October Financial Aid Action Plan
Applications and Scholarship Searches
If you have been organized with your college preparations so far, then this month
will just be building on what you have already accomplished. By this time, you
should have narrowed down the list of schools to which you will be applying. You
should have discussed your financial aid standing with your parents and met with
your high school counselor. How are you doing on the ACT and SAT? You
should have taken practice tests and courses and should be signed up for or
have taken these by now. Are you nodding your head in agreement with these
points? If you are, then you are doing well in getting your application process
going! This month you will be starting your college applications, looking into
supplemental aid, gathering scholarship information, and a number of other
things necessary for your ascent to college.
The Seven C's of Successful Scholarship or College Entrance
Essays
Getting that scholarship or "acing" that college entrance essay will change your
life. However, writing a scholarship or college admission essay can be a
traumatic and difficult experience or a challenging and fulfilling one. Here are
seven tips which will help you be successful.
JUST GET STARTED
Writing a winning essay is not all that difficult, but it does take time. Like
anything, getting started is the toughest part. As in Toastmasters speeches,
you're "Breaking the Ice," by introducing yourself to your audience. In this case
your audience is readers not listeners so you will have to be even more creative.
You won't have the advantage of eye contact, expressions and gestures. So you
must make yourself stand out on paper!
THE 7 C's
Based on experience conducting Scholarship Workshops for graduating high
school students, I developed a model to help participants focus on the essentials
of the essay process. There are 7 C's to remember and practice in your essay
preparation and development. These are...
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College Admissions Chances
Once you've handed in your college applications, you are probably pretty
nervous about getting into college. Although you've finished your college
application, included your high school transcripts, your SAT and ACT scores and
your college essay, you are now probably wondering how does the admissions
committee choose a college applicant to actually be an admitted student? How
do they wade through all this information and come to a decision regarding your
college admissions? What matters most and what gets glossed over?
We are going to give you more of an inside look into the admissions decision
process so that you know what will allow you to find the right college for you...
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When should I take (or Retake) My Standardized Test?
If you're thinking about taking (or retaking) the SAT, ACT, GRE, or another
standardized test, don’t just pick a date out of thin air and head off to the testing
center. There’s strategy involved in determining the best time to test. The
following 6 tips should help you make an informed decision.
Take the test only when you are ready
Standardized tests measure the same skills in the same way every time. The
questions themselves may be different, but the content you need to know will be
the same. There's really no point in taking a standardized test if you aren't ready.
If you're unprepared, you won't do your best, and you'll want to take the test
again anyway.
If you're thinking about taking the test just to see what it's like, take a practice test
instead and save the registration fee.
Make sure that you have time to prepare
People who know how the test is structured and have a strategy for answering
the questions have a major advantage over those that don't. Make sure that
you...
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Follow us on Facebook or Twitter
Learn more about financial aid by following us on Facebook or Twitter. There you can find or free
Scholarship of the Day posting. A new scholarship posted every day that just might be one for
you. Many are not so well known, so competition may be less. Try it out!
Facebook - become a fan of our FinancialAidTips.com page http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/FinancialAidTipscom/117566106531?ref=nf
Twitter - follow us on Twitter.
Our Twitter name is ScholarshipFund.
http://twitter.com/ScholarshipFund