How to Start the College Scholarship Process

Do you want to win money for school, but have no idea how to start the scholarship process? Help is here!

I recommend that parents begin by talking to their students about their financial situation and how they plan to make the scholarship process a team effort. If students are aware of their parents’ desire to help them find and win scholarships, they will be more willing to do their share of the work involved. (Learn how I helped my son win scholarships and graduate from college debt-free here)

Discussing the high cost of college, the family’s financial situation, and how scholarship money can significantly reduce future student debt will help students understand the importance of starting early and doing everything possible to win scholarships.

These conversations are not always comfortable, but are extremely important as students begin their college search and are inundated with standardized test prep information and college brochures early in high school.

The next step is to set up a file box with the following folders: resume, transcripts, letters of recommendation, community service, test results, honors/awards won, tax information, applied scholarships, not yet applied, scholarships won, college brochures, essays, employment, and printing materials.

Get organized!

Having a place to put all the information that will be coming your way is key to getting organized right from the start. Let your students know exactly where you are going to collect their information, and encourage them to get in the habit of adding any correspondence from school that has to do with college and scholarships to the designated folder.

Creating a digital folder on your computer is another way to quickly save information that you think may be useful, and your student can forward any emails or articles they receive to you or save them to be referenced later in the scholarship process.

Regarding community service and employment, it is important to know early on that many organizations offering scholarships will want to know exactly how many hours per week the student has volunteered or worked throughout high school.

Figuring out that number when the student is a senior is daunting, so keeping track of hours as soon as they start high school is a great way to provide an accurate number when filling out scholarship applications.

THESE PARENTS HELPED THEIR KIDS WIN SCHOLARSHIPS

Also, make a note of the names and contact information for each job or community service project the student has been involved in.

Employers and volunteer coordinators can be great sources for students seeking quality letters of recommendation for their scholarship applications.

Community service is a large part of many scholarship applications, as I share in this post, so encouraging students to start volunteering early in high school is a great way to prepare them to be eligible to apply for more scholarships.

Would you like to read more? I have put together step-by-step scholarship guide ebooks that share exactly how I helped my son win enough college scholarships to graduate debt-free.

Open to High School Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors! APPLY NOW HERE

GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COPIES NOW

What are parents saying about the How to Win College Scholarships ebooks? THIS! ⬇️

“My kids have won scholarships because of Monica’s parent and student ebooks ‘How to Win College Scholarships.’ They are worth the purchase and contain all the info in one place, in an indexed, organized and searchable document. For me – #1 reason, ‘I didn’t know what I didn’t know’ when starting the process with my oldest daughter. I started learning early about what was needed so I could help my daughter. She is now 24, a college grad and finished with $0 in student loan debt! I have two sons currently in college and one HS freshman. No student or parent loans needed yet! (My kids do work all summer to help and we contribute with some savings; approx. half of all expenses have been covered by their scholarship winnings!) Most helpful to us have been these sections in the book: partnering with your student/ teamwork, getting great letters of recommendation, the scholarship resume, and how to write exceptional essays. Also, having ready access to all of the live and updated scholarships lists is a great bonus feature!” E.G., Happy Mom and Scholarshp Help and College Talk for Parents private Facebook group member

The Ultimate Scholarship Book is the perfect companion to my ebooks, and I highly recommend it. Find it HERE.

Start the scholarship process right, find thousands of scholarships in the big scholarship book, and learn how to win them with the SMART strategies found in the How to Win College Scholarships ebooks for parents and their students.

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.