Did you know you can include some of these tools on your own education website?

College Matching Service has an education widgets page that has numerous widgets and tools that you can copy and paste on your own website.  They will allow your visitors to perform a search for scholarships, find a college degree, search for colleges in their area, and more.

Our free scholarship search is particularly popular because of how simple it is.  It allows your visitors to enter a keyword such as “technology” and it will display technology scholarships.  The user can then filter those results based on their qualifications, such as a GPA of 3.0 or higher, their current education level such as sophomore or junior, and much more.

We also provide our scholarships in RSS format so that you can show targeted scholarships right on your website.  For example, if you have a music website, you could display a list of the most recent music scholarships that updates daily.  The visitor can then click on one of the music scholarships and be brought to a detailed page about the scholarship with a link to apply for it.

Best of all, ALL of our education widgets are free to use.  Some of them can even make money for you! Contact us for more information.

Copy the code to display this widget on your own website!

<!--START CMS WIDGET--> <div style="width: 225px;"> <form action="http://collegematchingservice.com/scholarships/search.php" method="GET" target="_blank"> <div style="padding: 3px 3px 3px 3px; background-color: #444444; border: 1px solid #333333;"> <div style="border: 1px dashed #999999; padding: 8px 0px 5px 0px; text-align: center; background-color: #ffffff;"> <p style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font: 18px Lucida; color: #333333;"><strong>Free <a href="http://collegematchingservice.com/scholarships/" target="_blank" style="font: 18px Lucida; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Scholarships</a> Search</strong></p> <p style="margin: 0px; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px;"> <input type="text" name="term" size="20" value="Technology" style="border: 1px solid #333333; padding: 4px;" onClick="this.value=''"> <input type="submit" value="Go!" style="border: 1px solid #333333; font-weight: bold; background-color: #a10404; color: #ffffff; padding: 3px;"></p> <p style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: center;"><span style="font: 11px Lucida; color: #333333;">powered by <a href="http://collegematchingservice.com" target="_blank" style="font: 11px Lucida; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">College Matching Service</a></span></p> </p></div> </p></div> <p style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 3px; text-align: center;"><span style="font: 11px Lucida; color: #333333;">Find <a href="http://collegematchingservice.com" target="_blank" style="font: 12px Lucida; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">Online Colleges</a></span></p> </p></form> </div> <p><!--END CMS WIDGET-->

Mistakes To Avoid While Organizing Your Application

Missing The Deadline

All scholarship applications that come after the closing date will get rejected automatically. Hence, while organizing your scholarship application you must never forget the deadline for application submission. Some scholarship programs stop receiving application forms even before the closing date if they already get too many forms. It is always advisable to send your scholarship applications as soon as possible to avoid rejection.

Unable To Meet Eligibility Requirement

Every scholarship has some eligibility requirements of its own. Some candidates submit the application without thoroughly reading these eligibility requirements. The form that meets all necessary requirements will  go to the scholarship adjudicators for review. If you do not meet the eligibility requirements, do not waste time in submitting that scholarship application, as you could use this time and energy pursing another scholarship that better suits your needs and one that you are eligible to apply for.

Fail To Follow Application Instruction

While organizing your scholarship application never fail to follow the application instructions. The administrative assistants will check whether you followed all the instructions before submitting the application form. If your application asks for a photograph, two reference names or letter of recommendations, have them all ready to present in clear concise fashion.

Incorrect Grammar And Spelling

After your scholarship application reaches the scholarship judges, they will check for your grammar and spelling. While organizing your scholarship application, remain aware of this crucial stage. A small mistake in punctuation and spelling can result in the rejection of your scholarship application. Hence, before submitting scholarship forms, double check for grammar or spelling error and ask your family members to re-check it when possible.

• Merit-based: These awards are based on a student’s athletic, academic, artistic or other abilities, and often factor in an applicant’s community service record and extracurricular activities. The most common merit-based scholarships, awarded by either private organizations or directly by a student’s intended college, recognize academic achievement or high scores on the ACT and SAT standardized tests
• Need-based: These awards are based on the student and family’s financial record and will require applicants to fill out a FAFSA to qualify if the scholarship is a federal award. Private need-based scholarships will also often require the results of a FAFSA, which calculates a student’s financial need through a formula looking at the expected family contribution and cost of attendance at the intended college
• Student-specific: These are scholarships where applicants must initially qualify by race, gender, religion, family and medical history, or many other student-specific factors. Minority scholarships are the most common awards in this category, and not all are based in the United States. For example, students in Canada may qualify for a number of aboriginal scholarships, whether they study at home or abroad
• Career-specific: These are scholarships awarded by a college or university to students planning to pursue a specific field of study. Often the most generous awards are given to students pursuing careers in high-need areas such as education or nursing. Nursing students are in high demand, and many schools will give future nurses full scholarships to enter the field, especially if the student intends to work in a high-need community

• Pay attention to the Grades: One of the most important things that most scholarship committees require and pay attention to is your grade point average. The grade point average represents the cumulative grades received in all classes you have taken while in high school. If you’re still in school then give yourself a good start and try to attain the best grades possible. Remember that even a couple points on your grade point average can mean the difference between qualifying for a scholarship and just missing the required criteria. Many colleges and scholarship committees like to see improvement over a student’s high school career. So, if you haven’t done so well before then work harder to show the scholarship selection committee that you are motivated and enthusiastic now about your higher education.
• Standardized Test Scores – Many of the colleges and scholarship applications require your SAT score. The SAT score is not like your grade point average, which may be weighted differently at different high schools. Even if your college grades are not too high, your SAT score can make up the difference you will need. Students who receive perfect or very high SAT scores are often given high consideration even if their grade point average is low. Therefore study for the SAT sincerely, take practice tests, consult with friends who have taken the SAT and get going.
• Mention your interests: The selection committee may like to see your commitment an activity or sport that interests you so mention them in your application. Students are usually advised to present a well rounded application showing their involvement in many different programs. You can therefore pick one or two activities or sports that you not only excel at but are passionate about. This will make your scholarship application look much better.

Preparing yourself for a scholarship is of course not an easy task. Just remember that it’s never too late to start organizing your application and paying attention to it. The time and energy you spend now can mean a significant savings during college.

Here are the steps that you require to follow:

• You should receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) from the government, some three to six weeks after you submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You must check over this report carefully to make ensure that the information from your FAFSA is correct. This information will be sent to the schools to which you have applied.

• Next, the SAR lists your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) indicating how much your family should be able to contribute to your educational expenses. This amount depends upon the family income. This number is critical to your financial aid package as it determines your financial need.

• After the paperwork is over, the financial aid office of each college will put together a financial aid package. This package comprises of the federal and non-federal aid such as loans, grants, scholarship money, or a work-study program to help meet your needs.

• The educational costs vary from school to school and this it’s difficult to estimate exactly how much financial aid you will receive. The different colleges participate in the various financial aid programs and have varying amounts of grant money to award. However, each school’s financial aid office does its best to make up the gap between the EFC and the cost of attending that school.

• As soon as the process gets complete, you will receive the financial aid award letter from your schools of interest. Each letter will outline the types and amount of financial assistance that school is offering for that particular year.

• After receiving the award letters, be sure to compare the aid packages offered by the different schools. This is so because even though one school may appear less expensive, it may not contain the best deal for you.

Applying for only one or two scholarships.

This will severely undermine your chances of getting a good scholarship. There are numerous scholarship schemes available. Apply to as many possible, keeping in mind the criteria match. The more you apply for, the better your chances of getting one.

Not following the directions.

Each scholarship has a set of instructions to be followed while filling out the forms. Fill in the entire form without leaving any blank spaces. Do not send generalized application packets to all the scholarship programs as this would only guarantee failure.

Writing a sloppy application.

Reviewers have hordes of applications to go through. So if they find one which cannot be read or is filled with spelling or grammatical errors, it is most likely to find is way to the bin. To avoid this, read over your application carefully and correct the mistakes, however small they may be. The best way to file your application is to type it out. If you cannot do this, make sure your application is neat, legible and free from errors.

Missing the deadlines.

This is one of the most common mistakes in the scholarship application process. Keep a close check on the submission dates and make sure you do not miss them. Failure to meet the deadlines reflects negatively on your organizational capabilities.

Avoid scholarship scams prevalent in the current scenario.

Keep away from scholarship programs asking for your bank information or advance money.

Be aware of these common mistakes and you will be able to sail through college on the best scholarship.

Types of Scholarships

Athletic Scholarships: Athletic Scholarships are dedicated to men and women involved in sports. This type of scholarship is mainly sponsored by the athletic departments of the universities and colleges. Big schools and universities will take top positions in popular sports. If you fail to compete in that arena, try to look for smaller universities and colleges having ambitious sports program.

Academic Scholarships: Students, who show good talent during their academic years, are awarded this type of scholarship. Academic Scholarships go to students having highest test scores, best grades and challenging course loads. Although, few private organizations also sponsor academic scholarships, they are mainly awarded by state governments and universities and colleges themselves. If you have excellent academic skill, you can certainly apply for these scholarships.

Scholarships For Disabilities and Students: If you have long lasting medical condition or a disability, you are most probably eligible for these scholarships. You can get information about Scholarships for Disabilities and Students from office of disability at your university or college.

Community Service Scholarships: During your high school years, volunteer to serve in libraries, retirement homes, animal shelter, local hospitals or any other places that require volunteer personnel. You will surely find chances for serving the community that matches your interest. Many scholarship programs search for students having strong background in the community service.

Contests: There are several topics of contests, some may award to best speeches or essays written on any given subject. Others may award students for internet or technological projects. You must search for contests which award scholarships if you have flair and talent in any such areas.

It is not right to think that scholarships are awarded only to best students. There are numerous scholarship reward programs that might fit with your qualification. Never give up your search for scholarship, only because you don’t possess the top grades.

Nursing is a career that is currently in demand and appears to be on the rise for the next few years. Any time a career field is in demand, there are an abundance of scholarships that help to meet this demand. Right now there are hundreds of nursing scholarships that are available to students interested in pursuing nursing.

A trend that has been advancing in the scholarship world is that nursing is now being considered an acceptable criteria for hundreds of medical related scholarships. As you know, many scholarships have strict criteria that the student must meet in order to submit an application for the scholarship. As demand rises, scholarships start to broaden their criteria. This is what is happening for nursing scholarships and grants.

What can nursing scholarships be used for?

As with most scholarships, they can be used for any education related expenses. This includes tuition, room and board, food, books, equipment, and much more.

The purpose of a scholarship is meant to help the student with financial aid so that he/she can afford the things necessary to achieve success with their nursing education and their nursing career. Some scholarships stipulate that the money must be used for specific purposes, but others allow the student to decide what the money is used for.

How do I find nursing scholarships?

The most efficient way of finding scholarships is to have the ability to filter scholarship results based on criteria that you meet. If you are attending a 4 year university full-time with a grade point average of 3.4, an ACT score of 26, and a nursing major, you should be able to see which scholarships you qualify for, rather than having to search for them.

By using our nursing scholarships search, you can see all of the nursing scholarships and filter them by grade point average, education level, enrollment, state of residency, and more.

This allows you to quickly find nursing scholarships that you qualify for.

You can also use Google to search for nursing scholarships. The problem with this is that it forces you to look at scholarships on an individual basis. Not only is this time consuming but it is extremely inefficient. Because scholarships have strict criteria, you most likely will not qualify for the majority of nursing scholarships you find.

This is why having the ability to narrow a scholarship database down by criteria that you meet as an individual can save you a lot of time.

If music is your passion, and you plan to pursue it in college, than music scholarships should be of great interest to you. Even if you do not plan to pursue it in college, you can still receive music scholarships. Sometimes receiving a music scholarship is as easy as sending in a demo tape of a performance.

Many forms of music scholarships exist to help students pursue their passion for music. Some scholarships simply require certain criteria be met, for example, playing in your high school band. Others require that your university major be related to music. And some just require that you submit a performance better than anyone else.

Whatever your passion for music may be, there is some sort of music scholarship that you will qualify for.

What can music scholarships be used for?

Music scholarships can be used for anything relating to college expenses. You can use this money to purchase books, pay for your meals, your rent, musical equipment, or anything else related to your music education.

Art institutions related to music are generally more expensive than your standard education. Therefore music scholarships are generally more plentiful to help offset this increase in tuition in order to maintain students.

Music Scholarships Are Unique

The majority of scholarships have criteria that a student must meet. They either must have a certain grade point average, major, area of interest, state residency, or one of the dozens of other criteria. But for music scholarships, they are generally awarded based on musical talent, or past performances.

How do I find music scholarships?

As of writing this article, finding scholarships online is oddly difficult. So finding music scholarships is even more difficult.

However, I found a couple great tools online that I will share with you.

Generally there are two ways to find scholarships online. The first method is where a website will ask you a series of questions and then it will show you scholarships that you qualify for. The problem with this is, the results are often too generic for something such as music scholarships. Furthermore, almost all sites that use this method will show you results, but half of the results are contests, or something that will generate money for the website.

The second way is to find a website that has a scholarship database that you can search. Some of these are time consuming because you can’t search the database, you have to browse through hundreds of listings.

However, I found a few resources that allow you to perform a scholarship search on the database and filter results based on criteria you meet.

• Music Scholarship Search
• Scholarships for Music
• Music Grants and Scholarships

Keep in mind that almost all universities also have booklets with scholarship information. You can contact the financial aid department for the university and request scholarship materials. Again, the problem with this is it takes forever to search through these booklets to find things you qualify for. You can ask a financial advisor to do the research for you, but generally they will only do this if you have been admitted to the school and plan to attend.

Here is a music scholarship search using our scholarship database.

Why are scholarships so difficult to find?

I remember how difficult it was for me when I was trying to find money to fund my education. I asked my adviser to show me where I can find scholarship applications. To which she replied, we have a scholarship book! Her tone was one of excitement. She handed me a book full of hundreds of scholarships alphabetically. As I began to read through these, I quickly realized that the majority of these had strict criteria.

After an hour of searching through a book of scholarships, I found one scholarship that I qualified for and had a shot at getting. The scholarship was only for $2,500. My tuition was around $12,000. Just finding enough scholarships to fund my education was going to be extremely time consuming. Furthermore, filling out scholarship applications is time consuming!

At the time I had to deal with it. But you don’t have to. We have built a scholarship search that allows you to filter the hundreds of scholarships by the things that matter. You can see all the scholarships available to someone who has a 3.0 GPA or higher. Of these, you can see which ones are available to computer science majors. And of these, you can see which have a requirement of residency or not.

By structuring thousands of scholarships in this manner, you can drill down which scholarships you qualify for in a matter of minutes.  Our scholarship search allows you to filter scholarships by education level, area of interest, grade point average, enrollment, and residency.

Now only can you browse by criteria, but you can search through thousands of scholarships by keyword.

Visit our scholarships search.

Photo courtesy of mperez_acosta.