By Mary Ann Albright

Aug. 28, 2007 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --

For students about to embark upon the last year of high school, college can seem a light at the end of a long tunnel of tests, applications and extracurricular activities.

With so many obstacles on the road to graduation, seniors often put off looking for scholarships for their postsecondary education.

It's only August, but those planning to start college in fall 2008 should start thinking dollars and cents now, high school guidance counselors and financial aid experts advise.

"By mid-March, about 75 percent of all scholarship deadlines have passed, so I tell students to start looking for scholarships the fall before the year they're intending to enroll," said Alyson Galloway, assistant director of financial aid and scholarships at Washington State University Vancouver.

Beyond the big-ticket national scholarships, many local and regional organizations will help defray college expenses. The key is knowing where to look for these less obvious (and, therefore, less competitive) opportunities, and knowing what you have to offer.

"I tell students to brainstorm a list of affiliations they and immediate family members have, their bank, church, employer and parents' employer. Then call them up and ask if they offer scholarships," Galloway said.

This list also should include all the student's hobbies, clubs and extracurricular activities. Having this information at hand will help when it comes time to ask for letters of recommendation during the scholarship application process. Teachers and counselors can better sell students to selection committees if they have thorough resumes and background information.

Internet scholarship searches can help students find relevant awards to apply for, and are widely available. However, avoid search engines that charge money, since they could be scams, Galloway advised. She also encourages all students to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon after Jan. 1 as possible. This is required for any state or federal aid, and many colleges and universities request a FAFSA as part of their financial aid and scholarship applications. This goes for need-based scholarships and also some focused on merit, athletics or other skill sets.

All this legwork takes time, so it pays to start early, as Brooke Bekkedahl of Hazel Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) learned.

Bekkedahl, 18, graduated from Columbia River High School in June and will enroll at Western Washington University in Bellingham next month. She hasn't chosen a major, but is interested in education and business.

Bekkedahl started looking for scholarships in December and found herself up against deadlines for several awards.

"I definitely felt a time crunch," she said.

Still, she managed to apply for about 15 awards, and received five. Several were academic scholarships from Linfield College, and another was an athletic scholarship from Warner Pacific College.

She opted not to attend either of those private schools, but the $5,000 the Vancouver Rotary Club awarded her will cover almost all of her tuition and fees during her freshman year at Western Washington University.

During her scholarship hunt, Bekkedahl relied on the counseling center at Columbia River, which has binders and bulletin boards packed with deadlines, criteria and contact information for various awards.

She also contacted the schools she was applying to and inquired about scholarships.

Some awards she applied for seemed like a stretch, such as one from Linfield that focused on international business, a foreign subject to her. Despite her qualms, Bekkedahl applied and was offered the award.

"You can't doubt yourself. Take a try at it, even if you don't think you'll get it, because you may surprise yourself," she said.

Try for everything, but only if you meet the basic requirements, suggested Debbie Carroll, 46, of Longview, a junior at WSU Vancouver.

Carroll, a human development major, received five of the six scholarships for which she applied, raising a total of $11,000.

The one she didn't get was earmarked for Clark County residents, and Carroll resides in Cowlitz County.

"Don't apply for it unless you fit all the criteria. Don't waste your time," she said.

Carroll received a state Educational Opportunity Grant, as well as awards from private organizations and WSU. She applied for several scholarships last year without much success, but didn't give up. Carroll attributes her recent windfall to casting a wider net and being willing to divulge more personal information in her essays.

"A lot of the scholarship programs want to see that you've overcome adversity. I grew up in poverty and had alcoholism and drug addiction in my family. Don't be afraid to use the obstacles in your life that have made you who you are. "

Carroll even received a $1,500 USA Funds scholarship for people with disabilities, since she has degenerative disc disease in her neck and lower back.

Help online

Carroll did the majority of her scholarship searches online, with the help of WSU Vancouver's scholarships Web page, www. vancouver. wsu. edu/ss/finaid/schol. htm , and FastWeb. (OOTC:FSWBF) com , a free service that matches people to scholarships.

People who do well on FastWeb. com fill out detailed dossiers listing all their hobbies, academic honors and group affiliations, said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid. org, a financial aid education site, and director of advanced projects for FastWeb. com.

Someone with a detailed profile may receive twice as many matches as a person with just the basics, he added. FastWeb. com compiles lists of scholarships students might be eligible for, and sends them e-mail reminders as deadlines approach.

While the scholarships on sites such as FastWeb. com range in value, every bit helps, said Nancy Heidrick, assistant director in the Office of Financial Aid at Clark College.

"If you get a couple places that give you $100, you've got $200. There's no scholarship that's too low to apply for," Heidrick said.

Galloway encourages students to think of a $200 scholarship as an hourly wage. If the application takes two hours to complete, and the award is granted, then the student earned $100 per hour. It would be hard to find a part-time job to beat that salary.

Also, students can often use the same essay, with minor tweaks, to apply for multiple scholarships, she advised.

"Be smart with applications. Save and revise, don't re-create," Galloway said.

Beyond the obvious

Here are some local scholarship sources that sometimes go overlooked:

- Banks and credit unions.

- High schools.

- Clark County Fair Association Inc.

- Churches.

- Alumni associations at schools the student's parents attended.

- Vancouver Emblem Club.

- Vancouver Methodist Foundation.

- Washington Award for Vocational Excellence (WAVE) program.

- Local Rotary, Elks and Lions clubs.

- Departments that offer the student's intended major, since they may have awards not handled through the university's financial aid and scholarships office.

- Any fraternal or community organization to which the student and immediate family members belong.

- Southwest Washington Medical Center, for students pursuing health care-related fields.

- College and university foundations.

- Vancouver Farmers Market Association.

- Clark County Chamber of Commerce.

- Student's and parents' employers.

Sources: Dana Newsom, Columbia River High School career guidance specialist; Alyson Galloway, assistant director in the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at Washington State University Vancouver; and Nancy Heidrick, assistant director in the Office of Financial Aid at Clark College.

Mary Ann Albright can be reached at 360-759-8019 or maryann. albright@columbian. com

Newstex ID: KRTB-0209-19197031