St. Luke's: Where should students start when applying for scholarships?
Lydia Edmonds: Start with the schools you are interested in and what scholarships they have. After you apply to a university most will automatically enter you in the contest for scholarships you meet the criteria for. But some universities do expect students to look on their institution's website and apply separately. There are so many independent scholarships and a great way to find them is by looking locally at companies who do scholarship programs. Many companies also do scholarship grants for employees’ children, so make sure to ask your parents.

SL:   What are the different types of scholarships?
LE:   Institutional scholarships and independent scholarships. Institutional scholarships come from the university but independent scholarships are from privateorganizations/nonprofits and usually are not specific to a university. 2 Types of institutional scholarships:
1. Merit scholarships (based on your academic merit)
2. Athletics/Performing Arts/Leadership scholarships (based on personal talent/ contribution given to the school).

SL:   What are some good tips for finding scholarship opportunities?
LE:   Look into these websites:

• Look at the “Big Future” website by the College Board. Use the filter for scholarships to narrow down your options.
• Scholarships.com
• Fastweb.com
• Scholarshipmonkey.com

SL:   How do I tell if a scholarship is legitimate?
LE:   If you are ever asked to pay any fee to join or give away any private information right away (Example: social security number) then it is probably not a legitimate scholarship.

SL:   Do you have any tips when applying for college scholarships?
LE:   Think of how much effort you have to put in for the payout. Nationwide scholarships that require essays and don't award large amounts of money could be a waste of valuable time and effort. Also, scholarship deadlines are often far earlier than admissions deadlines for colleges so make sure you know your deadlines!

SL:   Typically, what is the deadline to apply for scholarships?
LE:   Most scholarship deadlines land between the end of fall to late January.

SL:   How often should students meet with college counselors to make sure they are on the right track?
LE:   At the least once, but feel free to do so as many times as possible.

SL:   Does the amount I receive in scholarships affect my eligibility for financial aid?
LE:   Sometimes it can, depending on your FAFSA. Many universities approach financial aid differently and merit based scholarships are given out without bias of students' financial need.

SL:   Any other information about how to succeed in the college scholarship process?
LE:   Know that it can be overwhelming and it’s better to start early (spring of junior year). To get ahead, visit colleges when you travel and tour as much as possible. Students need to find schools that area good fit for them and then look into scholarships for those schools.

Thanks Mrs. Edmonds!   If you ever have any questions, please feel free to reaach out to Mrs. Edmonds at ledmonds@slesmobile.org.