Most students thinking about college at one time or another wonder how they’ll be able to afford to pay for the large expenses of tuition, books and lab fees. That’s where college scholarships come in, free money for school because you excel in one area or another. While good grades certainly do help there are lots of awards you can win without having the best grades. In fact many applications never even ask for transcripts, they just read your essays and review your other materials. The following are tips on how to win a scholarship for college.

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The Personal Essay
This is required by almost every college for applications and many, many college scholarships so you should get used to writing extra essays. The personal essay often involves a prompt or question asking you to write one to two pages about who you are, what you like to do, your goals and so on. The key to the personal essay is to make it personal, really personal. Remember there is only one you in the world and that is what will make you stand out. Lots of people have 4.0+ GPAs, work, do sports and so on. But the things that make you stand out and make you the person you are have to do with little items like how the loss of your parents in a fire caused to you have a fear of fires but overcoming that fear and becoming a firefighter will help you get past the tragedy and move on with your life. This is an example of something very specific that will instantly make your essay stand out. When a judge has hundreds of essays to read he will remember one like this. Also know that your personal story doesn’t have to be dramatic or tragic to be noticed, just something specific that gives the reader an impression of who you are and what you’re all about.

Community Service
Hopefully you’ve done some community service because all those volunteer hours will pay off big, in the form of college scholarships money. School scholarship committees reviewing applications love seeing community service on your resume because they want people who enjoy giving back to their community and trying to make a difference in the lives of others. If you haven’t done any service hours yet look into it with one of the major organization like the American Cancer Society, Heart Association or any of the many walks held each year for fundraising. If none of that appeals to you then go to a local school or senior citizen community and volunteer your time reading and helping others.

References
When seeking a scholarship for students, most people will list their school teachers as references and get letters of recommendation from them which detail what good students they are and how they are always attentive and so forth. These are great, but it’s even better to have references and letters from outside sources like employers, community service advisors, or personal grown-up friends who can judge your character and have stories or experiences they can share to back up their statements.

The Odd Ball Competitions
There are thousands of small odd little competitions each year ranging from essay competitions to word searches and building robots. Find your niche and do some research. Since they are less well known there are less people entering which increases your chances of winning some of these smaller college scholarships. Remember, every little bit adds up.