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Back to School – Back to Scholarships for College
Scholarships for college should not wait until spring, so join me for a Back to School – Back to Scholarships Twitter chat!
Join me as I am the guest for Jodi Okun of College Financial Aid Advisors for a Back to School – Back to College Twitter chat.
Here are all the details:
- Thursday, August 2 (Miss the chat? Transcripts are below!)
- 8-9pm EST
- Hosted by Jodi Okun (@JodiOkun)
- Guest: Monica Matthews (@AidScholarship)
- FREE, all welcome!
- Hashtag to use: #CollegeCash
- Get your scholarship questions answered
- Find out how to find and WIN more scholarships
- Learn how parents can help in the scholarship process
I hope to “see” you there!
Here are the transcripts of the Back to School – Back to Scholarships #CollegeCash Twitter Chat:
Monica Matthews helped her own son win over $100,000 in scholarships and graduate from college 100% debt-free. #CollegeCash
At the urging of other parents, she wrote down exactly what she did, and “How to Win College Scholarships” was born! #CollegeCash
Find Monica @AidScholarship at https://how2winscholarships.com #CollegeCash
Monica Matthews and her scholarship tips can be found on U.S. News & World Report, The Huffington Post, The Penny Hoarder, and many other online publications. #CollegeCash
Q1 @AidScholarship When is the time to find and apply for scholarships? #CollegeCash
A1 Students should start applying for scholarships NOW, no matter what their level in school. #CollegeCash
A1 There are scholarships for ALL students, even elementary school students, with deadlines all year long. #CollegeCash
A1 There are tons of scholarship prep actions that help win scholarships, even at an early age, so head’s up parents! #CollegeCash
Q2 @AidScholarship Are there deadlines for scholarships? #CollegeCash
A2 Yes, each scholarship has its own deadline. Students and parents need to double-check all deadlines when adding the awards to their scholarship lists. #CollegeCash
A2 Some scholarships have reoccurring deadlines and winners are drawn monthly like Cappex
and Scholarship Points #CollegeCash
A2 I advise parents and students to always submit scholarships early, well before the published deadlines, to avoid frozen/overloaded websites or snail mail delays. (Use this tip) #CollegeCash
Q3 @AidScholarship What are three scholarship myths to be aware of? #CollegeCash
A3 One myth is the assumption that parents make too much money for the student to be eligible to win scholarships. There are scholarships for talent, GPA, unique abilities, and lots more. #CollegeCash
A3 Scholarship Myth: Only a perfect student with a high GPA and ACT/SAT score will win scholarships. WRONG! Many scholarship applications don’t even ask for grades or test scores. #CollegeCash
A3 Common scholarship myth: Scholarship searching and applying takes way too much time! NOPE – Learning winning strategies BEFORE applying is KEY to applying for more scholarships in LESS time. #CollegeCash
A3 Find more scholarship myths and smart solutions right here. #CollegeCash
Q4 @AidScholarship How do scholarships ease the burden of student loan debt? #CollegeCash
A4 For every scholarship won, students need to borrow less money for college. #CollegeCash
A4 Parents are also helped when students win scholarships for college because they might not need to borrow as much money to help pay for their student’s higher education. #CollegeCash
A4 Student loan debt is out of control in this country. Applying for scholarships the SMART way has helped so many families that have reached to me. #Priceless #CollegeCash
Q5 @AidScholarship Should only seniors apply for scholarships? #CollegeCash
A5 No! There are scholarships for all levels of students, from elementary-aged to graduate students. I know of a middle school student who used my strategies and has won 3 scholarships so far! #CollegeCash
A5 Families can find scholarships for their students by doing specific Google searches such as, “engineering scholarships for high school sophomores 2018 2019” #CollegeCash
A5 There are also tons of scholarships for current college students and they should apply all through college. Tips on finding them are right here. #CollegeCash
Q6 @AidScholarship What is the secret to winning scholarships? #CollegeCash
A6 There is no ONE secret that will ensure students win all the scholarships for college that they apply for, but learning how to apply SMART makes a huge difference. #CollegeCash
Open to High School Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors! APPLY NOW HERE
A6 Applying SMART means following all directions, including all required materials, and writing the essay from the heart. #CollegeCash
A6 The essay should be the main focus of each scholarship app and students need to share personal details in the form of a story that grabs the reader right from the start. #CollegeCash
Q7 @AidScholarship What is the best way for students to find scholarships? #CollegeCash
A7 For online searches, I recommend Fastweb, Scholarships360 and JLVCollegeCounseling #CollegeCash
A7 A great mobile scholarship app is the Scholly app – it does have a small monthly fee, but students will not get spammed and it has great scholarship info! @MyScholly #CollegeCash
A7 I still love the big scholarship listing books like this one. #CollegeCash #Scholarships
A7 More local scholarships can be found by checking the websites of all high schools around where a student lives. Local scholarships have less competition! #CollegeCash
Q8 @AidScholarship Are there mistakes students should stay away from? #CollegeCash
A8 Yes! Students should search for scholarships that meet their own talents and specifications. If they don’t qualify, they shouldn’t waste their time applying. #CollegeCash
A8 Only “applying” for scholarship sweepstakes or drawings is also another big mistake. These can be one small part of the applying process, but that’s it. Learn more about scholarship drawings and sweepstakes here. #CollegeCash
A8 The biggest scholarship mistake that I see is students who wait until the spring of their senior year in high school to begin applying for scholarships for college. There are a TON of awards with earlier deadlines. #CollegeCash
Q9 @AidScholarship What three scholarships should students apply to? #CollegeCash
A9 There is no ONE scholarship that ALL students should apply for, but students who apply for as many LOCAL scholarships as possible will have a greater chance of winning money for college. Find more local scholarships using this easy tip. #CollegeCash
A9 This is a great scholarship award for students who volunteer, the Elks Most Valuable Student Award. #CollegeCash
A9 Here is a list of scholarships for college open to ALL high school students right here. #CollegeCash
Q10 @AidScholarship What are three things you want to leave us with tonight? #CollegeCash
A10 Parents can play a HUGE role in the scholarship process. When students win, parents win, and going through the process together reduces stress and pressure for the whole family. #CollegeCash
A10 It’s never too late or too early to apply for college scholarships! Start NOW and keep adding to your scholarship list and applying until college graduation. #CollegeCash
A10 Students should never assume they can’t win scholarships. There are scholarships for ALL students and learning how to apply SMART is KEY. #CollegeCash
What is a Twitter chat and how do I participate?
Joining a Twitter chat may seem intimidating, but it really is easy!
If you don’t already have one, go to Twitter.com and create a free account. (Students, please keep in mind that scholarship judges and college admissions officers read students’ tweets and take note of Twitter usernames! Try and use your real name or something that represents you and passes the Grandma Test. More on the Grandma Test here.)
Once you have your account set up, type in #CollegeCash in the search bar at the top of the page. Be sure to use the hashtag —> # in front of “CollegeCash”. This will bring up all of the Tweets involving the Back to School – Back to Scholarships for College Twitter chat. At 8 pm (EST), you will start to see the questions being asked and my answers being shared.
Keep refreshing the page to see all the tweets about #CollegeCash, or use a free service like Hootsuite.com to easily follow along and join in on the chat. If you have a question, just ask it in 280 characters or less, making sure to include #CollegeCash somewhere in your tweet. Be sure you are following me (@AidScholarship) and Jodi Okun (@JodiOkun) to see all of the questions and answers.
If you have any questions about how to participate in a Twitter chat, feel free to email me at info@how2winscholarships.com. ~ Monica Matthews
Monica Matthews is the author of How to Win College Scholarships. She helped her own son win over $100,000 in college scholarships and now shares her expertise with other parents and their students. She truly has “been there, done that” in regard to helping parents and students navigate the scholarship process.
Her method of helping students in finding college scholarships, writing unique and compelling scholarship essays, creating amazing scholarship application packets, and more have taught desperate parents to help their own students win thousands of scholarship dollars. She teaches them how to apply S.M.A.R.T. with outstanding results.
Monica’s scholarship tips have been featured on many prominent websites, and she has been dubbed the “Go-To” expert on college scholarships.
WOW – I always love your advice, Monica, but you have several here I haven’t heard from you before! I especially LOVE your super-solid tips here for general-life-skills-building, on things like “get it in BEFORE the deadline!” and “don’t bother applying if you are on a different planet than the qualifications for X award” (OK, my paraphrase) – these are skills that many of my former students (who were already IN college) struggled with, and those who can get a head start on these skills will be so far ahead!…
Thank you, Flossie!