Thousands of scholarships are available, said Becky Jones, assistant director for scholarships and grants at Montana State University-Bozeman. Some of them can be overlooked. Others are so restrictive that relatively few people qualify.
One scholarship, for example, requires the applicant to have a parent who served in the Coast Guard during World War II. The American Association of University Women wants to give $500 to a student from Mammoth Hot Springs or Park County. The Dude Ranchers' Association is offering $2,000 to someone who's enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a program related to dude ranching. Before receiving the money, the recipient must work one guest season on a dude ranch.
The best way to find out about scholarships is through the FastWEB, Jones said. The FastWEB is a free scholarship search service that allows anyone with even a home computer to look through a national database of more than 180,000 scholarships, fellowships, grants and loans.
The FastWEB program asks students to provide some basic information about themselves. The program then creates a private mailbox for each student. The mailbox is updated every time a scholarship is posted that matches the student's profile.
The service can be accessed through Netscape or Mosaic at: http://www.montana.edu/ This will provide access to the Montana State University-Bozeman Home Page. By choosing the topic "What's New" or "Services for Students," students can reach the Financial Aid-Scholarship Search page and gain direct access to FastWEB.
"This doesn't guarantee that you are going to get a scholarship, but in the past, students would have had to have come here and looked in books which can be outdated," Jones said.
The service is also much better than responding to postcards that offer scholarship search services for a fee, Jones added.
"I don't want to say that every scholarship search service that asks for a fee is not legit," Jones said. "... The problem is most of the time they will guarantee you a scholarship or your money back. That means you would have to prove that you did not receive a scholarship."
Many companies that offer scholarships are large companies that don't have the time or staff to send out rejection letters, Jones explained. So if a student doesn't receive a rejection letter, he can't prove he didn't get the scholarship.
BOZEMAN - As simple as it sounds, students applying for scholarships need to follow instructions and meet deadlines. Neatness really does count, according to experts at Montana State University-Bozeman.
"There isn't enough money, and competition is tough," said Becky Jones, assistant director for scholarships and grants. "If it's incomplete, you won't be considered and you won't necessarily be notified."
Victoria O'Donnell, director of the University Honors Program, advised starting early. "Very early."
A year and sometimes longer is not too early to start, especially when it comes to major, national scholarships, O'Donnell said. Students, for example, who plan to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship in their senior year of college should have started planning in their freshman year. Applicants for the Truman Scholarship will need at least 40 hours to fill out the application. Students applying for the Goldwater scholarship have to show well in advance that they are already involved in research.
If major scholarships sound out of reach, however, don't get discouraged. Many other scholarships are out there. Check with your local garden club, for example, or your parent's employer, the Elks Club or any service organization. Talk to O'Donnell (406/994-4110) about the Presidential or national scholarships. Talk to Jones (406/994-2845) about any other scholarships.
Jones tells continuing students and freshmen alike to contact the college they plan to attend to find out about scholarships.
"If they are not sure which one they plan to attend, contact them all," Jones advised. "It's a lot of extra work, but I would contact each school, find out the requirements and cover your bases."
If three schools offer you a scholarship, accept one and turn the others down. They'll re-award the scholarships, Jones said.
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