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Scholarship Applicants, Use Social Media to Your Advantage
Tweet Share on Facebook June 30, 2011 Comment (1)We've said it before, and we'll say it again and again and again: Anything you post online is not private, not as long as people can comment on it, forward it, share it, retweet it, or otherwise attribute it to you, and it doesn't matter if your privacy settings on Facebook are on lockdown.
When it comes to thinking about your future remember this advice: If you wouldn't want your Grandma—or your college admission officer, or the funder of the scholarship you're applying for—to read the post or see the picture, don't put it out there for anyone to see.
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Find Scholarships to Study Abroad
Tweet Share on Facebook June 23, 2011 Comment (24)We tend to think of college in terms of a journey. There's the higher-education path through high school, the various routes to financial aid, and the long road from your first freshman orientation to your degree. And one of the most rewarding parts of this metaphorical journey can also be an actual journey, if you take the opportunity to study abroad.
Spending a summer, a semester, or even a year of your college experience outside the United States can expand your horizons, improve your second-language skills, and foster your learning both inside and outside the classroom. It may seem dauntingly expensive, but studying abroad as a college student is incredibly valuable—and it's the cheapest chance you'll ever get to spend a significant chunk of time overseas without actually moving. Furthermore, with a little work, you can find scholarships and financial assistance to defray quite a bit of the cost.
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Learn From Student Stories of Scholarship Success
Tweet Share on Facebook June 16, 2011 Comment (9)Every year, Scholarship America's programs and services help thousands of students across the country achieve their dream of earning a college degree. Often, these students receive scholarships from a variety of sources—including individuals, community foundations, and businesses—in addition to those that they receive from our organization. Without scholarship assistance, many students would either graduate with thousands of dollars in debt, or not attend college at all.
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Use Summer to Boost Scholarship Applications for Fall
Tweet Share on Facebook June 9, 2011 Comment (3)Summer break is officially here for most American students: time off from early mornings, hitting the books, and taking tests. In years past, many teens looked to the summer months as a time to increase the hours they worked at their part-time jobs or take on summer gigs, such as babysitting, lifeguarding, and festival work. Unfortunately, the recession has taken a toll on teen employment; today, according to a report by the Center for Labor Market Studies (CLMS) at Northeastern University, "The Steep Decline in Teen Summer Employment in the U.S., 2000-2010 and the Bleak Outlook for the 2011 Summer Teen Job Market," only about a quarter of teens can find paying jobs.
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Your Job May Offer College Assistance
Tweet Share on Facebook June 2, 2011 Comment (1)Back in my freshman and sophomore years of high school, most of my friends started getting part-time jobs. The hours usually weren't great and the rewards weren't that glamorous (the used car my friend Joe bought with his pizza-place earnings ended up costing more in repairs than he ever made), but it seemed like a pretty awesome, grown-up thing to do, and I wanted to join them.
My dad, a high school teacher, advised against it. His theory was that devoting my time to school, extracurricular activities, and financial aid research—rather than to a part-time job—would end up being more lucrative in the long run. As far as my education went, he was right. Music, speech, and academics wound up paying off for me in both private and institutional scholarship aid, and helped shape my college experience as well.
