'Money, Money, Money, Money.......MONEY!'

One of my duties here at the has been to help identify appropriate and relevant scholarships for our students to apply for. This is something that I (and most people with significant student loan debt) wished somebody had helped me out with when I was applying for and in college.

Everybody has heard of those crazy and unique scholarships dealing with left-handedness, little people, duct tape and even vacuum coating. In my research, I have found the complicated, unique and downright odd. But what scholarships are right for you?

I have found a couple good sources that help individualize scholarship searches. If you are in the market for scholarships, here are some good places to start:

1. CollegeBoard
2. CollegeNet
3. Department of Education Financial Aid and Scholarship Wizard
4. Kaplan’s Scholarships 2012 Guide

In my opinion, the best place to start is to find scholarships that best suit YOU and what your passions are. If you’re returning to school after an absence, active in your community or were in your high school band there’s scholarships out there for all of those things. The more passionate you are about (insert hobby/activity here), the more that will come across in your essay (if one is necessary).

The Essay

As many of you that have applied for scholarships know, the essay can, and is usually the determining factor in who receives the scholarship.

There are several schools of thoughts and tips of how to structure your essay. My first piece of advice? READ THE INSTRUCTIONS (see #12 on this link). You can disqualify yourself awful quickly, and waste a lot of time if you don’t. Here are some of my tips for the application process:

1. Read the instructions and make sure you understand them.
2. Proofread, proofread, proofread
3. Have multiple people read your essay.
4. Make an outline BEFORE you start writing.
5. Make sure you answer all questions the essay topic poses.
6. Show passion; write about what you love (if applicable).
7. Don’t get too wordy or use big, obscure words (unless called for or absolutely necessary).
8. Talk about your accomplishments without bragging.
9. Be clear and use specific, concrete examples of accomplishments.
10. Remember that a majority of the time, creativity and uniqueness stand out.

My Song of the Week

If you saw Saturday Night Live last Saturday, you saw Grammy-nominated Bon Iver perform. If you didn't, you missed out.

Thank the technology gods for the Internet!

Bon Iver - Holocene