Unfortunately, there are more myths and misperceptions floating around about scholarships than there are truths. To make matters worse, a lot of so-called “professionals” promise to score you some big bucks if you’re willing to dish out some cash. So before we go any further, I want to address some of the wrong information that is floating around out there, so you can find that happy middle ground between having false hope and having no hope at all.

Chances are that if you told a stranger your child had received a scholarship, she’d ask you which sport your child plays. Likewise, if I were to ask you what chances you thought you had of receiving a scholarship, you’d guess little to none if you or your kid would rather crunch numbers than helmets.

In reality, though, there are hundreds of millions of dollars in scholarships out there that have nothing to do with athletics. They range from academic merit scholarships, to industry-specific scholarships, to geographical scholarships. In fact, there are so many scholarships out there that books trying to comprehensively list all scholarship programs usually range between 500 and 1,000 pages.

The point of all that is to say that doing your homework before you apply for scholarships, as well as applying for every scholarship that you have a legitimate shot at, will yield results. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you apply for 10 scholarships for every $1,000 in unmet need you have, there is a good chance you’ll get some letters in the mail that make you very happy.

Although scholarships are by no means impossible to get, especially for parents and students who send out a steady stream of quality applications, the idea that there are millions in scholarships that go unclaimed is completely bogus. In fact, anyone or any service that claims to be able to direct you toward slam-dunk scholarships is full of it.

In reality, even the smallest and least publicized scholarship funds get dozens of applications every year—if for no other reason than the people who are tied to the scholarship fund are constantly encouraging the kids of their friends and family to apply. But, as you’ll see in a minute, these smaller scholarship funds are definitely programs you want to target because your chances are much higher with them than with programs that receive thousands of applications.

Just as with other forms of financial aid, many parents and students talk themselves out of applying because they believe they’ll never qualify. Usually they think this because they make too much money or their grades are not at the top of their high school class. Thankfully, “qualifying” often has very little to do with who actually wins scholarships.

In large part, scholarship winners are decided on by a committee of people who take into consideration a number of factors, which vary widely from fund to fund. Some scholarships do hold very tightly to concrete standards, such as someone’s financial need or academic record. More often, though, scholarship committees are given a lot of wiggle room to select candidates who really tug on their heart strings and seem to embody the reason that the scholarship fund was established in the first place.

Perhaps the only time that it is too late to begin the scholarship hunt is a few months before you graduate; at that point you should probably be hunting for loan forgiveness programs (see Chapter 7). Any time prior to that, though, is as good a time as any to begin looking for some free money.

Granted, you’d ideally begin looking for scholarships at least 12 to 24 months before your freshman year of college starts. But, because most scholarships are initially awarded for only a one-year period, you have just as good of a chance of winning a scholarship in your sophomore or junior year as you do in your freshman year. In fact, you might have a better chance because you’ve already proven that there’s a good chance you’ll graduate. Scholarship funds hate giving away money to people who drop out of school after a year or two.

Additionally, many scholarship programs award amounts only to students entering certain years of college. It’s not uncommon to find programs that are available only to junior, senior, or graduate students. Ironically, these might be some of the easiest scholarships to land because many families give up the scholarship hunt after freshman year. In short, you should view the scholarship application process as an ongoing cycle that you’re committed to until six months prior to graduation.

If you find a scholarship that really seems to be your cup of tea but you have missed the deadline for it, you should still consider submitting an application. Many organizations, even though they have stated deadlines, will throw the late-comers in the pile as well. Regardless of the outcome, you should also add this scholarship deadline to your calendar for the coming year.

Many students and parents don’t take the scholarship process seriously because they think the chances of winning a scholarship that picks up the entire bill for college is pretty slim. Well, unfortunately, they’re right about that. Unless you’re a serious athlete or math-lete, you’re probably not going to ever land the coveted “full ride.”

Sadly, many parents don’t realize that as the amount a scholarship offers drops, so do the number of applicants for that scholarship. In other words, you’re going to get a lot more people applying for a scholarship that pays $25,000 per year for four years than one that pays $500 just once. But, if you’re willing to hustle, you can probably scrape together a number of $500 and $1,000 scholarships that will go a long way toward meeting your unmet financial needs.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t apply for a few huge scholarships. You never know—you might get lucky! But, you’ll probably end up with more cash if you spend your time applying for smaller and better researched scholarships.