Athletic Scholarship Recipients Do This

So you say want an athletic scholarship huh? You've heard about the sacrifices it takes and are willing to make them. Great! You don't have to worry about hard work because you should have that one down pact. These are also a couple things that you can think about that, for the most part, within your control.

Don't take these improvement suggestions personally. There will always be and have always been exceptions to the rule. Most importantly, see this from the recruiters' perspective. These are the things that will differentiate you from another athlete if he is stuck between you too.

1. GPA
These are the three biggest letters in your academic career and being an athlete doesn't exempt you from that. The NCAA has certain academic requirements that all athletes must meet (and so do the other athletic associations). Furthermore, most top tier schools have academic standards that their athletes must meet that are well above the minimums imposed by the NCAA. All you have to do is research the Dukes and Notre Dames. When a school awards you an athletic scholarship, they are making an investment in you. If there's a chance you will be ineligible after the first semester, they won't want to deal with you. Also, your GPA can be interpreted in many ways by a recruiter. Does this athlete work hard? Does he/she have time management skills? How smart is this individual?

2. Student involvement
Collegiate programs want well-rounded team players. They also look for leadership potential. Organizations like student government, the school newspaper, or even a part-time job can show the recruiter that you're not just some dumb jock. It can be really good to be able to throw or kick a ball, but you will most likely be throwing or kicking that ball to a teammate. They want to know that you will be able to work well with them.

3. Awards and starts
This one you don't have complete control over, but has to be put on here because it can end up playing a major part in your earning an athletic scholarship. As with any job, an employer looks at skill (talent) and experience. You may being on one of the premier high school football teams in your state and only start your junior and senior years, but it does jump out to recruiters when they see an individual that has been starting since they were a freshman.

You also don't have complete control over the awards you receive. You do, though, have more control over this than if the coach puts you in the game or not. If you don't score the most points because you're not receiving a lot of touches, make sure that your field goal percentage is high. If your plays aren't called a lot, get your average yards per carry as high as you can. Don't mess up the team to improve your stats, but when you have an opportunity to perform make sure you do.

Recruiters for colleges do look at these things above. Not only that, but there are vast amounts of students who want these athletic scholarships. Try your best to work on these suggestions. They'll be worth your time.

How to Achieve Best Scholarships Even With Low Grades

Many people have this misconception about college scholarships that it is reserved only for outstanding students with excellent grades or great sporting abilities. Hundreds of scholarships and grants are available for ordinary students. One should carefully search for the type of scholarship that would best be suitable for you.

Many federal government agencies and private companies donate billions of dollars for students who deserve scholarships to help them in their college fees. College scholarships are available as a result of taxes and donations given by corporations, private companies as well as many religious and educational associations.

A lot of companies like to donate money because this way they can get their taxes deduced. Many companies prefer to pay their money to deserving students, than to pay taxes to the government. Many students can benefit from such scholarships.

Usually all high school graduates can apply for scholarships. Although some may not have certain qualifying criteria. Like, some scholarships are only available for academically outstanding grades, and some may be available for financially needy students, or students with a certain personal background, with impressive sports performance or who's parent is employed by the army. Also, there are many scholarships available for women and minorities as well.

It is important to analyze yourself when you are applying for college scholarships. Think about what are your qualities and what courses you plan to take up? Also, which school would you like to attend? Then only you would be able to apply for a scholarship that would suit you the best, to ensure that you qualify for it.

In some cases, you may be eligible for a scholarship if you are pursuing a certain type of career. For instance, if you intend to become a nurse, then you can take advantage and apply for the special scholarship for nurses.

Local scholarships is your best bet. These are convenient for you and there is more of a chance of getting a local scholarship than a national scholarship. National scholarships are being applied for by students throughout the nation, therefore the chances of getting one decreases considerably.

Local students are preferred over others for local scholarships. It is better to ask your counselor about these scholarships. Posting for local scholarships can be found in town and city halls, etc. Ask your parents, if they work for large corporations which give out local scholarships. You can strive for it and get fruitful results.

Also, you should not be disappointed if you don't find local scholarships, but rather you can look for college scholarships online. There are a lot of search engines helping students find the right scholarship for them.

Search engines can also scrutinize your credentials with the criteria to qualify for the scholarship. But always remember that it is a ploy if they ask money for it. Original search engines are free to use. So one should be careful to avoid falling for such a scam.

How to Get Scholarships for College - How to Search For a College Scholarship

Many students hesitate in applying for a scholarship thinking of the difficult and laborious effort if they want to know how to get scholarships for college. Many others disqualify themselves even before finding out what is required by scholarship bodies. Still others think that scholarship is not for them and preferred to make a student loan to help them get to college.

Getting a loan is very risky since you do not know how much salary you will really get after getting a degree, and how inflation would have affected the loan that you have made. Working to qualify for a scholarship is a far better shot to have a college diploma.

It is said that where there is no pain, there is no gain. This is so true in working out to get funds for a free college education. Consider the gains: You will have acquired a qualification that will open doors for you to jobs that pay better and are more personally rewarding. Some scholarships even offer jobs right after college.

Yet, that college or university diploma is just the beginning of good things to come. With that credential, you can plot out greater things for yourself where you are totally in control. All you need to do is to find how to get scholarships for college.

So, how do you search for scholarships? The key here is partnering or making a linkage. Everything becomes easier when there are others that help you carry the load for you. That means that if family and friends can help you find some scholarship programs, it will be a big help for your search. However, on your own, you can make your search much more effective by using online internet search engines specially dedicated for scholarships will yield for you hundreds of scholarships to choose from. What used to be backbreaking work is now accomplished by your fingertips.

The common sponsors are government, business, and non- profit groups and community organizations. Most academic scholarships are quite limited, but those from government, business and non-profit groups are so varied that you can surely find several that serve your purpose. Keep in mind that you can receive as many as you qualify for so the total amount can be substantial if you put in enough effort applying to several scholarships. All you need to do is to find how to get scholarships for college. The easiest way to do this is to apply online and get your college funding that you do not have to pay back.

Scholarships For Women Over 40 - Do They Exist?

The question is are do scholarships for women over 40 exist, not do women over 40 exist...ha ha ha.

Yes there are scholarships for women over 40.

One of the scariest things I've done in my life is go back to college. I didn't have enough money to pay for college and still had to provide for my kids. So yeah I was pretty scared.

I have been able to pay for most of my schooling with the help of grants and scholarships. I get pretty good grades now but when I started, my record was not good. So getting any sort of academic scholarship was out of the question. So I looked elsewhere.

There are actually a ton of scholarships given out each year with almost no special requirements. Burger King gives away many many $1000 scholarships to High School Juniors every year. So yeah there are lots of opportunities.

The key is knowing where to find them.

When I started out I simply went to the internet and started searching and found enough information to get started. FAFSA is a government website that lists all kinds of government grants and scholarships and is a great place to start. Most of my scholarship money has come from corporate scholarships such as the Burger King Scholarship I mentioned above. Discover Card is another one that gives away multiple generous scholarships every year. In fact various corporations are responsible for awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in scholarship money every year.

If you are currently employed, contact your human resource department and find out if they offer any sort of college assistance program. In fact, employers are another huge contributor of college assistance and should not be over looked.

November College Deadlines For Scholarships Are Quickly Approaching

Getting all of your scholarship applications turned in on time is incredibly important. There are certain ones which are due in November, so you will want to make certain that you have completed and turned in your application before the date specified. One application that is due on October 31st is the Cola Scholarship. On November 1st the Voice of Democracy scholarship from the VFW is due.

The Claes Nobel Academic Scholarship can provide up to $5,000 for funding to go to an accredited college/university of your choice. The deadline for this particular scholarship is November 30th. It is a merit-based scholarship, meaning that you will need to prove that you qualify for it in terms of academics as well as financial need.

Long Beach College Scholarship is another one that is due in November by the 1st. The Long Beach College Scholarship program has been helping students get funds for a higher education for over fourteen years now and gives out thousands of dollars each year to those who qualify. Both financial need and academic merit are important for this award.

Keep in mind that college scholarships due dates are something to mark down. If you see that a certain college scholarship requires students to submit their applications by a certain date, you will want to make sure to get yours in by then. Because the process also involves admission applications, essays and getting recommendations, there is a lot involved in applying to colleges so stay organized to avoid missing the cut off dates.

Entrepreneurs - 2 Simple Questions Will Determine Whether IP Strategy is Critical to Your Business

Intellectual property ("IP") is often a subject that is "out of sight, out of mind" for entrepreneurs who are launching new business ventures. And, why shouldn't it be: business schools rarely teach much about law in general, let alone about the highly specialized world of IP law. Since non-business school trained entrepreneurs generally take their cues from the methods of their colleagues, it can be said that a significant majority of entrepreneurs do not consider IP to comprise a necessary step when they are formulating their business plans. My conversations with entrepreneurs over the years bears this out.

When IP does form a fundamental basis of an entrepreneur's new venture, it is likely because scientific or technical subject matter forms the basis of the business. In this context, it makes sense that the scientific or technical subject matter core of the business model must be protected by seeking patent protection. In my opinion, this is a far too narrow view of when a new entrepreneurial concept requires IP protection, however.

Put simply, an entrepreneur needs more than a yes or no decision centering on whether she should obtain one or more patents to protect her idea. Rather, prior to launching her new business venture, an entrepreneur must develop and execute on a business strategy focused on determining whether she needs to pursue IP protection in order to meet her goals.

While IP can seem somewhat arcane and impenetrable to people who have not been trained in this specialized legal area, fortunately, formulation of a strategy requires an entrepreneur to ask just two simple questions:

What aspects of my business model differentiate me from my competitors?
Would I find it difficult to meet my goal and obtain my desired payback if someone copied the differentiated aspects of my business model?

With regard to the first question, most entrepreneurs should find it easy to define the differentiated aspects of their strategy. Indeed, the large majority of business models will be based upon one or more perceived needs in a particular market that are not being met by competitors. These one or more differentiators serve as the competitive advantage provided by the entrepreneur's model and serve as the reason that she seeks to develop the business in the first place.

As for the second question, most entrepreneurs will agree that it would be difficult for them to succeed in their goals if a competitor were able to copy the differentiated aspects of their business models. In answering "yes" to each of these questions, the entrepreneur should understand that an executable IP strategy should form an essential aspect of their business plan preparation.

It is important to clarify here exactly what I mean by "IP strategy." Significantly, IP strategy does not necessarily mean that the entrepreneur's end goal is to obtain enforceable IP rights, whether a patent or otherwise. Rather, an IP strategy centers on understanding whether and how protection of the differentiated aspects of the business model will enhance the enterpreneur's ability to achieve her goals.

With regard to patents, the IP strategy may indicate that it may not be cost effective to obtain a patent, but that filing of an application may nonetheless provide significant competitive protection. For example, because it takes many years and significant expense to see a patent through to the end in most technologies, it would not make sense for an entrepreneur to seek rights when the business model is expected to significantly evolve over time. In this instance, by the time the patent issues, it likely will not actually cover the products, technology or services of the company. Even so, the IP strategy may indicate that it would nonetheless be valuable for the entrepreneur to provide her competitors with the perception that she is seeking to obtain a patent on some aspect of the business model.

To this end, the entrepreneur might wish to file an application with the full expectation that it may not issue as a patent. Such a filing will allow the entrepreneur to advertise that her business involves "patent pending" technology. I have found that in some industries the use of "patent pending" can assist in keeping competition at bay and can substantially assist in a company's marketing efforts. This "patent pending" IP strategy can be accomplished fairly cheaply if undertaken by a strategically focused IP attorney. The end goal with such an IP strategy is not to obtain an enforceable rights at the end but, rather, to leverage the "patent pending" to potentially reduce competition or give a product or service greater marketplace cache.

Moreover, by applying an under-utilized provision of US patent law, the entrepreneur can request that the application remain unpublished, a technique that will effectively keep her competitor in the dark about what she may be seeking protection on and whether she is likely to prevail. The uncertainty afforded by the unpublished application may be enough to keep potential competition away from the entrepreneur's growing business. Thus, the end goal of this IP strategy effectively serves as a shield against competition, rather than a sword.

Another way for an entrepreneur to use IP strategy to protect the differentiated aspects of her business model is to include brand equity development in the earliest stages of the launch of the venture. This brand equity must be associated with strategic trademark and service mark filings. As the business becomes more successful, consumers will increasingly associate the strong brand with the entrepreneur's product, technology or service. Successful strategic protection of a brand will hopefully result in the entrepreneur's solution being the go-to brand.

One example of an entrepreneur's establishing immeasurable value from developing brand equity is the LifeLocki dentity theft prevention product. This company was not the first to offer a product of this type; rather, it was the first to offer a $1MM guarantee that a purchaser would not experience identity theft as long as she paid $10 a month to LifeLock. Interestingly, LifeLock provides identity theft protection services in ways analogous to those of its competitors, both those coming before and after. This guarantee served as the basis of LifeLock's competitive differentiation.

Notably, the LifeLock guarantee could not be protected by a patent. Instead, LifeLock's owner (Todd Davis) decided to advertise the guarantee and build his company's brand equity around it. To this end, Mr. Davis flooded the airwaves with commercials in which he recited his social security number as proof that his company's product was foolproof--so foolproof, in fact, that he was willing to give the $1MM guarantee. Today, it is likely hard for many potential purchasers of identity theft protection products to think of going anywhere else than the company "where the owner tells us his social security number." The entrepreneurs responsible for the successful launch of LifeLock realized that the guarantee made them different from their competitors and made sure that the company's marketing strategy was focused toward ensuring that the public associated that guarantee only with LifeLock.

There are many other ways for an entrepreneur to protect the differentiated aspects of her business model from competition using IP strategy. Further illustrative examples include strategic agreements and first mover advantage. Indeed, there are likely as many ways to protect a business model from competition as there are business models. The key is for entrepreneurs to fully engage with the need to include IP strategy in their business plans and to ensure that they execute on that IP strategy. Put simply, IP strategy is not about getting IP as an ultimate end goal. Rather, IP strategy can ensure that the entrepreneur's business model not only provides a competitive advantage but that is also sustainable.

Steps You Can Take Now to Get a College Scholarship

Finding a college scholarship is important if you're going to go to college. Going to college today is imperative if you plan on getting a quality job and being successful in life; however, the prices of a good college education have never been higher before. Today the costs of attending college are skyrocketing, making a college education an expensive investment that many are finding themselves unable to afford. However, there are a variety of college scholarships available to help students with college costs, but many are not even trying to apply. If you are looking for a way that you can afford college, then you may want to try applying for a college scholarship to help you afford your education.

Although you will find that there are many options to choose from when you are looking for a college scholarship, many of these scholarships are going unawarded each year, simply because no one has applied for them. There are actually thousands of different scholarships out there that one can apply for. Although many of these scholarships are merit based, there are different qualifications for each scholarship, and many are not based on just merit or financial need alone.

If you are looking for a college scholarship, you will find that many of them are based on financial need. This means that those who are having difficulties coming up with the money to go to college should definitely apply for these scholarships. Even if you are not financially needy though, there are other great scholarship opportunities that are not just based on need. You'll find that there are many scholarships out there that are especially for people of particular heritages, some for those going into certain fields, and a whole lot more.

Many times you'll find that you can easily find a good college scholarship in your area. More than likely there are local scholarships available. When you are competing for scholarships that are based on a small geographical area, you will have a much better chance of winning them. Consider talking to your guidance counselor to find out what local scholarships are available in your area. Of course there are scholarships that are offered on a national basis as well, including National Merit scholarships, Coca-Cola scholarships, ROTC scholarships, Robert Byrd scholarships, and very many more.

Chances are that your employer or your parents' employer may also offer scholarships as well. If you are working already, find out if your employer has any scholarships programs. Ask your parents if their companies offer scholarships for the children of their employees. Also, you may find that your church may even offer some scholarships as well.

There are so many different ways that you can find a college scholarship today. There are online sites that provide listings of top scholarships, and books that you can check out of your library full of possible scholarships. One of the best places that you can find a great scholarship is online at scholarship search sites. These sites ask you specific questions and will then help to match you up with scholarships that you may be eligible for. So, why pay for college on your own? There are plenty of great scholarships out there that can help you get the education you need and deserve.

Ballet Your Way to a College Degree

If you want to become a ballet dancer and take on the world, then you better do it by furthering your dancing skills and get a college degree while you're at it. There are several ballet schools that offer full and partial scholarships to ballet students.

The School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center provides scholarships to ballet students who have shown potential in dancing at world-level performances and demonstrates financial need. Aside from the scholarships, the School of American Ballet is also willing to shoulder the recipient's room and board expenses, transportation, and academic high school tuition (for high school students). While the scholarships are reserved for Americans, foreigners can also apply depending on certain conditions.

The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, another prestigious ballet school, also provides scholarships to deserving individuals who have shown potential promise in the field of ballet. Based in New York and Connecticut, the Bolshoi Ballet Academy is in partnership with the Alex, Shelby and Jaden Family Scholarship and the Russian American Foundation Scholarship to further help ballet students reach their dreams and become world-class ballet dancers.

Aside from academic excellence, the scholarships are mostly given to ballet students who have competed in the Youth American Grand Prix International Competition. However, you need to perform really well if you want be accepted since the selection is on an invitation-only basis.

There are still various ballet scholarships offered by various dance institutions and universities that have dance majors as part of their curriculum. You can check them on campus and online.

How to Get Free School Grants

There are many ways to fund the child education with generous grants that you don't need to pay back especially the financial aid for the low-income and private organizations. Currently, Local and federal government are working for promotion of education. Following are some ways to obtain non refundable education grant. Pell Grant is targeted for the financially weak students. Especially targeted at the hardworking students who need financial help, this can be obtained by applying according to the list of subjects. The normal Pell Grant is about $5000 for one semester for books and schooling. The names of successful applicants are announced three weeks before the exams.

The Supplemental Education Opportunity grant is also one way to get the non refundable financial aid for students. This grant starts from $100 to $4000 and the student has to utilize this during the next one year. The grant application has to be forwarded by the school or institution where student is attending, as they have the significant say in the allocation of part the grant. Most of these funding is conditional to the performance of student, either the games scholarship, or academic scholarship, one has to keep the grades and keep the performance at the level that is desired. The funds are transferred via the bank account once a year or semester wise depending upon the rules.

There are state grants and funding too for the needy students too. The student counselors or the admission office normally has the information about them. The grade average and class ranking, the class performance and teacher's recommendation are some times significant also in obtaining these grants too. There are some private foundation and charity organizations that also help the students financially too. Apart from the Alumni and children of the soldiers that die in the line of duty, there are some organizations that grant the education funds for the religious education too. The minority students and female students have also some grants specifically designed for them too.