Get Off Your Butts!

Okay, so you know what college you want to go to, but know already that you will have problems with paying.  You want to get scholarships, but you know in order to be considered a likely candidate, you need a leg up on most of your competition.  But how?  Easy, just volunteer.  Volunteer for every possible moment that you have free time.  Your senior year is supposed to be fun, but would you rather that fun last for four years, or end that year because you didn't do what you needed to do in order to succeed?  Exactly.  Volunteer at a local church, a food drive, soup kitchen, or animal shelter.  There are many other places to volunteer, but these are commonplace.  Believe me, people who review your application for scholarships love more than anything to see that you gave up your free time to help other people.  Not only does this help your chances and other people, it makes you a better person.  There is such a sense of accomplishment when you help someone out, and it only gets better the more you do it.  Besides, a lot of college require you to do a certain amount of volunteer work anyway, so get used to it.  It's not hard, and it will make everything so much easier.

Teachers Pet

Okay, this is for the people who want to go to college and become a teacher.  You want to find a way around having to pay for a huge loan.  Apply for the Teaching Fellows loan.  What they require is simple:  You go to school, get you degree, but instead of paying off the loan in money, you agree to teach in a low income area or a needy subject (music majors, I'm especially talking to you).  You work there for four years, and you don't have to worry about the loan.  And if you want to find more teaching loans, I suggest Fastweb.com.  Great scholarship site, and usually has the scholarship up online the day it is announced.  Second to that, people don't realize how important their school counselors are at this moment.  Talk to them about scholarships.  There are always local businesses or clubs that have scholarships, especially rotary club or the masons.  The scholarships may be small, but they still help.

Apply Early

This is the easiest thing to remember.  If you apply early, you don't have to worry about late fees, or rushing to get things done.  Apply around the end of summer towards September.  This way you will have more time to worry about the paying of tuition rather than worrying about getting accepted.  Applying early makes a great impression to the college.  It shows them that you are proactive, and in turn, they give more attention to your application.  Also, the quicker you apply, the easier it would be to get certain scholarships from that school.  If you are late, you will miss out on a lot of opportunities.

How to Save Money When Applying for Schools

Alright, so in this post, I will explain how to make it easier on your parents or your wallet when appyling for schools.  Now, everyone knows how expensive it is to complete a college application.  For just one, it is usually at least over $40!  That is, for most people, hard to pay.  But no fear, I am here to save the day.  If you are a high school student, do you receive free lunch from your school?  How about Title 1?  If you aren't sure, ask your parents.  If you do, you are in luck.  Because you receive these services, you are eligible to get fee waivers to pay you application costs!  Just ask your guidance counselor.  You can send in 4-6 applications free of charge with these fee waivers.  And another great bonus: shh, you also get fee waivers to take the SAT and/or the ACT.  Lucky right?  Very.

Life at Coastal: The Fun Times: Being A Music Major at Coastal Carolina University...

Life at Coastal: The Fun Times: Being A Music Major at Coastal Carolina University...: "Choosing a school to go to to continue on towards your dream career is a difficult decision, but a necessary one. There are many quest..."

Being A Music Major at Coastal Carolina University

Choosing a school to go to to continue on towards your dream career is a difficult decision, but a necessary one.  There are many questions you have to ask yourself.  Thee main one should always be does this college have a major that is relative to my interests?  You should never choose a college based on money, who is going there as well, or where it is located.  Granted, CCU has a great location, being right near Myrtle Beach, and the ocean.  But that isn't all that this college has to offer.  CCU is one of the fastest growing universities in the nation, but with only 9,000 undergraduates, it is still a relatively small school.  Within my next few blogs, I will talk about the finer points of CCU.  I will also give pointers on how to decide what school is best, and the application and scholarship processes.  Til then, CCU!  GO CHANTS!