Scholarship Resources

Tired out all scholarship options or simply just don't know where to start looking? Here are a couple of options worth checking out. 

Cash for College
* The College Access Foundation of California, sponsors more than $250,000 in Cash for College
scholarship awards to local area students in the area of Los Angeles, CA
www.lacashforcollege.org/

* Princeton University

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Scholarship Database
*This premier scholarship opportunity is afforded to Latino students who have a history of performing public service-oriented activities
in their communities
*There is no GPA or major requirement
* Downloadable directory:
http://www.chci.org/chciyouth/resources/2008-2009_Directory.pdf
* Regional scholarship directory:
http://www.chci.org/chciyouth/scholarship/regscholarships07.pdf
* National scholarship directory:
http://www.chci.org/chciyouth/scholarship/natscholarships07.pdf

Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
* Young Scholars Programs
* Undergraduate Transfer Scholarships
* Graduate Scholarships
www.jackkentcookefoundation.org

Latino College Dollars
* Scholarships for California’s Latino Students
* Information on how to plan for college and how to pay for it
* Downloadable list: http://www.latinocollegedollars.org/directory.htm#
www.latinocollegedollars.org
Office of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard Scholarship Directory
* Different qualifications apply– please visit the listed website
* Various deadlines and awards
http://www.house.gov/roybal-allard/2008_Resource_Guide.pdf

Scholarships.com
* Start early & search for scholarships while applying to colleges
* Review your scholarships by deadline, dollar amount & more
* Create one-click custom scholarship application request letters
* Search colleges and universities
* Get admission info & more
www.scholarships.com

Scholarships for Hispanics
* Directory that allows you to indicate citizenship status
* Provides information only on scholarships that student would qualify for
http://www.scholarshipsforhispanics.com/directory/

Fastweb
http://www.fastweb.com/

Zinch
http://www.zinch.com/scholarships/search

Most of these resources where taken from the Maldef website.
*Photo taken by me while at Princeton

College Guru

5 Tips on Applying to Scholarships

While searching for scholarships myself I came upon this cool article on tips that will help you win scholarships. I got the article from Fastweb, a scholarship search site. Here is what it said.

Cal Poly : San Luis Obispo

By now, you know that winning scholarships is hard, like really hard. You feel like you’ve applied for countless scholarships with zero results, and you’ve nearly given up on winning anything along with your dream of going to or finishing college.

So what can you do?

If you haven’t heard this already, you’re hearing it now: winning scholarships is a numbers game, and the more you apply, the better your chance of actually winning. Essentially, if you want to win a scholarship  giving up is not an option; no matter how tired, frustrated or rejected you feel because of the process.

So here are some tips:

• Be honest with yourself: how many scholarships have you really applied to – a couple, five, 10? Those numbers aren’t going to cut it. If paying for school with scholarships and financial aid is really so important to you, then devote more time to your applications. If you’ve been applying to one scholarship a month, that’s not enough. Spend a half hour every day on applications or a few hours a week; whatever works best for your schedule. Lets say you end up with 2,000 dollars in scholarships and you have worked 40 hours on scholarships, if you do the math that's 50 dollars an hour which is way better than any job will pay. 

• Look for more search options:Are you exhausting all of your scholarship search options? If you log onto Fastweb and merely look at your scholarship matches, that’s doing nothing to help you win a scholarship. Look at all of your scholarships and mark those that interest you and actually apply for them. Visit the site frequently too — don’t wait months to log back on.

Cal Poly: San Luis Obispo

• Search in your community:  Reach out to your high school guidance counselor once a month and ask him or her about community scholarships. Scour your local newspaper for scholarship opportunities, and don’t shy away from entering contests, sweepstakes or promotions with a dollar prize. You can use that money for school too! 

• Every little bit counts:When you see a scholarship for $500, do you skip over it and look at the scholarship for $10,000 instead? Here’s a little secret: scholarships with a smaller award amount don’t get the same volume of applications as a $10,000 scholarship, meaning your odds are better. So don’t skim over the small amounts – that’s $500 less you have to pay for college, right? And if you win several $500 scholarships, that can really add up.

• Get a head start on next year: Some scholarships aren't renewable so get a head start! Being prepared for next year will give you better options and there are thousands of scholarships for undergraduate students!

*Photos where taken by my friend when he was at Cal Poly SLO.