If you’re a student reading this, chances are you’re planning on applying to college, or perhaps, you already have. With rising college tuition costs, however, that coveted acceptance letter may not be the end of your college application journey. College is expensive, and even if your parents are willing to drop upwards of $200,000 for all four years at a private college, they’re not going to begrudge you for trying to alleviate that burden.
Scholarships provide high school students from a variety of backgrounds and talents with money they can put toward their education. If you look hard enough, you’re sure to find a scholarship that fits you, but the sheer amount of options may make it hard to find these opportunities. Below, find some resources that can help you get the best bang for your buck:
Fastweb Scholarships
Fastweb provides a free database of over 1.5 million scholarships for high school, undergraduate and graduate students alike. Making an account is free, after which students are directed to provide information about their interests, club involvement and GPA. Fastweb will filter the opportunities and provide each applicant with their own unique list tailored to their interests. It also emails each user when new opportunities arise.
Niche
Niche doesn’t just rank colleges and high schools — it also highlights scholarship opportunities. After making an account and providing demographic and academic information, Niche users can explore its scholarship tab and apply directly on the website, including for some exclusive Niche scholarships. Niche also provides a service known as Direct Admissions, which, per its website, allows “high school seniors [to] get accepted to a participating college based on their Niche Profile alone — no application needed.” Essentially, based on just their GPA and other standardized information, students can receive admissions offers and even scholarships without a fee or the hassle of writing an essay.
BigFuture
College Board itself offers a scholarship service known as BigFuture. It lists certain goals for College Board account holders — anyone who has ever registered for an AP exam, PSAT or SAT will have one — that students can complete: these include making a list of colleges and taking career quizzes. The more tasks a student checks off, the more entries they will receive in the monthly lotto drawings for scholarships, some of which can total $40,000.
