College Admissions Help Blog

Hey prospective college students,

Do you want to earn scholarships to save money on school expenses, but don’t feel like having to write an arduous essay or meet certain requirements to apply for one? If so, then a ScholarshipPoints account is a perfect solution.  By becoming a member of ScholarshipPoints, you can earn points and redeem bonus codes by completing activities like taking surveys, reading blogs, and more. All sorts of scholarships are available every month, and amounts total up to $10,000, plenty of money to get you through school! Users can enter as many points as they want into any scholarship drawings of their choosing. The more activities you complete, the more points you will have to enter into the scholarship drawings, and the greater your chances will be of becoming a winner! Be sure to check out ScholarshipPoints today. You won’t be disappointed!

If you haven’t already heard, yesterday ScholarshipPoints.com announced the June 2010 Scholarship Winners. Winners have three days to claim their scholarship before it is awarded to the next runner-up, so check now to see if you won!

Between the June 2010 $10,000 Scholarship Drawing on June 15th, and other sponsored scholarships, ScholarshipPoints awarded a total of $18,000 last month. Don’t miss your chance to win free money for college! Login now to enter the July $1,000 Free College Scholarship, one of this month’s sponsored scholarships worth up to $7,000 or the September 2010 $10,000 Scholarship Drawing.

Login to ScholarshipPoints | Join ScholarshipPoints

It is that time again. ScholarshipPoints.com has announced their June 2010 $10,000 scholarship winner! Are you the lucky winner? Check the ScholarshipPoints winner’s page now to find out.

If you didn’t with this scholarship drawing, there are more chances to win in June! Login to ScholarshipPoints now, earn points, and enter June’s $1,000 Free College Scholarship drawing or any of this months sponsored scholarships worth up to $8,000. You can also start earning points towards the next $10,000 Scholarship Drawing to be held in September of 2010.

Congratulations to the winner and good luck in our future scholarship drawings!

Ask Admissions Girl: As a rising senior how should I prepare for college now?

As the school-year comes to a close seniors will soon be graduating and juniors will be assuming their position as the next group to embark on the college admission process. Although things will not kick into high gear until the fall the summer is a great time to get a head start on things.

May: Think about what you will do with your summer. This is your last summer as a high school student so you should do something meaningful that will help build up your resume. Internships, summer classes and volunteering are all great options. May is also the time to take the SAT II subject test if you plan on doing that.

June: If you are planning on taking the ACT (a standardized test alternative to the SAT) now is the time to do so.

July/August: Use some of you free time to start working on you college admissions essays. You will be extremely busy in the fall with classes and the rest of the application paperwork. Writing you admissions essays early will take a huge task off of your plate for later.

It also may not be to early to start exploring your scholarship options. You can follow scholarship updates and search for scholarships on StudentScholarshipSearch.com. Getting a lot of the leg work out of the way with scholarship applications will also be a huge relief down the line. If you think you might be a candidate for an athletic scholarship, use this time to contact the coaches at the schools you are interested in applying to.

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Hi everyone! I bet you are surprised to see me a little bit early this week! However, I have a question that I want to answer urgently…

This one actually makes me a little bit sad. Has anyone ever hear of Senioritis? I have and I can tell you it is not pretty. This is the time of year when many high school seniors receive their college acceptance letters. I often hear student ask, “since I have already been accepted to college do I have to do well during my last semester of high school? Or can I just coast?”

Let me make this very clear; you cannot just coast. It is extremely important to keep your grades up during your final semester of college. First of all, many college acceptances are conditional upon successful completion of your high school career. Your final grades are sent to your chosen school and if they feel like they are not sufficient they can rescind your acceptance.

Secondly, if you want to be considered for any merit-based scholarships you need to maintain your grades until the end. Scholarships are a great way to pay for college because they do not have to be repaid. The best way to get scholarships is to do well in school.

Finally, your grades still count towards your overall high school GPA. If you are even thinking about vying for a top spot in your graduating class your final grades could make all the difference in the world. Additionally, college is not going to be easier than high school so it is important to maintain good study habits and keep your brain sharp.

Ok, now that I really sound like your mother, get back to the books! You are in the home stretch of your high school career now so do not let senioritis set in. I would hate for anyone to lose an acceptance or a scholarship because of a few high school grades. Trust me, when it is over it will all be worth it!

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ScholarshipPoints.com Announces $12,000 in Scholarships to be Awarded for December

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Happy Wednesday everyone! This week we are talking about everyone’s favorite way to pay for college: scholarships.  Every student turns to scholarships before considering loans because scholarships do not need to be paid back. Some students think that scholarships are very hard to find, but in reality they are everywhere. Looking for scholarships that you qualify for can take a little bit of time however there are a ton of resources that can help you.

The first place to turn to when looking for scholarships is your high school’s guidance department. They usually have scholarship resources from your local community.  They will be able to provide you will applications for scholarships given out by churches, the local rotary club, chamber of commerce and various scholarship foundations.

Another place to look for scholarships is online. StudentScholarshipSearch.com is a website that aggregates scholarships from a variety of different sources. Every student can find scholarships that they qualify for on this site.  New scholarships are posted every day so make sure you check back often!

ScholarshipPoints.com is a website that gives away free scholarships every month. On the site you can earn points for reading blogs, listening to podcasts and doing various other activities. You can then use these points to enter $500, $1,000 and $10,000 scholarship drawings.

So there you have it; three great ways to get free money for college. Even if you are not attending college until next fall a lot of scholarship deadlines are early in the year so definitely make sure you star exploring these options now.

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Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is spending some quality time with family and friends this week! In the spirit of the holiday, today we are talking about giving back.

High school students often ask me what they can do to make their college applications stand out and what kind of activities colleges like to see. Doing well on standardized tests like the SATs and ACTs is important as is getting good grades, but nowadays college admissions officers like to see applicants who are extremely well rounded. Volunteering and giving back to the community is a huge part of that.

Volunteer work has become a standard at many high schools across the country. Some students have to complete a certain number of community service hours to even graduate. However, even if it is not required every student should do something to give back and make a difference. It is rewarding, it makes you feel good about yourself, and it can help you get in to your first choice school.

The best part of volunteering is that everyone can find something that they like to do.  If you are an animal lover you can volunteer with your local MSPCA. If you are passionate about cancer research you can volunteer with the American Cancer Society. If you want to be a teacher you can volunteer at a local elementary school. There is a need for people with all different talents so find a cause that you can really feel good about helping out.

Volunteering is also extremely helpful when applying for scholarships. There are thousands and thousands of scholarships out there for students who play an active role in helping their community. You can find some of these scholarships on StudentScholarshipSearch.com and through your high school’s guidance department. Many organizations, like churches, even give out scholarships to students who do a lot of volunteer work for them.

So this Thanksgiving I challenge every student to take on a new community service project whether it is required or not. I guarantee that is will give you a lot more to be thankful for.

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Most people know that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or the FAFSA, is the number one form you need to fill out to receive any kind of federal financial aid. However, there is another important financial aid form that every prospective college student should know about. The College Scholarship Service Profile, or the CSS Profile, is an application put out by the College Board. Over 600 colleges and universities use the information collected by the profile to determine student eligibility for nonfederal student aid. This application is much more detailed than the FAFSA and it gives financial aid officers  a closer look at the details of a student’s family finances.

This form is most useful for colleges with early decision and early action programs. These schools use the CSS Profile to make preliminary financial aid decisions for students because they cannot file a FAFSA until after January 1. Unfortunately, unlike the FAFSA there is a fee associated with filing the CSS Profile. The application fee is $9 and a $16 fee is charged for every school the information is sent to.

Make sure you find out if the school you are applying to require or accept this application!

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to everyone who has served and is serving our country in the United Stated Armed Forces. Today we are talking about what is being done to make the transition from active service to college easier for veterans. Recently there has been a lot of talk about the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. This bill, which was signed last year, provides veterans who served on or after September 11^th 2001 with financial aid for education and housing.

This bill is the largest veterans benefit bill since World War II and since it went into effect in August it has achieved a high level of popularity. A overwhelming  275,000 veterans have applied for education benefits so far. Although this number has been hard for the Department of Veterans Affairs to keep up with many schools are being lenient with when payments come in and the problems are expected to work themselves out with time.

Many young veterans returning from tours of duty have a lot more to deal with than the average undergraduate student. Many times these people already have families to support which makes obtaining an education extremely difficult. The hope is that this bill will make education more accessible to more veterans and that if will ease any doubt that they may have about returning to school.

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