There is NO reason for you to EVER have to pay to find scholarship information.

All the information you could possibly want on scholarships can be found for FREE in your local library, financial aid office, or the internet. I have a list of legitimate, FREE scholarship search web sites here at FreSch! - use them all and maximize your information!

From a "logic" standpoint, I particularly encourage students to use ALL of these free scholarship searches because no one scholarship database can EVER contain EVERY scholarship out there! It just simply isn't possible. I know this - I've built a scholarship database myself from scratch, and I know first hand just how difficult it is to research scholarships and keep them up-to-date.

So use EVERY scholarship database out there. You will find quite a few "duplicate" scholarships - scholarships that appear in each of your searches on these websites - but you will also find a number of unique scholarships from each search.

By using all of the searches, you will spend a few hours of your time, and end up with a VERY complete - and quite large! - list of scholarships to apply to. I can confidently state that NO fee-based scholarship search out there is going to give you a list as complete as the list you will have gotten yourself by using all of the free scholarship searches.

When is a fee-based scholarship search legitimate and when is it a scam?

A fee-based scholarship search is legitimate when they do what they promise to do. It is a scam when they don't.

That sounds simple - but it isn't. Most fee-based scholarship searches are going to promise you - or lead you to believe they have promised:

That you WILL win a scholarship - "guaranteed!" The problem with these "guarantees" is that they are usually worded very carefully and end up meaning absolutely nothing. For example, I'm going to quote Kathy Wilkins of Gainesville, Florida, who wrote me the following:

The scholarship search that I got scammed by told me this: "If you do not recieve at least $50 in financial aid by properly applying for each scholarship you qualify for, we guarantee you a complete refund." Reading that, it sounds like I will get a refund if I don't win at least $50 in scholarships, right? Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Read it again: Notice these words:

"properly applying for each scholarship you qualify for"

This is what I got caught by. To get their guarantee, I had to apply to EACH of the scholarships they listed. But the results they sent me included two scholarships that could not be applied for since their deadlines were expired, one scholarship that was a one-time only scholarship (not offered yearly) and had already expired, and three scholarships that were for high school seniors ONLY. I am a college sophomore, I could not even get those three to mail me an application! The one scholarship that was no longer offered, I couldn't apply for it EVER. And the others, I would have to wait till next year to apply for.

Therefore, since I could not "properly apply" for EACH of the scholarships they listed, I was not eligible for their refund.

To make things more complicated, they included a FAFSA form. Since I filed a FAFSA form - even though it wasn't the form they sent me - I was not eligible for their refund because I did receive financial aid from the government (a small Pell grant.) Since I received that Pell grant, I "won" at least $50 from the sources they sent me, so they would not refund my money.

Total scam. I got ripped off totally.

That their information cannot be found anywhere else. Simply not true. Use the FreSch! Scholarship Search, or use any of the other free scholarship search websites and you will quickly learn that information can ALWAYS be found somewhere else! Check your library, your guidance counselors office or your financial aid office. There simply is no such thing as information existing only ONE place.

Again, be logical: Can you get a phone number ONLY one place? No. You can use the White Pages, the Yellow Pages, call 411, use the Internet, Business Directorys, Mailing lists, etc. Information can always be found in more than one place.

That there are scholarships for "everyone" and "anyone" can win a scholarship. Total fabrication. Ask every college student you know - have they ALL won a scholarship? Have they ALL even FOUND a scholarship that they can apply for?

Be logical! If "everyone" can win a scholarship, how come so few people YOU know HAVE won a scholarship!?!?

Do you REALLY think someone is going to GIVE YOU MONEY *just because* you have, for example, red hair? The answer is NO: Even the scholarships that have off-the-wall requirements like being left-handed or under 4'9" in height are going to look at SECONDARY considerations: Your GPA, your financial need, your references, etc.

Imagine you are a scholarship judge: You have two students who are both left-handed. One of them has a 3.9 GPA, the other a 2.2 GPA. Both meet the "primary" consideration of being left-handed. Which one are YOU going to choose? The "better risk" will be chosen: The student with the higher GPA.

I'm sorry to tell you this... but if you have a really lousy GPA, never volunteered, never was involved in extracurricular activities, have no redeeming qualities, and basically did NOTHING for the four years you were in high school except socialize, party, and hang out, NO ONE is going to *GIVE* you money to go to college. You are simply NOT a "good investment."

The TRUTH is you are going to find it VERY difficult to WIN a scholarship, even if you ARE the very best student in the world!!

We Do All The Work. Oh really? For only $49 - or even $200 - they are going to fill out all your applications, write all your essays, mail all your application requests, get all your reference letters, transcripts, photos, and personal statements?

Think about it: If they REALLY are going to do ALL the work, that means EVERYTHING, right? How on earth is a company going to stay in business if they do ALL the work involved in applying for scholarships and charge a small fee? Does that sound logical to you? *grins*

The TRUTH is that YOU are going to have to spend HOURS AND HOURS of YOUR time applying for scholarships. On average, between 6 and 12 hours per application. NO ONE is going to do it for you - even if you pay them.

"I still want to use a fee-based scholarship search, I really do not want to spend time looking for scholarships myself. What do I do?"

Hey, it is your money, if you want to spend it on a scholarship search, by all means, go right ahead. But be SMART about it:

Check out the company. Verify their address, their phone number (scroll down the page to find information on how to verify addresses and phone numbers). Make sure they have a business license.

Check with your local Better Business Bureau (links to the BBB are at the bottom of this page) and see if there is a history of complaints on file.

Ask your guidance counselor or financial aid officer if they can recommend a reliable, local scholarship search company - one that they know students have used before with no significant problems.

Don't pay more than $50. Anything more is over-priced.

That company is Chinook Fund Finders. From my own personal contact, and from what I have heard from multiple students who have used his service, he is reliable, honest, honorable, inexpensive, offers a service of value, and is even friendly.

You can search their database for as little as $15. He offers a "satisfaction guarantee," and he HONORS it. If information you receive is wrong, he will provide you with correct information. He takes the time to answer your questions, actually answers his phone and his email. What I particularly like is you can do a "preliminary" search to find out how many results his database will provide BEFORE you plop down your credit card.

Most important, while of course there is SOME "sales pitch," he does not market his services deceptively, in my opinion.

Just because I do not recommend any other fee-based scholarship searches does not mean that "all" the others are not legitimate - it just means I haven't checked them out :)

On a side note... I am NOT being paid to recommend Chinook...this is my personal opinion - and his search form is even longer than mine!

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