How do I find free scholarships for college?

I'm a high school junior checking out my college options and I'm really interested in finding scholarships. Does anyone have advice on where to find scholarships that are free to apply for, or places to look?

You're already being proactive by looking for scholarships, which is great! Here's a concise roadmap to finding scholarships:

1. Local scholarships: Start by checking out scholarships in your local community. Schools, local businesses, non-profits, and community organizations often have scholarship opportunities for local students. Speak to your high school counselor to learn what's available.

2. School-specific scholarships: Make sure to add the colleges you're interested in to Appily and filter for institutional scholarships. These are scholarships specifically for students applying to a particular school. You can learn more about these on the Financial Aid page of each college's website.

3. National scholarships: Online platforms such as FastWeb, Scholarship.com, and Peterson's have large databases with thousands of scholarships. It can be a bit overwhelming, but you can usually filter by your particular interests, career goals, and personal background.

4. Look for scholarships related to your interests: Niche scholarships are those which target a specific group of students defined by shared characteristics, activities, or interests. For example, there are scholarships for students interested in a particular career path, students who play specific sports or instruments, or students who belong to a certain demographic group, to name a few.

5. Lastly, don't discount small scholarships: Although a $500 scholarship may not sound like much in comparison to the total cost of tuition, every bit helps! These smaller scholarships also tend to be less competitive, so your chances of earning them might be higher.

One thing to note is that you should typically never pay to apply for a scholarship. Scholarships should be about providing you with money for your college experience, not taking it away. If a scholarship application asks for a fee, it is probably best to avoid it. Remember, your goal is to acquire funding, not spend it.