Never let a mistake you’ve made in the past discourage you from applying for a scholarship–most applications don’t even ask about the applicant’s criminal record. If you’d qualify for the scholarship without a felony conviction, there’s a good chance you’ll quality for the scholarship with one. Here’s some great advice from Raleigh Attorney David Coolidge on how to conduct your search. Visit http://davidcoolidge.net

2. Never let a mistake you’ve made in the past
discourage you from applying for a scholarship–
most applications don’t even ask about the
applicant’s criminal record.

3. If you’d qualify for the scholarship without a
felony conviction, there’s a good chance you’ll
quality for the scholarship with one.

4. Here’s some great advice to follow while you’re
conducting your search:

5. 1. Ask everyone you
know.
What resources are other students
and parents using?

6. 2. Use Scholarship
Search Engines.
Engines like
scholarships, com, collegeboard.org,
and fastweb.com are the perfect
place to start. Fill out all optional
questions in the search profile to
yield as many as twice the amount of
results.

7. 3. Check with the
colleges/universities
you’re applying for.
Straight from the horse’s mouth, as
the saying goes–they’ll often have
information on school-specific
scholarships you can’t find
elsewhere.

8. 4. Check local
newspapers and/or
your guidance
counselor’s bulletin
board.
Locally-based scholarships can be
just as helpful while remaining far
less competitive than their
nationwide counterparts.

9. 5. Check with
community-based
organizations in your
city or town.
Places of worship, civic
centers, charitable
groups, community
foundations, Dollars for Scholars.
Any one of these could hold the keys
to your collegial future.

10. 6. Don’t give up.
Applying for a scholarship is like
applying for a job–you won’t often
book your first one. Apply
early, apply often, and don’t get
discouraged!

11. 7. DO NOT pay for
advice.
Opportunities that require you to
pay money to receive money are
most likely scams. The only
monetary investment you should
ever make towards scholarships or
scholarship-related info is the money
you spend on postage stamps.