The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
With myriad scholarship resources floating around in cyberspace, how do you determine if it is dependable or not? Well, here’s my assessment of some common scholarship search engines:
THE GOOD
Undoubtedly, the ne plus ultra of all scholarship resources is FastWeb.com. Used by one out of every three college students, FastWeb compiles personalized and comprehensive lists of available scholarships, all suited toward your profile. Providing more than just lists of scholarships, FastWeb also generates information on available internships and jobs in your community while also compiling pages of useful scholarship advice and information (just like this blog). With its easy accessibility, there’s no question that it is the king of scholarship search engines. Another reliable source of scholarship information is the CollegeBoard. With a similarly personalized account structure, the CollegeBoard also provides lists of scholarships; however, their scholarship database is more limited than FastWeb’s. In addition to providing information on scholarships, the CollegeBoard allows students to access college information (just like FastWeb) and to sign up for SAT exams. The goal of the CollegeBoard is to provide students with college information whereas FastWeb is geared specifically toward scholarships. A third source of scholarship information is the scholarship database of Thomson-Peterson’s. Providing a similar set up as FastWeb and the CollegeBoard, Thomson-Peterson’s has an equally reliable scholarship database. All in all, it doesn’t hurt to have more than one scholarship account (I had at least five accounts with different scholarship resources); however, FastWeb still rules.
THE BAD
During my frenetic scholarship craze, I decided to google “scholarships” and came across a smorgasbord of scholarship websites. Feeling ambitious, I registered with several, including www.scholarships.com. Perusing through their lists of scholarships, I was surprised to see that my search produced more results than my FastWeb account. Yet, after a few minutes, I realized that many of the scholarships were obscure awards that did not provide a website and only made applications available through snail mail. Since that time, I decided that the only scholarships I would apply for were scholarships that had a website with access to an application (unless you get an application from Ms. Curtis’s goldmine in the MHS Career Center). Often, the scholarships provided by scholarships.com did not seem credible and were potentially scholarship scams perpetrated by plutophilic miscreants who can’t hold decent jobs. Ok, maybe that’s a little harsh, but the bottom line is – beware of scholarship scams! Another inconsistent scholarship website is www.scholarships101.com. Basically, if it’s not FastWeb, forget it.
THE UGLY
Oh, the machinations of money-grubbing organizations. The abundance of websites and companies who will find you “guaranteed scholarships” for a small fee is absolutely abhorring! There is no reason for you to pay someone to help you find scholarships. There is nothing special about an organization that charges you money to join because it’s “prestigious” or will “enhance your applications.” The truth is that there are too many scholarship search engines that will give you equal, if not better, search results and scholarship opportunities than a fee-charging bogus company could (just look at FastWeb and what it’s done for me). Protect yourself from selling your personal information (i.e. Social Security number) and turning them into the wrong hands. Identity theft has quickly become one of the most common crimes in America. Be careful of who you give your personal information to. Moral of the story: If you have to pay, chances are it’s a scam so ditch ‘em.
With so many scholarship resources, it’s best to be safe and protect yourself. In hindsight, I probably would not sign up for so many accounts on scholarship search engines. With FastWeb and maybe two or three other scholarship sites, you can find enough scholarships to last for all of high school
