Seniors, I am looking at you. College application season is coming to a close and now it is time to try to figure out how to afford at least four more years of education. That’s where this guide comes in. In this article you will find six tips on how to apply for scholarships.

1) Identify what your top schools are.

Knowing what your top schools are is critical so you can know what all school-specific scholarships you can apply for, and what the deadlines are for those scholarships.

Also look at specific departments within colleges to see what they have to offer cash-wise, but be warned that to find all the scholarships that a college offers may take some digging.

“Call, email, research the scholarship opportunities at that school,” says Dr. Ty Crook, MSMS counselor.

2) Look at scholarship database websites

There are many websites that do the hard work of compiling scholarships for you. Some of these websites are fastweb.com, scholly.com and scholarship.com.

In these websites you can find scholarships as competitive as the “Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship” to ones that ask you to write a response about the importance of fire sprinklers in society (Yes, it is a real scholarship). There is truly a scholarship for everyone.

3) Know yourself

Because there are so many scholarships to choose from online, it is important to look for those that suit you the best.

For example, if you are a student who excels in STEM courses but does not enjoy the humanities, it would be silly to waste your time applying to a pottery scholarship when there are many math and science based scholarships on the web.

“There is no real strategy other than putting in the time to apply the filters for what you qualify for” says Dr. Crook.

4) Talk to your local Chamber of Commerce

Chambers of Commerce often offer college scholarships to students within their counties, and despite living away from home MSMS, students are still eligible for most of these scholarships. These scholarships are often small, ranging from five hundred to one thousand dollars, but every dollar counts in the long run.

The Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce is very kind to allow MSMS students who are not originally from the Lowndes County area to apply to their scholarships as well.

5) Complete your FAFSA

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a, you guessed it, free application that all students should fill out despite financial background.

Many scholarships require your FAFSA to be completed anyway so it is best to just go ahead and get it out of the way.

6) Remember the perks of being a bright student in Mississippi

It is common knowledge that many MSMS students look forward to college, as they see it as a way to leave the state to experience different parts of the country. And although this drive is understandable, if college funds are dry for you, it is recommended to look over what Mississippi offers to its brightest students.

Mississippi is willing to dole out tremendous amounts of cash to keep its brightest students from leaving the state, and it works. Approximately 60 percent of MSMS graduates remain in-state, primarily for monetary reasons. The deal is simply too good to pass up for some students.

Mississippi offers MTAG, the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant, and the MESG, Mississippi Eminent Scholars Grant,  to students who remain in-state for college, and almost all MSMS students would meet the requirements for these two helpful scholarships.