“You’re telling me that on top of applying to this school I have to apply for more money to survive at this school? Sounds like a scam to me.” But lucky for you, I’m here to help you with the best scholarship resources out there.
I remember being so stressed out in high school when it came to applying for college and university. One thing that added to the stress? Tuition. Do you know how many scholarships are offered for students — how weird some scholarships are?
I remember a teacher in high school telling us about a scholarship for twins. TWINS. Scholarships are such a strange and obscure thing. They’re really out here handing one over for anything. So, if you think you’re under-qualified to apply, think again. All you have to do is look.
There are some strange ones out there
You could do what I did. I was curious about those strange scholarships so, while procrastinating homework, I would search for a scholarships as one does. There is the Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship which asks you what you would do if there was a zombie apocalypse at your school. The Tall Clubs International Scholarship, and here you were thinking your size thirteen Nike’s wouldn’t get you anywhere. There are literally scholarships available based on your hair colour. So, that 3 a.m. breakdown where you bleach your hair and chop it off might actually benefit you in the end. Who would’ve thought?
Here are the top sites I feel are easiest to use and simplest to understand. Whether you decide to stay in Canada for post-grad or study elsewhere, have a look.
StudentAwards.com
Student Awards, in my opinion, has the simplest format. You input your email and they find scholarships and bursaries. They email you the ones you may be most interested in. Scroll a little more and they list different scholarships offered by either specific schools or even specific cities.
The don’t bombard you with pages of scholarships available. It’s all right there, large on the first page, where you can easily look. Rather than having to sift through 20 pages to find 10 scholarships you want to apply to.
Scholarships.com
This is a site where you create an account with your financial information and they match you with scholarships best suited for you. If you don’t want to create an account and get matched (maybe you think it’ll be too restricting) then you can just search through their directory of scholarships and read up on the ones that interest you. It’s all organized by topic of scholarship (age, major, gender, etc.) so it’s easy to use.
Finaid.org
Now, this site is a little different. Yes, it also has a page where it lists out scholarships you may qualify and apply for but it also has a page with different calculators. Then it can create a savings plan for you and you can create a budget before applying to scholarships. Maybe you find that you have more than you thought. Maybe you come to the realization that applying to a couple more scholarships than you had planned may help a little. This calculator option is what drew me into this page, specifically.
Unigo.com
First of all, it has a fun name, therefore, I trust it. Now, Unigo requires you to fill out questions and create an account with them. After completing a profile they send you personalized scholarships. The only issue with them is they only send you 14 offers every month. And yeah that seems like a lot but we’re out here trying to finesse the system and secure the bag, am I right? But again, these are personalized results so you’ll probably find yourself applying to a lot more than if you were to just go through a list of scholarships offered.
ScholarshipsCanada.com
Now, this is the one that I heard most about in high school. Similar to scholarships.com, you make yourself a profile and get matched with scholarships that may appeal to you or are best suited for your needs. One thing about this site, though, that is really interesting and beneficial is their contests. You could enter to win things like tuition for a year at a certain school, products to help you adjust as a new student in college/university and so much more. They even list events happening around the country related to the school you may be applying for or attending.
If all else fails…fall into a fetal position and hope for the best. Just kidding — kinda. Sometimes you can just look up your university or college’s name followed by “scholarships” and see what’s available specifically for you as an incoming student. Good luck and get to applying.