When do most people start applying for scholarships?

[SallyMac]

DS is a high school junior and will probably attending the local high school for the first time next year. I was wondering when most people begin researching and applying for scholarships? Should we wait until senior year or should we be doing this now...he hasn't applied anywhere yet as he is a junior. He will most likely go to the state university which is 15 minutes from our home (saving the cost of room and board...if he doesn't eat too much of mom's home cookin') as there are 2 formerly homeschooled boys in our neighborhood who have full scholarships and friends who live in the next town who are also on full or generous partial scholarships. All of these boys including my ds have taken classes at this university while homeschooling high school.

[Raders Fan]

Well, I'm one who likes to research and plan everything out. While you don't generally apply for college-specific scholarships until the senior year of high school, there are many other scholarships available. Most are for high school seniors, but there are some available as early as 7th grade.

 

There are numerous scholarship search engines; I use fastweb.com. But you can also check with your high school for other opportunities. For local scholarships, they will often have info that is not available elsewhere.

 

HTH,

Jennifer

[Hannah C.]

Most scholarships are for high school seniors to apply to. National Merit scholarships are given based on PSAT test scores from junior year. There are a few scholarships for juniors out there, but most of the time it's seniors.

 

Some colleges have earlier deadlines for people who want to apply for scholarships; others have separate scholarship and admission application processes. Find out what this college's deadlines are and work with them.

 

It was fall semester of my senior year when I really started worrying about college applications and admissions. You can do it spring of senior year as well, but I think it's better to start earlier. You're more likely to get better financial aid and scholarships that way as well, I think.

[Gwen in VA]

My kids have each received over $400,000 worth of merit scholarships, but, except for the National Merit one, they have all been scholarships offered by the colleges themselves.

 

Colleges offer merit scholarships in a variety of different ways. Some colleges automatically consider all applicants. Some require the applicant to check a box and that's it. Some require essays. Some have earlier application deadlines. Some have scholarship competitions that require going to the college and doing interviews.

 

Read all the information about scholarships on the college websites VERY carefully!