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. Attorney David Coolidge of Raleigh, NC has some great advice to follow while you’re conducting your search

1. TIPS
FOR
OBTAINING
SCHOLARSHIPS
David
Coolidge
November
25,
2013
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
to
follow
while
you’re
conducting
your
search:
1.
Ask
everyone
you
know.
What
resources
are
other
students
and
parents
using?
2.
Use
the
Scholarship
Search
Engines.
Engines
like
scholarships,
com,
collegeboard.com,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.