Avoiding Scams When Searching For Academic Scholarships
To say that a college education can be quite costly might be a clear-cut case of stating the obvious, but it doesn't make that truth any easier to deal with, for some individuals. This might make you want to look everywhere for methods of possibly saving a little money on tuition, and it might make you inclined to take any offer of scholarship or grant money that you can get your hands on.
Such a practice is only likely to be to your detriment in the grand scheme of things. If you aren't careful and discriminating in your search for scholarships, you could end up in serious financial trouble.
Luckily, if you take a little bit of time to look, it shouldn't be too hard for you to find usable sources of financial aid. Search for reputable companies, as well as non-profit organizations and educational institutions. Try to find someone you know who has found financial aid through one of these channels and ask how satisfied they were with the service they received, or investigate them thoroughly on your own.
Now that the right places to look are out of the way, let's concentrate on the wrong ones. If and when you attend a seminar where various companies or organizations are offering scholarship packages that seem enticing, look out for sales figures who seem to be selling their services aggressively, or making guarantees of a scholarship's availability. Few, if any, legitimate companies will market themselves in such a way.
Also be wary of company or organizational representatives who seem to react evasively when you ask them questions about what they're offering. If you encounter this, just stay away and look for another solution to your problem.
Where have you looked for scholarship money?
