If applying for college isn’t stressful enough, now begins the even greater worry of how to actually pay for it. And, for many families, the idea of taking out large student or parent loans packs on enough anxiety to trump any glory of your child getting into the college of their dreams.

Thankfully, there are literally millions of dollars worth of free scholarship money just waiting to be pocketed by college students (and high schoolers) who are willing to put forth the effort.

Unfortunately, most people simply don’t know where to begin to look for scholarships and they’re overwhelmed by the mere idea of finding scholarships let alone applying for them.

The good news is, it’s far easier than you think. And, you don’t have to be a stellar athlete, have impeccable grades or be flat broke to qualify.  In many cases, you can score free money simply by applying for scholarships that match your individual interests, talents, and skills.

Scholarship Search Sites: Getting Started

Scholarship search sites are a fantastic way to find free money for college.  Each site has a large database of scholarship opportunities with a wide variety of scholarship values – oftentimes ranging from $500 to as high as full tuition.

Many of the sites require students to register and complete a profile page. While some profile pages are more in-depth than others, this is the primary way the site will match your individual skills, talents, and interests with available scholarships, so it’s important to take the time to complete the profile page.  You’ll be required to include relevant details such as age, race, gender, test scores, GPA, extracurricular activities, major, etc.

Once your profile page is complete, you’ll have access to a list of scholarships that specifically match your profile.  Quite often the scholarship site will alert you via email or text of any new scholarships that become available that match your profile.

A Few Important Things to Remember When Applying for Scholarships

• Deadlines Matter.  Before you begin the process of applying for scholarships, take note of the deadline. If you can’t make the deadline, move onto the next scholarship.  Scholarship sponsors take deadlines very seriously.
• Essays Matter.  Just as your essay mattered when applying for colleges, your essay will matter here.  The more effort you put into your essay the greater chance you have of being noticed and possibly winning. (Not all scholarships require essays.)
• Low Scholarship Value = Less Competition = Greater Chance of Winning. When it comes to winning scholarship money, you need to take the competition into consideration – especially when it comes to national scholarships where you can be competing against hundreds (and possibly thousands) of other students.  Keep in mind that the big scholarships valued at $10K or more are often highly sought after – far more than the $500 to $2K scholarships.  While you should still apply for any large value scholarship opportunities that are of interest to you, oftentimes your chance of winning will improve greatly if you focus your efforts on the lower valued scholarships.

 To Get You Started, Here are 7 of the Top Scholarship Search Platforms:

Fastweb

Fastweb is one of the better-known scholarship search sites out there and it’s easy to see why – it’s a terrific free resource.  They have a massive database of monetary awards – upwards of $1.5 million – that connects you directly to scholarships that match your unique skill set, interests, and strengths.  Plus, this site also offers helpful career advice and learning tools.

Unigo

Unigo is another terrific resource to find free money for college. The easy-to-navigate site has 3.6 million scholarships worth more than $14 billion.  They have a huge database with scholarships, awards, and grants that cover everything from need-based to unique and fun scholarships. Users can browse through the available scholarships or use the scholarship match tool to instantly find ones that are a perfect fit.

Cappex

With more than $11 billion in available scholarships, Cappex is definitely a site you’ll want to visit.  Their scholarship database taps into available scholarships from colleges, universities, private companies and foundations to help you find a scholarship opportunity that matches your unique strengths.  Just complete the free profile and start browsing.

Scholarships.com

Scholarships.com is a great tool and resource that you won’t want to miss.  Not only does this site offer 3.7 million in scholarships and grants and $19 billion in financial aid to help pay for college, the site also offers tools to help you find best-fit colleges that are perfect for you.  The site allows you to zero in on specific scholarships based on your major, year in school and location which not only saves time but also increases your chance of winning.

Scholly

What makes Scholly great is the fact that is was created by students for students.  They know what it’s like to search for scholarships and they’ve made it as simple and accurate as possible to navigate.  They have awarded more than $100 million in scholarships and they’re dedicated to helping students like you reduce the cost of your college education.

Big Future

Big Future is a scholarship search website that is operated by College Board.  Here you’ll find a great selection of scholarship opportunities, but what’s really terrific about this site is its wide array of financial aid and tuition planning advice and tools.  The site is packed with a ton of great information including informative articles, videos, and college guides.

Peterson’s

Peterson’s is not only easy to use and navigate, but they also have 5,000 scholarship providers, 1.5 million scholarships, grants, fellowships, prizes and forgivable loans, and $10 billion in scholarship awards.  Plus, they offer a link to Scholarship Owl that allows you to apply for hundreds of scholarships with one application.

If You’re Serious About Finding FREE Money for College, I’ve Got You Covered! Head On Over to My FREE RESOURCE PAGE and Download my FREE Insider’s Guide to Scoring Scholarships

Finding and winning scholarships can be a bit of an art… however, once you get the hang of it, it’s really not difficult or time-consuming.  As a mom who has helped my kids win more than $100K in scholarships, let’s just say I’ve learned a few valuable tips and tricks about scoring scholarships along the way.  Honestly, if I can do it, anyone can!

In my FREE e-book “Scoring Scholarships,” I share ALL my secrets!

You’ll learn where to look for scholarships, how to improve your chance of winning, how to minimize the work associated with applying for scholarships, and so much more!  And, it’s totally FREE! Download it HERE!

Happy scholarship hunting!