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Make a Plan to Prioritize Your Scholarship Applications

By U.S. News & World Report

By this time of the year, many of you are just a day or so away from submitting your FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which will be critical to determining your college financial need. I have read articles that estimate the amount of Pell Grants that went unused is in the in the $2 billion to $3 billion dollar range.

Don’t wait — get it done before school starts up again. Remember, the FAFSA is free, so get started on Jan. 1 . In the future, you will actually be able to complete your FAFSA sooner than this, but for 2016, you must wait until the start of the year.

If you have also been searching and reviewing scholarships for which you are eligible, you should have a pretty decent list by now of those for which you not only qualify, but also find compelling or have some level of confidence you can win.

If you have not yet narrowed down the list you generated with all of your search efforts, do it now. Make sure you have a workable list of scholarships for which you intend to apply. You should then start prioritizing depending on the size of this list, deadlines of the scholarships and amount of work required for each.

Follow [four steps to narrow your college scholarship search.]

Before you start completing any applications or writing essays, it might be a good idea to categorize them into groups. One group might be “essay scholarships,” for example.

Once you have pooled these together you can determine whether there is enough overlap to allow you to use a single essay for more than one scholarship. Also, sorting them by deadline date and estimating the number of hours it will take to complete each one is critical.

You don’t want to get four hours deep into a scholarship and realize you won’t be able to complete it before the deadline. Be organized and save yourself the agony. This is why it is critical to prioritize and create a plan, and schedule and execute it efficiently so that you are not wasting precious time and sabotaging this critical part of going to college.

Learn to [reuse and recycle college scholarship essays.]

Once organized, you are ready to get after some of these scholarships! Armed with all of this knowledge and preparation, you can now start writing some essays, editing them according to suitability and necessity and carefully and confidently submit them.

As always, make sure you are following the instructions to each scholarship to the letter. Don’t spend hours on an essay and application and get tossed in the garbage because you didn’t thoroughly read and follow the directions.

Below are some examples of essay and resume scholarships. Some may want a specific prompt answered, others may require a basic writing sample and still others may only require a resume”from you. Maybe take a look at them and see if there is a way you could apply to more than one of them with a single essay, if with a bit of editing.

Target the [five best places to find college scholarships and grants.]

If prompts are similar or general enough and there is no rule forbidding you from doing so, you may be able to use a single essay multiple times.

As you can tell, there are many different types of essay scholarships available to you, and not all of them will be suited all of you. But, if appropriate, perhaps start with the Bird Dog Foundation Annual College Scholarship Essay Contest. You have plenty of time to apply, as the deadline is not until April 15. The first place award is $1,500 and second place is $1,000.

There is no time to waste if you are going to apply for the Albuquerque Ecologist Open Space Scholarship. The deadline is Dec. 31 — that’s today! The winning author will receive a $500 prize.

Third and last for this post — but there are tons more at Scholarships.com — is the Silver Pen Writing Competition. This award has a deadline of Feb. 27 , so you still have plenty of time to contrast and compare other scholarships you find and determine whether it is a good fit and how you might combine or reuse any of the other essays you have written. Four levels of awards are given, from $500 to $1,500.

More from U.S. News

Find Scholarships for Current College Students

3 Ways for First-Gen Students to Maximize a Scholarship Search

Shoot for These 5 Big Deal College Scholarships

Make a Plan to Prioritize Your Scholarship Applications originally appeared on usnews.com

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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