Finding Scholarships

Most scholarships come directly from the college or university. The application for admission may be the application for scholarships, or there may be additional scholarship applications. Scholarships may be based on merit, GPA, ACT, artistic ability, athletic ability, community service, your major and more. Make sure you complete applications by the earliest deadlines. Here are a few tips on how and where to find the money.

ESF offers assistance in searching for scholarships in our three college planning centers.  Professional counselors will guide you through current scholarship books, Internet scholarship searches, and scholarship applications.  We also have our own scholarship opportunities listed at the bottom of this page.

1. If you want to begin exploring your financial aid options and get an early start on the financial aid process, use the new FAFSA4caster. You and your family will receive an early estimate of eligibility for federal student aid. The Web site provides you with an opportunity to increase your knowledge of the financial aid process, become familiar with the various types of federal student aid available, and investigate other sources of aid, such as grants and scholarships.
   

2. Federal funds and state aid include many types of need-based scholarships as well as merit scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study.  Simply complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the Mississippi State Financial Aid applications after January of your senior year in high school.  After submitting these applications, you will be considered for all the types of financial aid that these two sources offer.
3. Campus visits are one of the most important steps you can take in your college selection process.  After federal and state aid, colleges award the most scholarship money to their incoming students.  To learn about these scholarships, make an appointment with an admissions counselor for a private campus visit.  While on your campus visit, you should find out what you must do to compete for the school’s scholarships. 
4. Start as soon as possible – now!  Searching for scholarships takes time, so you can never start too early.  Even if it’s too early to apply for the scholarship you’ve located, file the information away so you can use it when the time comes that you are eligible to apply.
5. Your high school counselor can help you locate and apply for scholarships.  Usually, your counselor has a list of scholarships and he or she can give you tips to help you better understand the scholarship process.  
6.  Looking locally for scholarships can produce successful search results.  Start with your local community/civic organizations and businesses.  Ask your parents, family, and friends what organizations they belong to and if they offer scholarship opportunities.  Do your parents’ employment have scholarship competitions?  Do you have an older friend who was awarded a scholarship from a local business or organization?  Check it out.
7. When searching the Internet, be specific and be prepared to spend a lot of time on it!  Internet searches produce many national scholarships.  These searches can be time consuming, but are definitely worth the effort.  To find scholarships for which you may qualify, from a national database, be very specific when filling out the student profile.  Creating an accurate profile will reduce the amount of excessive scholarships that do not apply, allowing you more time to spend on the quality ones that fit you.
8. The local library is a great place to find scholarship books and access to the Internet.  Just make sure the scholarship books you use have a current publication date.
9. Always have your résumé available to send to a scholarship committee. Create your résumé on a computer, and save it either to your computer or to a disk.  Then you can update the résumé as needed to best display your abilities and accomplishments. 
10. Read your local newspaper everyday. The newspaper will have announcements on students receiving scholarships, especially during spring and summer. By seeing what scholarships are awarded, you will know what is available.
11. Beware of Scholarship Scams. Click here for warning signs of possible scams.

ESF offers two types of scholarship programs:

• $60,000 Scholarship Essay Competition - $1,000 scholarships are given to 60 winners in this annual competition which requires an essay - click here for details. Watch for ESF at your school in the spring making surprise visits to the winners.
• ESF Freebies Scholarships - ESF gives away a $500 scholarship monthly from a drawing of high school seniors who register on our Web site for ESF Freebies - click here to register.