Scholarships >> Browse Articles >> Tips
Scholarships for Dummies: Common Sense Places to Look for Scholarships
Score a scolarship for being athletic, artistic, or wacky.
By Kathryn Knight
March 05, 2009
The economy is tanking. College tuition costs are rising. And somehow, you have to pay for college. Your only hope in paying for a higher education is with scholarships.
Being recognized as a valedictorian is totally out of the question. After taking the SAT three times, your results revealed limited improvement…and weren’t even that great to begin with. There is no need, however, to limit yourself to university-specific scholarships. Outside scholarships may seem like a far fetch…but they’re not as far as you think.
Service clubs, companies, and charities give out about $2 billion in private scholarships each year. Roughly 1 million students receive these monies—meaning 1 out of 13 students wins a scholarship. The average of these scholarships is $2,000. So are you ready to start looking?
Athletic Scholarships. Granted, this is only going to apply to a select few, but athletic scholarships don’t require a whole lot of brains. Rather, the importance lies in physical talent and drive.
Artistic Scholarships. There are plenty of art-specific scholarships available for students who do the research. Additionally, artists can use their skills to apply for non-artistic scholarships. Oftentimes, judges are looking for creatively convincing applications for “average joe” scholarships—think film, dance, song lyrics, paintings, etc.
Minority Scholarships. These scholarships are typically reserved for students from financially unprivileged backgrounds and ethnicities. Though these scholarships are not necessarily based on grades, they do require community service or athleticism—anything that sets you apart from the crowd.
Employee Scholarships. If you think your summer job is just a way to finance your love for video games or fashion, you’re wrong. Many employers, whether yours or your parents, offer scholarships to students just because of the relationship that exists between the two.
Wacky Scholarships. There are scholarships out there that are wacky enough for any high school student. Think Duck Calling and Duct Tape Prom Dresses. It just requires a little legwork in finding these scholarships. And by legwork, we mean typing “wacky scholarships” into a search engine. Was that too hard?
There is no reason that any student should pay full tuition for college. It just takes time and work to find ways to pay up. Remember, updating your FastWeb profile increases your chances of being matched with some of the types of scholarships mentioned above. So get on it!

ashlynrf
2 days ago
My family and I are in need of a lot of scholarships. I am 18 and just graduated high school, I was a B student then an A student then my grades all went to c's and f's. I have several minor learning disabilities and my test scores are not good at all. 19 both times on the ACT and 1250 overall on SAT. My step-dad is self-employed and can barely work because of his back, my mom is a stay at home mom and we. Our income says we are doing pretty good but we are not. we might even lose our house. We want to try to stay away from loans as much as possible, so is there any other scholarships out there. I take piano, and youth group but that is it. It is hard searching because a lot of them need community service and more e.c. activites.
NicoleDaniels
6 days ago
I'm in need of a scholarship for college. My boyfriend and mother stays with me, the bills are piling up because both of them has failing health. I'm currently in school and I'm struggling with bills and student loans if I could get some type of help. It would be a big relief off of me and my family. They feel so bad for sticking me with everything.
glsmith16
8 days ago
My family is in dire need of a scholarship for me to go to college. My mom lost her job and my dad is working two jobs to make ends meet for our family. My parents have bad credit scores and have come out of bankruptcy. It is hard to get a loan from anyone. Are there any scholarships out there to help someone who needs a little bit of financial help?
angiecm
15 days ago
I'm a mother of 3 , there are of age now so i'm on my own for 3 yrs. Was in a domitic problem but got out of it. It's time to move on with my life and do something different with my life. I have a job for 2 yrs. and where I live about 3 yrs. Looking for another part-time job.Need to find a scholarship or a grant to help me pay for school . This would mean that I have made a another goal happen. By finishing school and beening on my own some people think that I can't do it but I will!!
djointerjohnson
15 days ago
Are there any scholarship for a young cancer suvior
grizzly93
16 days ago
i am 19 years old i just got outta prison a month ago. i jus asking for a second chance in life i hope i can find someone that can help me thankyou.
regro
18 days ago
I am a grandmother (in my 70's) looking to change careers by studying Medical Billing & Coding. Any scholarship or grant available for me?
jmcs5294
21 days ago
alot of interesting information to explore.............
danaandsteve
about 1 month ago
As a graducate student I need help paying for my college debt. Any scholarship available for this?
Melvin7872
about 1 month ago
I have been applying for scholarships since 2008, and haven't had any luck. I take the time to do essays on the ones i feel i have a shot at but nothing. Am I missing something?
nicholasadam
about 1 month ago
I want to find a scholarship for having ADHD.
cpisa
about 1 month ago
some more specific directon would be helpful...
cdelamotte123
about 1 month ago
fastweb.com Ask yout advisor where the web sites are that's their job. I have won 2 scholaships in 3 months, You could almost take as much time filling out applications as you do studing for classes, you get out of it what you put into it,!!!grades or results ($$$)!!!
estrother
3 months ago
so where r they?
geponthieux
about 1 year ago
Is there a scholarship for having an unusual last name?? or for being a twin?