Hello and welcome back to Chloe’s College Corner!! In this series of articles, I will be teaching you how to get scholarships, get recruited for sports, how to apply to college, and so on!!! As I am teaching you, I am also teaching myself, as I am semi educated in this subject. So, without further ado, welcome to article 1!
Today’s topic is about scholarships and FAFSA; what you want to look for, how to get money, deadlines, etc. When looking into college, you first want to see if and how much money they are willing to give you. Let’s say you want to go to the University of Hawaii, and they are willing to give you 5,000 dollars to cover transportation and books. You then want to calculate how much money you would owe, and what amount of debt that leads you to.
Realistically you want to see what school has whatever it is you’re looking for, but also leaves you with less debt. However, scholarships and FAFSA are here to help you.
When looking for scholarships, you can search for them online, but they must relate to you. For example, if you’re left handed there is a scholarship out there for you! Also, depending on how much money your family makes, they will tend to offer you more money. Same goes for FAFSA.
When applying for FAFSA, it’s basically free money. When you are setting it up, you have to say how much your parents make, and depending on that, the money they give you differs. But, like everything else, there is a deadline to apply. If you don’t apply by October 1st, 2025, the likelihood of getting money will be low. So act fast!!!
However, you will tend to want to stay away from student loans. Student loans cause the most debt, because unlike FAFSA and scholarships, you owe that money back. So, try and stay away from those as much as you can.
Now, of course using both FAFSA and scholarships doesn’t guarantee 0 dollars of debt. But, the more you try to get them, the less money you will owe in the future. If you are currently wishing to start your FAFSA application, go to their website now. If you need any help applying go to the College and Career Center, Monday through Thursday. With that being said, start looking at FAFSA while you have a month left, and start looking at scholarships that apply to you!
