If you thought that finding scholarships for a four-year degree was difficult, then wait until you try to find scholarships for grad school! They are much harder to find, and what is even worse is that student loans for grad school are harder to find, too. Therefore, you should start looking to establish your funding long before you graduate with your four-year degree.
The first step in finding scholarships for grad school should be to visit your college counselor. They may know of some scholarships that are specific to your school or to your particular major. You will also be surprised at just how many scholarships go unclaimed, so you may end up being the only one who applies for one!
Once you have exhausted the list of scholarships for grad school at your particular place of education, then it is time to hit the Internet. You will find that there are many web sites that have listings of scholarships that may be applicable to you. Some are designed for a certain major or path of employment, while others are merit-based and will require you to have a high grade point average as well as a high score on the graduate entrance examination.
One thing that you should keep in mind when applying for scholarships for grad school is that you will be expected to provide several letters of recommendation (usually three), in addition to a personal statement as to why you need the funding and why you are seeking an advanced degree. Since these letters are sometimes difficult or time-consuming to get, it is a good idea to have them put together before you start applying for scholarships. Just make sure that the person who writes the letter writes them addressed “to whom it may concern,” rather than to a particular school.
Your personal statement may be the one thing in your scholarship application that is really noticed, and an extraordinary personal statement will always weigh in higher than good grades alone. Therefore, take the time to write your statement, have it read and edited by a professional, and make sure that it really pleads your case. Many scholarship committees, especially on the graduate level, get hundreds of applications, so it is worth the time to make yours stand out.
Getting scholarships for grad school is not impossible, but you should keep in mind that it will probably be much harder than finding scholarships for a four-year degree. The same is also true for entrance into a college. Getting into a graduate school is by no means an automatic thing, no matter what your grades were.
That being said, you can supplement any scholarships for grad school that you get with student loans. Although you may not want to burden your future with more debt, sometimes they are the only way to get through school. Student loans can be found in a number of different forms, from government-sponsored loans in your name to ones that your parents cosign for. You can also find private-based student loans that will help you complete your funding picture.
