely ever helps someone, but this actually does work. I was able to get around $2,500 worth of scholarships through my college because of good grades and applying to the college within a certain time frame. I have personally been using some of these strategies and I hope to get a lot more scholarships in the future, and I hope you have a lot of success with this as well!

Make sure you apply to sites and programs that you trust.

Because these require so much information, you don’t want to hand out all of your info to a site and get your identity stolen or start getting viruses because you gave your info to the wrong person. Try to stick to ones that your college supports or advertises for, or do your own research and make sure it looks trustworthy.

Scholarship Sites to get you started off:

These sites require you to create an account and after you enter all of the information, they give you personalized scholarship results, so that you don’t have to dig through a bunch of scholarships that you aren’t even eligible for.

http://scholarships.com

http://niche.com

http://unigo.com

Share the Wealth!

About the Author
Maeghan

Maeghan Teel is a college student who loves to paint, draw, write, and read classic literature. In her free time she enjoys shopping clearance racks and looking at different ways to save money. As a college student she knows firsthand how tight money can be. She plans to pursue writing as a career when she graduates college.

You May Also Like These

Need some practical advice on going to college? Look no further! Christie Garton has put together a complete guidebook just for girls!Advice On Going To College From UChicHow can you improve your score on ACT or SAT? Check out these few helpful tips on how to do well on the ACT and SAT!How To Do Well on the ACT & SATVictoria Kistler is a teen you must know! At only 15 years old, she wrote an incredible speech about the dangers of student loan debt -- and she was just getting started. I talk to her about what inspired her to write that speech and how she uses the envelope system to manage her money and make smart savings moves. Her story and her drive to be financially independent will inspire you to do the same.Smart Money Teen – Victoria Kistler

Join thousands of other teens on the path to a secure financial future!

Get my eBook Seven Days to Centsible Savings when you sign up for my FREE email newsletter!

< Previous Post How To Afford A Puppy
Next Post > Seven Time-Saving Study Habits

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published - required fields are marked *

Hi guys, I’m Eva!

Welcome to TeensGotCents, my name is Eva Baker and I founded this site when I was sixteen. I'm a complete money nerd and I love helping teens learn how money works. Also, I watch too much Netflix. Although I still have a lot to learn about personal finance I hope you will use my successes and failures to help reach your own goals whether you want to go to college debt free, get a part time job, work on a fun DIY project that will save you money or just read about ways you can learn to manage your money well as a teen. So glad you're here! Read more about my story here.

Become a subscriber

Get my eBook Seven Days to Centsible Savings when you sign up for my FREE email newsletter!

Be sure to check out these popular posts

If you are a teen, and anything like me, you have never actually met with a personal shopper. I recently had the chance and learned so much about saving money and choosing clothes that work for me!

Can A Normal Teenager Afford A Personal Shopper?

Ben Lamb is a teenpreneur you should know! After noticing that his neighbor’s mailbox posts kept getting banged up and damaged from weedwackers and cars, he wanted to find a solution. With a little help, Ben and his dad created the Mailbox Post Shield! It was such a hit that he started a business installing Post Shields around his neighborhood. Ben shares his story, including how he makes profits and advertises, in this awesome teenpreneur interview!

Teen Entrepreneurs – Ben Lamb

A few years ago, I interviewed college student Tim Ciello about how he managed to land a full-ride scholarship to his dream school. Now, he’s back (and graduated) to talk about what life without student loan debt is like and what his scholarships ended up not covering. While he admits that he hasn’t exactly figured out money as an adult yet, he has learned tons of valuable money and life lessons during his time as a student.

Is Student Loan Debt Worth It?

Zan Campbell knows a thing or two about making a good first impression with the way you dress. As a helicopter pilot with the US Navy, he’s had to really work his way to the top, and one of the ways he did this is by styling himself in a way that was memorable and professional. Zan stops by the blog to give his best advice for teens who want to class up their looks and use fashion to their advantage.

Making A Good First Impression – by Zan Campbell

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Plus
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Disclosure

Copyright © 2021 Teens Got Cents  |  All Rights Reserved  |  Site Design by Emily White Designs