• General Information
• Scholarship Search Companies
• Scholarship Links

GENERAL SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION:
You will need to be aggressive to locate scholarships. Many scholarship are available in September, October, and November. If you wait until May or June, you will find the availability of scholarships is very limited. Please note that scholarships have deadlines!

Note—A number of the scholarships require the results of the SAT or ACT. If you are a senior and haven't taken one of these yet, you should plan on scheduling one soon. (Juniors, consider waiting to sign up for the May or June test so as to have another year of classes under your belt.)

SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH COMPANIES:

Many have asked about these companies. Their representatives tell you that they will locate many scholarships for which the student is qualified. Depending on the company, they may offer to send in names to colleges and universities throughout the country, tap into unused endowments, etc. Students/parents are charged anywhere from $100 - $1000 or more for these services. The conventional wisdom is that you can avoid these costly fees and do much of what the scholarship search companies promise for yourself.

A recent blurb in Good Housekeeping mentioned that when the New York Better Business Bureau asked 30 such companies to answer a raft of complaints by proving that their clients actually received aid, the firms could produce only three success stories from among thousands of clients. The article went on to say that you can find complete information on scholarships in a wide variety of guidebooks available at most libraries, high school guidance offices and college placement centers. It concluded by pointing out that many colleges even provide computerized scholarship information free to students and to applicants.

This is not intended as an indictment on all scholarship search companies. Some people were quite satisfied with the company with whom they worked. There are many free services available if you just look for them.

Websites to check out!
Coca-Cola Scholarship Website—You will definitely want to link on to this site sponsored by Coca Cola in conjunction with Seattle Christian. It has a database of over 600,000 scholarships, descriptions and links to government services and loan programs, top tips, a glossary to help you through the financial process, as well as numerous links to other helpful sites.

www.fastaid.com—FASTaid Free Scholarship Search - online access to a scholarship database and comprehensive guide to financial aid and scholarship acquisition.
www.cashe.com
www.fastweb.com
www.easi.ed.gov
www.absolutelyscholarships.com
www.collegeboard.com (Click on "Scholarship Search)
www.collegenet.com
www.collegeplan.org
www.get.wa.gov—Guaranteed Education Tuition Info