By Jane Putnam
College students are often left with empty wallets, huge tuition fees and living expenses to pay. However, scholarships are out there, waiting to solve all of students'' financial problems.
There are scholarships available for every hobby, talent and personality trait, according to FinAid.org, a scholarship, loan and education grants Web site.
There are scholarships out there for people who are left-handed, collegiate inventors, people who are 4-foot 10-inches or shorter and even people who are over 6-foot 2-inches tall. The list goes on and gets even more unique and unusual. But, someone out there is bound to meet the requirements.
It''s important to know where to look and know what one qualifies for.
Online scholarship Web sites are a readily available resource with plenty of scholarships to apply for. Typing in ''college scholarships'' on google.com produces 160 million results. Each site is different and varies in required information. While some only require the basic information: name, age, college, major and a few more details, other sites require additional material like essays or letter of recommendations. The sites then match the user up with compatible scholarships. For example, health majors will be matched up with the $250,000 Tylenol scholarship.
However, use caution in selecting an online scholarship search engine. A sign-up fee should not be required to use the site - beware of scams. Fastweb.com posted a warning of so-called 'scholarship matching services' where a fee is paid and a company claims to do all the work and find scholarship information that can''t be found anywhere else.
The outcome, according to Fastweb.com, 'You never hear from them again, or you receive a list of inappropriate or defunct awards. And forget your money-back guarantee: the company is long gone.'
Fastweb.com, a scholarship and job search Web site was launched in 1995, and offers over 1.3 million scholarships. Fastweb.com was the first Internet scholarship search engine created. Numbers show that one in every three college students uses Fastweb.com nationwide, said Baird Johnson, vice president of products and marketing for Fastweb.com
'Once a student registers , we e-mail them regular updates when new scholarships become available,' Johnson said. 'We notify students of upcoming deadlines, we send regular newsletters of timely topics, such as how and when to apply for financial aid, tips on winning scholarships, how to choose a major and how to prepare for a career.'
Every January and April, BYU students are encouraged to apply for academic scholarships. This past April, more than 12,000 continuing students submitted scholarship applications to the scholarship office, said Rebecca Chase, a scholarship coordinator at BYU.
For grade-based scholarships, grade point average requirements are available online at scholarships.byu.edu. However, it is important to remember that even if a student meets the GPA requirement, an application is still required.
Fall/Winter scholarship applications are due every year by April 15 and can be completed online through Route Y. There are three levels of scholarship applications: basic, enhanced and comprehensive.
'Always, always do the comprehensive scholarship application,' Chase said. 'It takes more time because it requires essays and financial information, but by filling it out you will be applying for all the scholarships our office offers. You might qualify for a private award and not even know it, but we may not be able to consider you unless you do the comprehensive application by the appropriate deadline.'
Lindsay Cook, 19, a pre-communications major, said even though the comprehensive application is a lot of work, it is worth it. Cook received a half-tuition academic scholarship last year.
'I think the comprehensive application might intimidate people because when you pull it up on the computer, it seems like there is so much to do and fill in,' Cook said. 'When I applied, it didn''t even take me that long.'
While a large chunk of scholarships given out by BYU are grade-based, several other types of scholarships are available.
'Our office offers a number of need-based scholarships and private scholarships that may have restrictions,' Chase said. 'Donors establish these private scholarships and may require a certain major, area of country or various determining factors.'
Other departments and colleges on campus also have their own scholarship funds, she said.
Deanna Lunt, 21, a vocal performance major, receives a half-tuition 'performance' scholarship each semester. Lunt applied for the scholarship her senior year of high school and each year, must perform before a group who judge her performance and improvement. Based on her performance there, her scholarship amount can increase.
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Scholarship Web sites to check out:
www.fastweb.com
www.scholarships.com
www.brokescholar.com
www.scholarshipexperts.com