HOW DO I GET STARTED?

Okay, you've made plans for after high school, you may or may not have decided what school you want to attend, but that small voice inside your head (or the loud voice of your parents) keeps bugging you about looking into scholarships. The only problem is you don't really know where to start- well 'Ta-Da!'

Getting Started:

1-   Most higher education institutions require your ACT/SAT score & GPA to determine if you can be admitted. To determine your accumulative GPA on your transcript see your current school registrar. But getting an ACT/SAT* score takes a little more effort- yes, you've got to take the ACT/SAT* test! So if you aren't already registered to take it click the link below to find the dates, locations, and all the information on taking these tests.
 ACT Test
 SAT Test

If you don't get the score you wanted, take the ACT/SAT multiple times, because school or scholarship you are applying for will accept the highest score you get. The only down fall is that you have to pay each time you take it, but if you increase your score each time that could mean the difference of an increased amount of scholarship award. Make sure when you register for the ACT/SAT you mark which schools you would like your score sent to, because at the registration point you can send the score to 3 schools for free, but if you need to send them to a different school at a later point it may cost you.
 *The ACT test is more a common college entrance exam for west coast schools, and the SAT is a more common college entrance exam for east coast schools. You can check with the schools you are planning on attending to see which exam they accept for admittance.

2-    Now that you have your GPA & ACT/SAT score it is time to make a portfolio. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Stop it, its not that scary. All you have to do is grab an old folder out of your mom's messy office supply drawer (I know you know which drawer this is, everyone has them) and put multiple copies of your transcript, (your ACT/SAT score should be sent to the college or will appear on transcripts if you are applying for scholarships), a copy of a resume, and any awards or recognitions you have received from 9th grade on up.

Once this portfolio is made, anytime you find a school you want to apply for or a scholarship you want to apply for you walk yourself over to that special spot where you keep your portfolio, remove the needed items required to apply, and voila the hard work is over!

3-   With steps 1 & 2 out of the way you are ready to apply to be admitted to the school you want to attend and to get going on finding a scholarship to help you pay for it. The best part is that when you apply to be admitted to a school, this AUTOMATICALLY puts your information towards applying for an academic scholarship with that school. Really?!! Yes, hurry! Go tell mom that you've already applied for one scholarship, just like she asked! You can determine which academic scholarship you qualify for by looking at each school's index score graph. If you match up your GPA & ACT/SAT scores on the index score graph and you don't qualify for an academic scholarship, its not the end of the world, it just means your work isn't over, we've got to start finding other scholarships you qualify for and then apply!

4-   The next place to find scholarships that you may qualify for is to look within the school(s) you want to attend. Step 3 (above) qualifies you for the academic scholarships the school may offer, but most schools have leadership, athletic, departmental, and need based scholarships also.If you already have one or more schools narrowed down to attend, click on them above on the tabs and find which ones apply to you, then apply for them.

5-   If you don't know which school(s) you'd like to attend then the other sources for scholarships are community/employment based scholarships or national scholarships. So ask your parents to look into their places of employment for any scholarships, look in the post below 'Let these businesses work for you', or speak to your school counselor about which community specific scholarships you may qualify for. For national scholarships you can also go to the UtahFutures website and do a search*. 

* If you use any other website to do a scholarship search make sure you don't pay any website or person to run the search, you can find all the scholarships you would need without having to pay anyone. (Like this website--- all this amazing information and it's free!)


6- Okay, one last place to find some money for school. The Federal Government offers 3 sources of financial aid. There are grants- which are awards that do not have to be paid back. There are also loans- which are awards that have to be paid back and usually with interest. The government also offers work study- which is where you get a job on the campus of the school you are attending and the government will pay the school to pay you as an employee.  

These are all great ways to get financial aid, but the type of award and amount is all based off of income level of you & your parents. Go to this website for more information: FAFSA.ed.gov