Over the next several months, prospective college students will finally know which schools have accepted their applications and, perhaps more importantly for many, how much financial aid — scholarships, grants, work-study and so forth — they will receive.
When the so-called sticker price on some undergraduate degrees is close to a quarter million dollars just for an undergraduate degree — full cost of attendance is more than $60,000 per year at quite a few schools — it makes sense to consider total costs as one of the key variables in the final decision.
However, there is a way to potentially even the playing field for one of the more pricey schools on your list if it is that important to you. Or maybe you are an accepted student seriously considering only one or two schools and you still need money to pay for tuition and all of the other expenses of attending college.
Outside scholarships are the great equalizer here. Since it is January, some deadlines have already passed and many more are coming and going each day, so you need to get moving and prioritize accordingly. Below are some steps for how to do that, in order of importance.
[Target these quick and easy college scholarship applications.]
Step 1: Verify with the financial aid office at all colleges you are seriously considering attending and to which you have been accepted that the outside scholarships — those not offered by the college — will supplant loans and not grants or scholarships the school has included in your financial aid letter.
If you are spending time finding and applying for scholarships outside the university, only to have them take an equal amount of money away, you are not making any progress toward a debt-free degree — your ultimate objective. Few will achieve that level, of course, but you won’t even approach it if the college is taking away aid as you find more on your end.
[Try talking to these people to find more college scholarships.]
Step 2: You should have a list of scholarships by now, and if you have been searching and organizing your scholarship prospect list, you can easily determine which have already been considered and to which ones you have applied.
Of the ones still under consideration, you should now sort by deadline and review them once more. It is time to make another list, a subset of your original list using priority as the top variable of consideration. Time is no longer on your side, so you need to determine which of those still available and desirable you will go after, and do so with time playing a big part in your decision.
Step 3: Don’t waste your time. If you see a scholarship that is due tomorrow, review all of the requirements and make sure you will have time to do all of the other things that require your attention — and complete the scholarship application while following the requirements and instructions to the letter.
If it requires two hours of your time, figure out where you can fit in two hours between now and the deadline, or move on to the next application. Don’t get three-fourths of the way through the process and look up at the clock to find it is now 12:04 a.m. of the day after the deadline. That was time you could have spent on successfully applying to a scholarship that is due in the coming days, weeks and months.
[Target the five best places to find college scholarships and grants.]
Step 4: Once you have determined how many and to which of these scholarships you want to apply, you should make notes and create a special calendar exclusively for scholarships.
This calendar should take into account all of your other important commitments and allow you to continue to perform well in school and pursue other activities. It should realistically lay out a timeline for applying for scholarships. Stay organized and don’t waste any of your precious time.
If you are still looking for some scholarships to apply to, the following have deadlines coming up in February.
— Hollister Co.’s Anti-Bullying Scholarship : This $2,500 renewable award is open to all seniors with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average who have persevered while experiencing bullying. Students must submit a 500-word essay, among other requirements, by Feb. 1.
— “We the Students” Essay Contest: Applications for this scholarship, worth up to $5,000, include an essay about the country’s founding principles and documents. Students ages 14-19 must apply by Feb. 7.
More from U.S. News
3 Reasons to Apply to High-Effort, High-Dollar Scholarships
Make a Plan to Prioritize Your Scholarship Applications
Follow 4 Steps to Narrow Your College Scholarship Search
Follow These January Steps for Scholarship Success originally appeared on usnews.com
