Scholarship Contests

Scholarship Contests
Scholarship Contests are another interesting way to earn money for college. The competitions usually do not provide the biggest awards, but they do offer opportunities to a wider range of applicants than the traditional merit based scholarships. You are not likely to win full tuition, but who couldn't use an extra $500 or $1,000?

While most contests have a minimum requirement for grades and/or SAT scores, it often is set low enough that average students will qualify. Many contests emphasize something besides the academics. Most often, an essay assignment is the key factor in determining winners. Also, community service or experience in a particular area are highly prized by many organizations sponsoring contests. This sort of "levels the playing field," and gives students with ordinary grades a great chance to win an award, even though they may be competing against the class valedictorian.

Who sponsors these awards? Well, any organization that is trying to promote a cause or simply gain some publicity for itself. Sponsors range from fairly obscure, such a smoke detector company promoting fire safety, to the prestigious JKF foundation, which promotes good government. Your high school counselor can probably tell you about local organizations that have such contests.

Many scholarships contests are used to attract attention to a particular product or service.
This site: FreeScholarshipGuide.com sponsors a $5,000 contest and gives a free list of scholarships to anyone who registers online. Maximize your chances of wining by entering as many of these contests as possible.

Also, considering using one of the online databases, such as ScholarshipExperts.com. It's free and very fast. You'll be surprised to find how many scholarships are available.

If you would like more links to dozens of scholarship contests and other types of scholarships and grants, please consider purchasing our downloadable College Financial Aid Guide. It has reviews of the best scholarship search sites available, as well as links to more than 100 private scholarship foundations. It will save you days of browsing the Web, and is the best way to maximize your scholarship opportunities.

Of course, feel free to continue using the free online version of our guide by clicking the link below, or click the "Home" button at the top of the page for the guide index.

Go to page 8: Federal and State Grants for College.