Here’s your guide to finding real money for college
Everyone tells you to apply for scholarships, but no one tells you how. It can be exhausting after submitting countless college applications with seemingly never-ending writing supplements to even think about where to find scholarships. You may even believe that scholarships are only for students with perfect 4.0 GPAs, but there is a scholarship opportunity for each student’s niche, you just have to know where to look.
Understanding types of scholarships
Your institution usually offers many types of scholarships. Familiarize yourself with the different scholarship options and their deadlines. Some scholarships may only be available if you apply by early-action deadline. Individual departments at each school may also offer additional aid opportunities, make sure to check department-specific websites for more information. Put these dates and their associated institution/scholarship in your calendar or make a spreadsheet to keep track of your status.
ZeeMee Backpack
ZeeMee is an organization that cares deeply about connecting students with college communities but also supporting them in other areas, including financially. The Backpack feature in our app is designed with intentional student-focused partnerships.
Nearly all of the brands that we partner with offer students an exclusive discount to their products or services. We also highlight a few brands that specifically help students access college scholarships or help them manage their finances at school.
Current partnerships that are financial focused:
- Ascent
- Four
- Mine
- Student Registry
- Scholarships360
- SideShift
- Sallie
We constantly update the Backpack to have student-first brands and organizations that offer exclusive contests, giveaways, and exclusive no-essay scholarships. Check the Backpack tab in their app frequently so you don’t miss out on these giveaways.
Community intel
Sometimes it’s all about who you know. With so many college scholarships out there, some students have found the most success by asking in ZeeMee community chats for links to local scholarships. Current students are very helpful and often share which scholarships they applied to and how they were able to secure financial aid.
Be a big fish in a small pond
By applying to local, smaller scholarships you can increase your chances of winning. While the prize money may be less, there are also less people in the applicant pool and more opportunities to win.
Look into
- Your school counselor office
- Local businesses like credit unions, rotary clubs, grocery store chains, churches
- Your parents’ employers
Avoid scams
Protect yourself when looking for scholarships. An organization will never require you to pay to apply to the scholarship. Additionally, an organization will never guarantee a scholarship to you. If it seems too good to be true, it is worth doing a little extra research to protect yourself and your data.
If you spend an hour of your time applying for scholarships, and you earn $1,000 from one scholarship, then you made $1,000 in just an hour. That’s better than any part-time job out there. Work smarter, open your ZeeMee app and find the scholarship opportunities in the Backpack waiting for you today.