Searching for scholarships other than those awarded by the federal government, state government, or colleges and universities is typically a tedious process. It is up to the student to contact the sources sponsoring the scholarships, obtain the application, write the essay, gather the necessary letters of recommendation, and meet the application deadline. The mission of the student engaged in a scholarship search could be titled, "leave no stone unturned". The scholarship search process requires students to:

• Start searching and apply early in their junior year of high school.
• Apply for the scholarships that most fit the student's talents, skills, achievements, and interests.
• Be organized.
• Be mindful of deadlines and meet them.
• Write the required essay and have someone else read it for clarity and proofread it for grammar and punctuation.
• Follow the process through to completion.

Within a few days of submitting the profile online, the student receives a list of the scholarships or grants for which they are eligible to apply - or have been matched with - based on the information provided on the questionnaire and qualifying award criteria. Next, the student needs to sort through the list, and go online and read the qualifying criteria for the awards. It is recommended that the student first apply for the scholarships with the qualifying criteria that they most closely meet. This will help the student focus on the scholarships they have a better chance of winning. Many of the awards require that the student write an essay. Hopefully, the closer the match, the easier it will be for the student to write an essay about a topic on which they are knowledgeable or are interested.

Need more information on searching for scholarships? The Student Financial Services Bureau's "Searching for Scholarships" publication contains helpful scholarship search information, scholarship scams and scholarship Web searches.