Spotting a Fake College Scholarship Program

In these trying times, it is quite hard to attend a college when you do not have a scholarship or a college tuition grant to back you up financially. Fortunately, there are a wide range of scholarships being offered and awarded yearly. That said, many scammers chime in and prey on the desperation of people who want to earn their college degrees through the scholarship route.

Here are some tips that can help you spot the scams and schemes from legitimate academic scholarships and grants:

1. Fees - a legitimate scholarship body will never ask for any amount of money, whether you are inquiring about a scholarship or applying. Be wary of scholarship organizations that will ask for money to cover the processing and application process.

2. Guarantees - scholarship organizations that offer guarantees are scammers. The selection of recipients is a rigid and thorough process and only the deserving individual is given the grant or the privilege of having his or her college tuition costs reduced.

3. Glamour - a scholarship announcement is always straight to the point and is backed with correct information. If it contains fancy words and some glamour that makes it look like an ad trying to sell something, then you are better off moving on to another program.

4. Address and Contact Details - a legitimate scholarship body always leave a real business address, not a P.O. Box or a residential address. The same goes with telephone numbers. Otherwise, you are dealing with con experts.

5. Eligibility Requirements - applicants are screened thoroughly and one way of screening them is whether or not they passed the requirements. This means a scholarship does not apply to certain people. A scholarship that is free for all is a scam, no question.

There are still several signs that will tell you whether a scholarship or a college tuition grant is fake or not. But let your common sense dictate your decision and if you are in doubt, do not hesitate to ask questions and inquire.

How to Receive a Nursing Scholarship

First Things First: What is FAFSA?

The first step in receiving any sort of scholarship or financial aid for college is to complete the FAFSA. FAFSA, or free application for student aid, is a form that is filled out by every student wishing to be considered for college tuition. This is a federal form, and you only have to complete it once, unlike the past when you had to complete separate paperwork for each college you hoped to attend.

The FAFSA form will provide you with information that will determine the amount of money your family is expected to provide for your education. The difference between what your family is expected to pay and the amount of tuition at your chosen college can be covered by federally backed grants and loans. To reduce the amount that you are expected to pay further, you can apply for a variety of scholarships.

Academic Based or Need Based Scholarships

While there are a variety of scholarships available, they generally fall into two categories, academic based and need based. Academic based scholarships are determined on grades and test scores. Financial need is not a consideration. Competition for these awards is typically stiff, with many very strong candidates vying for the same scholarship. You may be required to submit an essay, or chronicle any previous volunteer work.

Need based scholarships are determined on the financial need of applicants. While grades are typically considered, the academic pressure is usually not as intense as with an academic based scholarship. Many scholarships are a combination of the two: needs based scholarships that require a high GPA, a concentration in certain subjects, community involvement, or specific career goals.

The Nursing Shortage

There is currently a nursing shortage, and the future outlook is that a shortage will remain through the immediate future. As our population lives longer and medical technology continues to grow, the need for nurses outstrips the rate in which they are completing school. This nursing shortage means that an industrious student is likely to earn enough scholarship money to pay his or her way through college and graduate debt free.

One program many hospitals have implemented is paying tuition for current nursing students. Of course, this does come with strings attached. Once the student graduates from nursing school, he or she is expected to work for the hospital for a prearranged period of time. If the nurse leaves before that time, he or she is responsible for paying back part or all of the tuition. This can be an excellent way for students who would otherwise not be able to afford college to earn a degree. Not only does the student graduate debt free, but they automatically have a job once they leave school. The years after nursing school can be spent gaining experience in a variety of hospital settings, and if they decide to move on once their obligation is fulfilled, they have a good idea of what field of nursing they are most interested in.

Financial Help for Graduate Degrees

The lack of nurses with graduate degrees indicates that it is possible for you to earn a Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Midwife, or Nurse Anesthetist degree without the burden of taking on a significant debt. Previously, it was often difficult to weigh the benefits of returning to graduate school against the problem of expensive graduate school credit hours. With many hospitals and clinics lowering costs by employing Nurse Practitioners in place of physicians, and Nurse Anesthetists to assist the Anesthesiologist, it is very likely that the medical group that you currently work for offers tuition reimbursement. If they do not, you should speak to your supervisor or human resources personnel. They may be willing to offer tuition reimbursement on a case by case basis. If your current employer does not offer tuition reimbursement, you may want to consider moving to a different employer. Many employers will offer full tuition reimbursement or even allow you to attend school full time, with the agreement that you will work for them for a specified time once you receive your graduate degree.

Increasing Your Likelihood of Receiving a Scholarship

Whether you are looking for a needs based scholarship for an undergraduate nursing degree, or are searching for a hospital financed scholarship offer to complete your graduate degree, there are several things that you can do to improve your chances of success.

Work in your field. It does not matter if it is paid employment or volunteer work, but working in the field you plan to earn a degree in shows the decision makers that you understand the work and are less likely to switch majors or drop out.

Watch your grades and your money. No matter if you are looking for a need based or academic based scholarship, keep your grades high, even in classes that you do not think matter, and watch your money. When you receive your scholarship money be sure to buy the books and study materials that you will need to succeed. If possible, hold some money back so that you can afford a tutor before exams if you find yourself struggling.

College Scholarships For Everyone - Different Ways You Can Get a Free Scholarship to Go to College

Getting a college degree is one of the most significant accomplishments a person can have in his life. A college degree signifies the efforts of an individual to educate and upgrade himself or herself for a responsible and highly prized future.

A college degree will get you high paying jobs and more business opportunities than others who haven't finished their education. If you want to live a comfortable life and support your family's needs and desires then the first step is obtaining a good college education.

However, going to college is an expensive endeavor and most people nowadays can hardly afford paying college bills. Low income earners usually have difficulty getting an upgrade in their lives because they don't have a college degree. People are now very aware that a bachelor or associates degree will get you good and high paying jobs.

People recognize that scholarships can help them get the education that they yearn for. Some people give their effort on making high grades so they can qualify for academic scholarships. While some others train hard in sports so they can be covered by sports scholarships or grants. If you wish to gain financial assistance, you must be good in your craft.

If you are an incoming college student or recently enrolled in a college then consider these three types of college grants. Academic grant, athletic grant and departmental awards. These three types of grant can get you the funds you need to be able to finish college. However, you must comply with the specific requirements of each type of grant, so choose those you can be qualified for.

1. Academic Scholarships and grants are given to deserving students who have reached a specific GPA standard. If you have an excellent academic record then apply to colleges who offer academic scholarships. If you are not yet in college, then you should work hard on your academic standing. Most academic grants are given to honor students so strive hard for it.

When you already have your academic scholarship you are required to maintain a specific GPA grade so you can keep the financial assistance. If you fail to achieve the required rating then you will be given a probationary status. Work hard to get high grades so you can avoid getting your scholarship revoked.

2. Athletic Scholarship grants are for sports enthusiast and athletes alike. If you are good in any field of sport or you are good at your game then it may be ideal for you to apply for athletic scholarships. You will not be required to get high academic ratings as long as you play hard and excel in your game.

3. Departmental awards are given to students who emerged at the top of the list in their specific department. These types of awards are used to support students so they can stay in that department.

A college education is the step to success so make sure that you get a college degree. Hard work and patience can get you funds, just apply for any of the above mentioned scholarships so you can get your college diploma.

How to Prevent IP Ownership Issues When a Strategic Alliance, Joint Venture Or Collaboration Fails

Technology-focused collaborations form a foundation of corporate planning strategies today. Such collaborations can be in the form of strategic alliances, joint ventures, open innovation or other legal structures. Regardless of how the participants characterize and legally structure such collaborations, the most common motivation for forming such alliances is to pool technology and R & D resources. When technology and R & D is involved, it must follow that IP ("intellectual property") ownership issues should loom large in the planning stage of the collaboration. However, my experience shows that the parties rarely give appropriate consideration to IP ownership in the agreements that are supposed to fully set out the rights and responsibilities of the parties.

I can say with authority that IP issues are not usually given proper consideration in collaborative agreements because my expertise in this area results primarily from helping clients after their collaborations have failed. My clients typically sought my help after their collaborations went sour and they sought to exit the relationship with at least some valuable IP rights intact. In each of these situations, it was apparent that if my client had come to me for advice while they were executing the general business and financial parameters of the collaboration agreement, they may not have needed me to fix things on the back-end. Put simply, if I had been brought in on the front-end to put a fine point on IP ownership issues resulting from the collaboration, I would have been able to prevent questions regarding IP rights from even being a question.

My perspective about the preventable nature of IP ownership issues was confirmed when I recently attended a meeting of professionals who focus primarily on strategic alliances and other types of collaborative ventures. In this meeting of just over an hour, I counted at least 5 instances where someone commented something along the lines of "when the relationship goes sour, the IP issues cause problems." From the sighs that accompanied the mention of IP ownership issues, I obtained the clear sense from these seasoned professionals that IP was not only a big problem, but also a common occurrence in their collaborations.

Smart business professionals should realize that when a significant problem occurs on a frequent basis, there likely is a failure in an associated business process. This is the case for IP ownership issues: most of the problems I have addressed on the back-end of a failed collaboration were fully predictable and the resulting problems could have been reduced or eliminated by proper planning. But if common IP ownership issues are not difficult for an Intellectual Property and Patent Business Strategist such as myself to predict and prevent, why do such issues still occur with such frequency in the collaboration space?

The answer is fairly easy from my vantage point: patent experts are typically not considered as possessing essential business knowledge and, as such, people like me are not seen as necessary participants in a collaboration deal. This is true even when the primary reason for the parties getting together in the first place is to pool existing technology and to create R & D synergies that will result in acceleration of innovation to the benefit both participants.

Admittedly, we patent experts have facilitated our not being involved on the front-end of business matters by traditionally focusing our practices on obtaining patents and litigating them for clients. We have left business matters to business professionals and transactional lawyers because, as a highly specialized profession, we felt more comfortable in the area of our own expertise. Also, we have not generally reached out to educate others about our somewhat "arcane" area of legal expertise. Our knowledge has remained closely held within the confines of patent practice and, as a result, we have been problem fixers. as opposed to preventing problems before they occur.

Business and legal experts reside today in functional silos that effectively prevent communication and education. Unless these silos are broken down, it is inevitable that business professionals will continue to destroy corporate value by not sufficiently including IP ownership in their collaboration agreements. Patent experts can continue to create value for ourselves by expending efforts to preserve our client's IP rights when the collaboration fails.

The definition of insanity was said by Albert Einstein to be "doing the same thing again and expecting a different result". To this end, it is insane for business professionals who deal in the collaboration space to continue to struggle with IP ownership issues over and over again because there is no doubt that complications and disappointment will inevitably arise. While not all of these issues can prevented by up-front analysis, I can virtually guarantee that the cost and effort of resolving IP ownership after a collaboration failure will be considerably less when a business-focused patent professional such as myself is brought in at the collaboration planning and agreement preparation stage.

Scholarships For Expecting Mothers - A Trendsetter

Mothers in their family way consider it to be the best period and expecting mothers many not consider going to school when they are expecting a child. But, later on they may feel the need of it in the near horizon. Due to this, scholarships for expecting mothers are a trendsetter.

Expecting mothers can continue their studies online as well as the internet facilitates online education and this can be done at your own convenience. The only problem that matters is how to pay for the college expenses as studying online is also expensive and costs the same as going and receiving education from the campus.

The only and viable solution is to acquire scholarships. Expecting mothers are given scholarship in the form of a grant identical to the one given to a potential student. Scholarships are also given to students studying in their campus and besides that this grant is given to individuals regardless of the institution.

The advantage of such educational aid is it need not be repaid and hence there is no burden. This burden free arrangement helps even the expecting mothers to concentrate comfortably and to prove the results. There are loans given to students based on the main reason that they are unable to pay the college fees, but this turns to add to more stress and debt. Such student loans cannot be entertained by any expectant mother as this is not the ideal time for her to undergo any sort of stress.

There are scholarships available in many types such as needs based, academic and minority. The needs based scholarships are the students coming from a lower income group and are unable to earn the assistance through performance. Academic scholarships are awarded to students excelling in their fields. Minority scholarships are for moms, ethnic or religious groups, military personnel, disabled, and so on.

Expecting mothers receive scholarships and this is the best way of strengthening your foot with education. This helps in balancing your family and elevating your career.

Non-Scholarship Options For the Prospective Student-Athlete

As a former 19 year head coach at the University of Pennsylvania, I was blessed with a successful career and many fond memories. Considering the selectivity in Admissions and the high price tag of one of the nation's premier institutions, I had strong success in recruiting and I learned some valuable lessons about prospective student-athletes and the benefits they may receive in the admissions process.

Ivy League and other select, non athletic scholarship awarding institutions can, in many cases, offer significant assistance in Admissions that can potentially lend strong support for prospective student-athletes. It is important that prospects, families and high school advisors clearly understand the role the college coach plays in this process and make every effort to develop a sincere and strong working relationship with them throughout the college search.

Admissions Pre-Reads

Early academic evaluations are an effective means of determining the potential admissibility of a candidate. Typically, coaches work with an athletic department "Admissions liaison" that can assist them in requesting "early reads" for prospects. If families have cultivated a strong relationship with the coach, this request will likely be honored and could be a real time saver by providing recruits with an accurate idea of their chances in admissions. Below are some important points to consider regarding pre-reads:

o Provides the family with a strong idea of the likelihood of admission.
o Requires current and accurate standardized test scores, updated transcripts and high school profile.
o Gives the coach a strong indication of the prospects Admissions Index and the level of potential support in Admissions.
o Coach-family collaboration develops trust and confidence.
o Shows the coach "strong interest" from family and prospect.
o Will avoid "spinning of wheels" for the family, prospect and the college coach, especially if admissions seem unlikely.
o Turnaround time is generally 2-3 weeks

Likely Letters

The likely letter is a tremendous tool typically used by Ivy League coaches that offer "near guarantees" of admissions and these letters can be sent to prospective student-athletes well before the regular population of applicants is reviewed. This becomes a tremendous bargaining chip for college coaches who are competing with scholarship institutions for the same prospect, or "overlap" prospects who are applying to other Ivy League and select academic institutions. It is fair to point out that likely letters are not abundantly available and only a certain percentage of "impact" prospects will receive them.

Likely letters will provide recruits and their families with a sense of confidence, especially when they are presented with athletic scholarship deadlines from other college coaches, or feeling pressure from non-scholarship college coaches to "move in their direction." Likely letters are issued directly from the admissions office and will offer families with relative assurance that, barring any unusual circumstances, their children will be admitted.

Priority Applications

Priority applications are becoming more popular in the recruiting process and are typically used by Division 3 programs as a means of providing families with an early "look" from admissions well before the majority of regular applicants are read.

When you break it down, the priority application is a win-win for both the college coaches and the families. Firstly, the priority application is a simplified version of the regular application that offers the prospect with a streamlined and time saving approach to admissions and turnaround time from the office of admissions can be as early as 30 days. Likewise, college coach's benefit by offering their top candidates with a priority admissions read that can rival both the national letter of intent, as well as many of the early decision/action admissions programs.

It is fair to say that priority applications are not offered to the majority of prospects, but are distributed to athletes who show significant interest in his program and are part of the coach's "A" recruiting file. Either way, the priority application can provide families with early and exact information in admissions and serve as a handy tool that will assist them strongly in the decision making process.

Tips for Advisors, Parents and Prospects

Below are a few pointers that will be helpful in navigating the college quest for prospective student-athletes who are interested in applying to Ivy League and select, non athletic scholarship schools:

o Cultivate an honest and truthful relationship with the college coach.
o Provide the college coach with accurate and timely information that will assist him in making a fair and timely evaluation of both academic strength and athletic talent.
o Be honest with the college coach about the schools you are seriously considering.
o Let the college coach know where you stand with his/her school, and give the coach a chance to recruit you further.
o Avoid using the coach as a springboard in Admissions with the intent of not participating on the team. This will potentially backfire down the road for high school teammates and your sports program. Remember, you are representing yourself, your coach, your school and your family. Maintain a high level of integrity.
o Include community service and leadership activities in your personal profile. This could add some weigh that creates further support for your application by the college coach.

Especially in today's tough economic climate, the non scholarship option for prospective student-athletes and families may seem daunting, but considering the long term benefits one can receive from such a potentially rewarding experience, makes this option very worthy. Additionally, it is fair to point out that athletes, although identified in Admissions as having a special talent, are treated as any other candidate and will be admitted only if the applicant's academic credentials are in an acceptable range and he/she is deemed capable of succeeding. That being said, student-athletes who bring solid academic credentials to the table and have the ability to strongly impact an athletics program could bring a very strong "chip" to the game of college recruiting that could give them a leg up on the competition.

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.

An Introduction to Patent Monetization Resources For Corporations and Entrepreneurs

For corporations and entrepreneurs seeking to monetize their un- or under-utilized IP rights for the first time, it can be difficult to know where to begin. The patent monetization market is not yet mature and, as with other emerging marketplaces, no established methodologies and few experts exist to guide owners through the process. Today, there are as many as 17 different business models used. More will likely spring up as the market continues to evolve, even while some of the current models will certainly fall away. With such a range of options, it is not surprising that those seeking to sell their patent rights may be confused about what path to take. This article is intended to provide an overview of ways that corporate and individual IP owners can most effectively monetize their rights in today's market. The models discussed in this article were chosen because they are currently the most common. Significantly, due to the great variability in patents and the individual needs of IP owners, the best model for a particular person or organization might actually one that is not discussed here.  Nonetheless, it is hoped that after reading this, a corporation or entrepreneur seeking to sell their rights for the first time will be better able to understand and execute on the opportunities and challenges present today in the patent monetization market.

Thinking of Selling a Patent Directly to a Corporation Without an Intermediary? Forget About It Most IP owners assume that it is possible to sell their rights directly to a company that might play or seek to play in the product or technology space covered by the patent. This is rarely the case, however. When I was employed as a senior attorney in a consumer products company, it was corporate policy to reject all unsolicited offers to purchase or license patents that came into the organization. Thus, an owner did not stand a chance to get their rights sold to my company. This absolute prohibition on unsolicited ideas is not the policy at all companies, but, in truth, few companies today actively seek to acquire products and technology from outside sources (although this is starting to change with the drive toward open innovation at many companies). Thus, even if a patent is a perfect fit for a company's offerings, most organizations will nonetheless prefer to pass on a purchase opportunity because external acquisition is not part of their technology development model. It is therefore doubtful that most patent owners can hope to successfully sell their rights directly to a corporation because the latter is not in the business of buying patents generally, and specifically not from individual owners.

  Aggregators: Buyers of Patents if a Patent Owner Can Get a Foot in Their Door In recent years, companies have emerged that hold business models centered on the buying of patents held by others. Well known aggregators today include Intellectual Ventures, RPX and Allied Security Trust. Each of these companies has a different reason that it seeks to acquire patents, but each can serve as a great resource for owners seeking to sell their IP rights in certain technology areas. Nonetheless, there are many more patent owners seeking to sell their rights than existing aggregator buying opportunities. As a result, if an owner obtains a "no" answer, how does he know it is because his patent is worth nothing to the aggregator or whether it's because he did not know the right person to get his rights in front of at the aggregator company? For most IP owners, especially those participating in the monetization market for the first time, patent aggregators will not serve as a likely direct purchaser of their rights.  

Brokers: Facilitors of Patent Sales, For a Price Brokers such as ThinkFire, IPotential and IP Transactions Group can assist IP owners in presenting their patent to a likely buyer, the most likely of which are patent aggregators, non-practicing entities ("NPE's") and, sometimes, corporations. By leveraging their relationships and reputations, brokers effectively serve as "filters" for potential patent acquirers to streamline and improve the quality of patent buying opportunities.  Put simply, patent buyers trust their patent brokers to "separate the wheat from the chaff" to make it easier for them to identify and act on good patent buying opportunities.  A broker who is trusted by a patent buyer can thus present the latter with a buying opportunity that the buyer would not have given a second glance to if the same patent had been offered to them outside of the broker-buyer relationship.   There is a substantial cost to hiring a broker, however--typically about 25 % of the total sale price. Patent brokers also require exclusivity. Thus, when a patent owner selects a particular broker to represent him in the sale, he must trust that the broker will find the best deal. I nonetheless believe that the knowledge and expertise available with a good broker can allow a patent owner to obtain a final purchase price for his rights that more than justifies the broker fee. In particular, the best brokers maintain a large network of potential purchasers of patents, including aggregators, NPE's and, in some cases, corporations that have expressed an interest in buying third party IP rights.  

I believe such broad networks serve a critical function in improving the efficiency of the monetization market by possibly raising the final purchase price.  When a patent is offered through a quality broker, he will ensure that each party participating in the process also knows who else is being offered the opportunity. Such transparency could also result in an increase in the final purchase price when one potential purchaser seeks to ensure that another potential purchaser not acquire that same right. For example, a corporation might increase its offer to prevent an NPE from obtaining that patent for the purpose of bringing suit against the corporation. This scenario means that those most interested in acquiring the patent will bring their best offer to the table, a fact which should improve the final price paid.   A further benefit of selling through a good broker is that they will typically conduct market analysis of the rights to set a rationally-based entry level price. Specifically, the broker will set the price based upon what comparable patents have been sold for in the past. These figures normally are not public, so a broker with several sales under his belt will likely set a more accurate initial sale price by virtue of the fact that he is privy to information that allows him to do so. Notably, even an experienced broker might incorrectly estimate the likely floor price, but when the patent is offered to many likely buyers, the market will typically act to reset the price to one more acceptable to potential buyers.    

Beware of Finders Who Say They are Brokers A significant problem with many people who hold themselves out as patent brokers is that some are not "brokers" at all. Rather, they are "finders" for aggregators or other buyers of patents such as NPE's (but likely not corporations). Like regular brokers, these finders maintain relationships with likely buyers. When accepting a patent for sale to a potential buyer, the finder likely already knows whether it will be purchased by its contact. In this scenario, the finder actually does little to earn his 25% fee other than maintain a relationship with the ultimate purchaser. Moreover, many of these brokers actually "double dip" because they obtain a fee from the purchaser for bringing the opportunity to them, as opposed to another potential buyer. The finder thus might hold divided loyalties: should they try to maximize the price obtained for his client's patent when they might never see an opportunity from that seller again, or should they keep the price reasonable so they don't ruin their relationship with their buyer to whom they might bring several buying opportunities to each year?   Clearly, this scenario is rife with questionable ethics, but the reality of the current monetization market is that no licensing is required for someone to call himself a "patent broker," and the rule is definitely "buyer beware." As things stand in today's unregulated broker market, the best way to find a quality patent broker is to seek referrals from someone who understands the market and/or who has successfully sold patents through a broker in the past.   

Patent Auctions: Selling in the Open to the Highest Bidder The final common vehicle for selling patent rights is the public auction setting. Today, the most prevalent auction is conducted by Ocean Tomo, which currently holds 2 auctions each year. Ocean Tomo is very selective about what patents it takes into each auction, a fact that limits the ability of many patent owners to participate in this model. Ocean Tomo obtains a fee from the seller and the buyer, and it is my understanding that the net fee amounts to approximately 25 % paid to the auction house. While I have not personally been involved in an auction, I have heard mixed things from people who have participated as both buyers and sellers in these auctions. My sense is that an auction allows one to sell his patent in a transparent setting where the price is set by competitive bidding. This can be good when a patent is desired by multiple parties who are influenceable by the "heat" of a public auction process to increase their bids to result in a higher price for the seller.   In my view, one downside of the open auction process is that all participants know the price being offered, a fact that can lead to a lower final sale price if a patent does not garner excitement from the participants. This view was borne out in the most recent (April 2009) Ocean Tomo auction which was almost universally considered a failure. Buyers were lacking and, as a result, not only did few patents sell, the tenor of the auction itself was said to be very quiet and unexcited. This lack of enthusiasm from the auction participants no doubt reduced the overall success of the auction itself.   In contrast, in a private auction--such as that effectively set up when a quality broker sells a patent into a large network of potential buyers--the lack of transparency can result in a higher final price because the participants know who has been provided the opportunity to purchase but not the amount they have offered (if at all). A further possible downside to a public auction is that one can only sell his patent to someone who shows up to participate in the auction. With a broker-conducted private auction, however, someone who may not actively be seeking to buy a patent at that time will be presented with the opportunity to buy. Thus, the number of potential buyers can be expanded with the use of a broker.  

It's as Clear as Mud Now, Right? As noted at the outset of this article, the IP monetization market is only just now emerging as a viable way to obtain value from un- or under-utilized assets. In view of this, most patent owners just starting into will be confused about how to proceed in a manner that maximizes the price obtained. If one owns patent rights and seeks to sell them today, it is my recommendation that he learn as much as possible about the process. And, as with many business situations, checking references and seeking recommendations from those with experience as patent sellers and counselors to IP owners will be critical to success in monetization.  Personally, I am looking forward to the day when more openness exists in the marketplace so that patent owners can better gauge the quality and qualifications of those participants in the process.               

Obama Scholarships to Educate Mothers

If you are a mother who had to give up your dream of higher education due to raising a family, and always kept that dream in the back of your head but your tight schedule or lack of funding kept you from pursuing schooling, President Barack Obama has your answer.

He is offering education money to these women to go after their dreams. The aid, in the form of $10,000 scholarships, is meant for stay-at-home moms, single mothers and other women who want to go back to school. Now is the time to take advantage of the funding because it will not last forever, and money is even tighter during this economic recession. With this grant, the mom doing the studying will not have to work while going to school because the education will be paid for.

Busy schedules are always an issue with mothers, but online education is available, which definitely frees up time that would be spent on the commute to and from class. If you are an American woman, then you qualify for the grant, which does not have to be paid back like a student loan. Any recent college graduate would be envious.

If you are wondering how going back to school will be beneficial, there are numerous ways. The education will give you the skills necessary to enter a career you may have been wanting to enter, and you will be able to bring in more income to support your family. You also will feel more confident in yourself. Just think how nice that new diploma will look in one of your rooms, and how great you will feel as you are heading off to your first day at a new job. Your children also will look up to you, and hopefully will want the same for themselves in the future.

College Scholarships - Get Easy Scholarships To Pay For College

Money is very hard to come by in this economy and should not be wasted. And a college education is a requisite to generate tons and tons of money from good employment later in life. That is why most of those who could afford it send their children to college. And many who have difficulty make student loans in order to get a degree or a technical diploma. But loans need to be paid and will burden the graduates for several years until their salary scale goes higher and paying their debts can naturally fold into the salaries that they receive. But that is a long shot after graduation.

Avoid the kind of misery other graduates are now going through by getting easy scholarships instead of a student loan. You might be shaking your head in disbelief, since you are not a straight "A" student. Straight "A"s get academic scholarships, no big deal. But students like you and me who aren't have tons of other scholarships out there to gun for. And the free money that you will have to finance your college education is worth the try.

How much free money can you have from easy scholarships? The answer is it all depends on you. There is no legal limit to the number of scholarships that any student can apply for. You can apply for federal, state and local scholarships given by government, business, not for profit organizations and the schools themselves!

Schools now are in competition over which has the bigger number of enrollees, so many of them take on average students as scholars. Those who show the potential of finishing their college education are many times preferred since it will ensure that money or support granted will not go to waste. You just have to show strong interest by applying and making sure that all documents and requirements are complied with.
College scholarships are not just for fresh high school graduates.

Current college students who are having a hard time keeping themselves in school due to family financial difficulty can always turn on these college funds and support themselves all through graduation. Do not let lady luck run out of your by waiting at the wayside for good things to come. Pursue easy scholarships by applying for several of them so you have all the cash that you need to fulfill all school requirements without breaking a sweat.

Well, you will break a lot of sweat to find all scholarships, but it will be more than worth the effort since what it ensures is an education that will make you qualified for a better paying job at the work that you love. Go apply for college scholarships now.

Where Can I Apply For Left Hand Scholarships For College?

Extra money for college is always greatly appreciated by those who have to struggle to find enough funds to attend. There are so many scholarships available for students, not only through the schools they graduate from, but through organizations and universities themselves. If you've ever wondered, "Where can I apply for left hand scholarships?", then the information below is for you. There actually is a college in Pennsylvania that offers just this type of scholarship to college bound southpaws.

It's been estimated that only eleven percent of the population are dominant in their left hand. This doesn't only include tasks that include writing, but all aspects of living; cooking, sweeping, cutting carrots, or brushing one's teeth. Famous people among this group include Babe Ruth, Albert Einstein, Picasso, and previous presidents of the United States such as Clinton, Garfield, and Reagan. Left-handed people are considered to be more artistic than right-handed people, despite just the opposite belief in the past.

Long ago, being left-handed was looked down upon, even children who displayed this characteristic were forced to learn to write with their right hand. In the area of athletics, often a left-handed person is a prize to have on the team. It even appears to be a good thing when applying for scholarships, at least at Pennsylvania's Juniata College. Mary Francis Buckley began this scholarship program in 1979 and has helped more than 40 students with their college education.

This program provides money to southpaws that will be attending Juniata College for one year or more. There is an application to fill out and one of the requirements is that the person applying for the scholarship must be left-handed. It is always good to have at least a few references that can vouch for your left-handedness.

Other qualifications are strong leadership skills and exceptional academic performance with a grade point average of 3. 39 or higher.

The amount of the scholarship ranges between $1,000 and $1,500 and is available to go towards books, food, tuition fees, and any other aspect of school. With one of the main focuses of this grant being on the ability to be a strong leader, it is a good idea to make sure these skills are fully developed before applying. There are always training courses available on leadership, or clubs and organizations to join in school.

It is known that good followers often make good leaders, which is where joining school sponsored clubs comes in. By coming up with ways of how to contribute to the organization or motivate others in the group, this will help with your leadership skills. Being an excellent motivator is the first step in becoming a successful leader. Another quality that is important in a leader is the ability to accept input from others and being an overall good listener.

With leadership comes the need to be a good role model as well. You can't expect people in the group to follow you with confidence if they are doubting your intentions. By displaying great leadership qualities, a high grade point average and, of course, left-handedness, you will no longer have to wonder, "Where can I apply for left hand scholarships?" Juniata College has the ability to assist you with your goal of attending college.

Grants For International Students - Some Basic Rules

There are many things that you need to prepare before you apply for a grant for your education. Some basic steps that can make you are sure of getting the grants should be followed for you to get the grant in one go.

To begin with the academic certificates and transcripts should be ready. You need to decide early that is the study area where you want to focus on. If you prefer a course based study then you do not need a proposal but for research you need a research proposal.

Your research proposal should be good enough to tempt the granter that their money would not be at waste. And to make a good research proposal you need to devote time and energy.

This research proposal should include background, objectives, problems or questions to answer, hypothesis, mythology and references. Once you are done with the basic requirements you can always ask for the suggestion of others.

Once you are ready with research proposal you should concentrate on the letter from intended university and supervisor. Download the university form from the website and fill it before sending it back to the university.

The university in response will issue you a letter of acceptance. You can write in the form that you are waiting for a scholarship which you are now struggling for and that you would get admitted to the specific program once you get the scholarship that is the next year. In this case they would issue you a conditional acceptance and would keep doing so until you get the scholarship.

You also need to find an academic staff who would supervise you in the university. Thus you need to find a potential supervisor for yourself and this should be done before you fill in the admission form.

Get the supervising staff's email address and contact him/her. Tell him/her everything about your academic background and your research proposal in detail and ask if he/she is ready and available to supervise you.

A letter from the university and the supervisor can also be added with your application form for the scholarship. This increases your chance of getting the scholarship.

Search Out Academic Excellence Scholarships

Youngsters know that they can not get knowledge without hard word and resources. This is an age of competition and if you want to get a doctoral degree then it is essential for you to apply for a scholarship. If you are interested in the doctoral degree then you should have awareness how you can find an academic excellence scholarships.

Whenever you are thinking going for your doctor in biology you have to think about every pound you spend. Getting a PhD degree, like a doctor in biology of specific field is expensive. Whenever you need money for this purpose a scholarship is a best option. You can get money from other sources like student loan but these but these are not free and companies charge interest on these loans. Many students are not interested in academic excellence scholarships because in their opinion scholarships are only for those students who have excellent academic record. But I totally disagree with this concept. Good academic record or high C GPA is not a single requirement for getting a scholarship. Other talents like Athletic ability also consider. There are a lots of scholarships that are available on the basis of ethnicity. But majority of the students are not aware of this fact that there are many scholarships that are based on the ethnicity and language. Those who are interested in the higher education can enjoy this opportunity. However these scholarships are merit based.

Following are the two main categories of scholarships for minority students.
1 Ethnic scholarship
2 Non ethnic scholarships

You can increase your academic excellence scholarships search ability by following the guidelines given below.

1 You should for more than one scholarship
2 Search academic excellence scholarship from various sources.
3 Start in junior year of school.
4 Apply before deadline.
5 Write a thriller essay.
6 If an essay is required than you can submit an essay than you can submit an essay that you have already submitted in other college.
7 Look for academic excellence scholarships offer by many multinational organizations because these contain heavy amounts.
8 Even if you have not good academic record submit an application for a scholarship.
9 Prior to closure of admission apply for a scholarship
10 some scholarship not requires specific age.

Scholarship money is directly submitted to your college that is provide to you on the basis of good academic record, extra curriculum activities, or it can be combination of both. These scholarships come from different sources and there are certain limitations imposed on these scholarships.

Average high school soccer player are not allowed to play at the college level. Competition level is very high at college level and if you are interested to play at college level then talent is necessary. Some students have a very good academic record that they have no other abilities like athletics. You should be good athlete because it is a key factor that determine the success at this level.

Another source of academic excellence scholarships is a need based scholarship. Academic records also consider in need based scholarship but financial need is a primary factor. These can be offer from schools, business organization or granted through a private endowment. Those who have less than $100000 income per year are eligible to apply for these scholarships. Don't hesitate if your parents have a higher income you should apply because you do not know what criteria they set.

You should apply for every scholarship either it is small or big. Little scholarships also add up your balance if you win several scholarships.

Community College Scholarship Opportunities for Financial Aid Funding

When looking for a way to go to school without all of the expenses, you will want to check out all of the scholarship opportunities available. Chances are your local community college has a scholarship program that you will be able to apply to. Kirkwood Community College is just one of those schools. Each year they give out $1 million in scholarship funds to those students that qualify. All you have to do is fill out an application that asks you a variety of questions. These are meant to assess your financial need as well as your academic achievements and intentions.

Some community colleges are more likely to give scholarships to those students who demonstrate a passion for certain fields of work such as science and criminal justice. These are two areas which students will not have a difficult time finding money for when it comes to earning a degree. There are certain times of the year that you will be required to apply, which is important to take into consideration. Knowing when to apply will help you to get the scholarship at the right time so you can get earning your degree as soon as possible without having to pay all of the costs associated with it.

The great thing about community college scholarships is that they are open to just about everyone from all walks of life, so no matter what you at least have a chance. Glendale Community College in California is yet another school that offers scholarships to students who qualify each year. There are some requirements that you must meet in order to receive funds for this scholarship and many others, such as your overall GPA. For this particular scholarship you need to have a GPA of at least 2.5 or higher. You will also need to write an essay of a personal nature which will be used to assess whether or not you qualify for these funds.

Be prepared to meet these kinds of requirements, because almost all scholarships have them. They do have strings attached, so you will have to keep up your grades and make sure that you use the funds given appropriately or else they may be withdrawn. Some scholarships are dependent on whether or not you are going into a specific area of study. Some of them are being funded more than others right now, so it would be a good idea for you to take a look at which ones you have the best chance of getting scholarship money for.

Reasons Why You Need to Search and Apply For College Scholarships Today

After the academic year starts, many college students stop worrying about how to pay for college and focus on their course work and making the most of being a college student. However, taking a break from looking for college funding may cost you because the application deadlines for many college scholarships for the next academic year begin as early as November.

Doing a quick search at my university, I found that 13 national scholarship deadlines are in November alone. This is only a small list and does not include university scholarships or those offered by other institutions or individuals, which could be several hundred scholarships with deadlines in November alone. Add to this those expiring in December and you can see that it's to your benefit to start looking an applying for scholarships today.

Expiration dates are not the only reason to start searching for college scholarships. You also need time to complete the application forms. This may include writing an essay, getting transcripts, test scores, letters of recommendation and other documentation. The process takes time; transcripts and test scores may need to be requested and sent, writing a decent essay takes time and revision, and letters of recommendation need to be written by professors who may already have a full schedule and limited time. You should give yourself about 6 weeks to complete the process in order to fulfill all the requirements of the application. A rush job is not the best way to apply for scholarships.

The point is, start looking early to set yourself up for as many scholarships you might be eligible for. The longer you put it off, the less money you may get for college funding next year.

Top 10 Acupuncture Scholarships and Grants

The following list includes the top 10 acupuncture scholarships and grants, which any current or prospective student of this healing art should consider:

The Academic Achievement Award Scholarship at the National College of Natural Medicine: New students at this school in Portland, Oregon can apply for scholarships ranging from $1,500 to $2,500 based on an application and essay.

American Specialty Health Scholarship: The nation's leading complimentary health care benefits organization has designed a scholarship to help students further their studies for future alternative healing careers. Students in acupuncture, massage, chiropractics, dietetics and other alternative and holistic programs with at least a 3.0 GPA can receive $4,500 or $7,500.

Charlotte McGuire Scholarship Program: This program consists of two awards for holistic nursing students who have at least a 3.0 GPA and are members of the American Holistic Nursing Association.

The Dr. Michael and Marlene Nissenblatt Scholarship: First and second year post-graduate students in acupuncture, herbology, traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine who plan on bringing the human spirit and touch to their practice may apply for this scholarship.

The Dr. Pedro Rivera Scholarship: Holistic veterinary students who plan on practicing acupuncture can receive a financial award if their essays are chosen.

The Dr. Richard Kearns Scholarship: A financial award from the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association for holistic veterinary students based on responses to essay questions.

Herbal Time Scholarship: This $1,500 scholarship is awarded to bright and passionate MSTOM students from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine each year.

Jade Dragon Scholarship: One Pacific College of Oriental Medicine student with at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA will receive $1,000 for this scholarship.

Nuherbs Scholarship: This is a $2,000 scholarship awarded to Pacific College of Oriental Medicine students by Nuherbs Co. in order to further the development of Chinese Medicine.

Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Scholarships: This Los Angeles, California school that offers Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine provides several scholarship opportunities, including the $1,500 Yo San Scholarship for new students who already have a bachelor's degree, and the Master Ni Scholarship based on leadership and scholastic achievement.

How to Apply For the Scholarship For Mothers Program of the Obama Administration

Applying for a study-grant under the Scholarships for Mother Program of the present administration is as easy as counting 1-2-3. Literally, let's begin with one. Contact a financial aid office near you, or via online. Ask for the study-grant options that will work for your situation.

Then two, select the right academic program for you. Note that you can also check out your chances of employment after finishing your study. The scholarship for the mother program will not do job placement for you. So you should be wise in your choice of field of study. In addition to this, while choosing a field of study; include also the delivering institution associated with the scholarship program.

Three, apply for this study-grant. Contact a government financial aid office online or via the phone. Ask for requirements for a specific study-grant that interest you. There are also home-based study grants that can be availed. This kind of program will work for mothers with little kids to attend. If you are this type, then start from here.

It is important that before asking for help from a financial aid office you are already sure of what scholarship program works for you. Remember that you have kids or husbands to consider. Because the scholarships for mothers program have varied study-grants, each will have specific requirements. Hence the importance to be decided which one to avail.

Because the program is for mothers, a top requirement is being one. It does not matter if you are a single mother or with a spouse/partner. Age is not also a hindrance, if finishing high school is the need, then this is the one to be funded. This situation can also lead to receive further grant for a college degree.

There is no limit as to how many study grants can be availed, besides getting them at the same. This means that, one may avail of the study-grant for a particular field of study. Then another study-grant for another field of study, and so on, but should be done subsequently.

Therefore, to be an eligible top on the list is, you should be a mother, American citizen or legal resident. Then you are eligible for the scholarships for mothers program. Then availing them will be as easy as saying 1-2-3!

Military Spouse Scholarship

A military spouse scholarship allows the husband or wife of active or retired military personnel to gain financial assistance for further education.

These scholarships exist to acknowledge the service and sacrifice given by military members and their families which can often make it difficult financially for any family member to attend college or university.

By getting a scholarship, a spouse of someone in the navy, army, air force, Marines or other armed force can forget about taking out an expensive student loan and instead gain money from a scholarship that does not have to be paid back.

The benefits of a military spouse scholarship are numerous and include:

You don't have to pay the money back
The money can be used on education related expenses
Often your entire tuition fees can be paid for

If you've thought about attending college but have been put off by the cost, then consider applying for a scholarship that is particularly tailored for spouses of military personnel.

You have sacrificed so much seeing your other half serve for the country. Those long days and nights with your loved one away in combat is an incredibly worrying time. You may be left thinking how you can better life for both you and your family and the best way to do that if by undertaking further education so that you can gain qualifications and a well paying job that will assist your family in the future.

A military spouse scholarship is the very best way for someone whose husband or wife has or is actively serving in the armed forces to get the money required for college or university - after all, if anyone deserves it you do!

How to Get Scholarships for College - The Secret to Scholarship Success

As the economy worsens, students are scrambling to find extra money to finance college expenses. In times past students were able to supplement tuition and expenses by working jobs while attending schools. But the job market is low in every part of the country; even those who have already graduated from college are having trouble finding jobs. And with the cost of college at an all time high, a low paying job would not begin to scratch the surface in helping fund school costs. Unfortunately, some students have had to leave school or delay enrolling in college because of their lack of finances and want to know how to get scholarships for college.

Scholarships have been very helpful in getting students in college and assisting those in college with extra money. There are so many sources for scholarships available to students. Knowing what they are and how to qualify is important to help increase the chances of getting a scholarship award. These sources include websites with listings of available scholarships, libraries and the school guidance counselor at the student's high school. In addition, many charitable organizations such as church offer scholarships; as do groups such as alumni associations. The student should look into every possible option for financial help.

The proper planning makes the scholarship application process more organized. Having this organization helps save time and also decreases the chance of missing out on a scholarship for which the student may qualify. Beginning with the first year of high school, students should intensify their study habits to improve their grades even more. In the long run this will pay off when the student applies for academic scholarships for college. In actuality, a student's grades, even from elementary school, can follow him through his entire educational lifetime. Scholarships are often awarded to students who show team spirit and leadership ability. Joining extra school activities and getting involved in community endeavors not only provides networking opportunities, but helps you find out how to get scholarships for college and get a successful scholarship award.

Students should also keep their resumes current so that all new skills are added as they are learned. Reference letters from employers and professionals in the community also help to build a positive image for the student; which can be impressive on the scholarship application. The scholarship application itself should be carefully filled out. Correct spelling and grammar are a must. The essay portion of the application is vital because it allows the reader a chance to get a feel for the student's intelligence and ability to put thought to paper.

While there are no guarantees that the student will be awarded a scholarship, the reward of free money for college is the incentive to make the very best effort possible throughout the application process. If you want to get a degree and want to know how to get scholarships for college get online and start applying today.

College Swimming Scholarships - What You Need to Know

The competition for college swimming scholarships is extremely competitive. There are several factors that go into a coaches decision to award a swimmer athletic scholarship money. While everyone typically thinks only those swimmers with the fastest times in the pool will get scholarship money, that is just one factor that a coach uses.

Colleges are looking for swimmers that still have potential to increase their times every year in college. There are high school swimmers who have already reached maximum potential and will not attract much attention from colleges even if they have times that are tops in their State.
Academics are also very important. Swimming in college demands much more time than high school. Coaches want athletes who can handle the academic demands of college without it affecting athletic performance.
Coaches want athletic diversity in their swimmers. If you can swim and compete in multiple events you are more attractive for scholarship money than a swimmer who is specialized. Be willing to compete in multiple strokes and let coaches know you want to compete and help the team however you can.
College swimming in the NCAA is an equivalency sport. Coaches can and usually do divide the scholarship money amongst multiple athletes.  Division I swimming programs have  9.9 scholarships for Men and 14 for Women. In DII there are 8.1 scholarships for Men and 8.1 for Women. This means if you are are offered a DI Women's swimming scholarship that is a .5 or 50% partial, the coach has 13.5 more scholarships to offer. Typically each program has only 20% to 30% of their total swimming scholarship money to offer to incoming freshmen each year.

There are over 190 colleges and 1,800 swimming scholarships for men available in NCAA DI and DII. For women in NCAA DI and DII there are over 240 colleges that offer over 3,100 scholarships. You can earn one if you know how to compete at the recruiting game.

If you have solid swim times in high school, good academics and the ability to improve and compete in multiple events than you can earn a college swimming scholarship. You must be willing to work as hard at your athletic recruiting as you do in the pool. Thousands of other high school swimmers are competing for the same scholarship money. You must start early in your recruiting, have a solid recruiting plan and be aggressive to separate yourself from the competition.

How to Find Scholarships on Internet

Today, scholarships have become a great way to get free money for college. But most of the time, students and parents seem to a little apprehensive about whether they will be able to receive the scholarship. Students think that scholarships are available only for meritorious students. Internet has proved to be an excellent resource for finding different types of scholarships. There are scholarships for almost every kind of student. Finding scholarships on the Internet requires some tips and suggestions, so that students or parents do not become a victim of scholarship scams.

There are numerous scholarship search services available on the Internet. However, finding the right kind of scholarship service is key to winning scholarships. While you begin searching on the Internet, you will come across hundreds of such scholarship services. But you need to find the one that saves you time and provides you with a list of scholarship that you can be potentially eligible for. There are a number of things that you need to keep in mind while you go about selecting a scholarship search service on the Internet.

You can find scholarships on the internet without much hassle if you are able to find a scholarship search service which features sophisticated machine technology. A service on the Internet actually matches your profile with many scholarships that they have stored in their database. It is therefore necessary for the scholarship service to make use of a sophisticated technology. Otherwise, the service may just give you a list of hundreds of scholarships, making you waste a lot of your valuable time. If the technology used by the service is sophisticated and advanced, it will list you only those scholarships that exactly match your profile and for those you can be a potential candidate. So, while you find scholarships on the Internet, go only for the scholarship service that uses an advanced matching system or search machine technology.

Another important thing to take notice of is whether your selected scholarship services on the Internet has their database updated with the current scholarship programs available. If the service has a list of outdated scholarship programs, you will only waste your time wading through these funding programs. So, check the date of the scholarships available and make sure that the scholarship service provides scholarship information for the current academic year.

Another essential tip on how to find scholarships on Internet is to avoid those service websites that seem to be packed with commercial advertisements. You will come across many such websites that display lots and lots of student advertisements as windows keep popping up. Many of such overly commercial websites may also require you to go for an email subscription. If you want to save time searching for scholarships on the Internet, you need to keep away from such websites who aim is to generate revenue form the commercial advertisements.

A right kind of scholarship service on the Internet should have user friendly features. What if you want to edit or change the personal information that you had previously submitted or filled in on the website. Does the scholarship service website save the information you submit? Or to edit the information, you need to re-submit all the information?

Always keep these tips in mind while trying to find scholarship programs on the Internet. The whole point is that your time is valuable. You can not waste your time wading through scholarship programs that are actually not going to be of any use to you. Choose a scholarship service on the Internet carefully and avoid sites that do not have customer oriented service.

Weird College Scholarships and Grants (Part 1)

Most college scholarships and tuition grants are based on academic excellence, exceptional athletic skills, and leadership potential. But even college scholarships, serious as they come, do get hit with a jolt of weirdness.

If you happen to be a bagpipe enthusiast, then perhaps the Carnegie Mellon University Bagpipe Scholarship is a fit for you. Sponsored by the highly revered Carnegie Mellon University, this college tuition initiative is yours if you so choose to pick bagpipe playing as your college major.

For hard core Star Trek fans, you could be in luck as well. The Klingon Language Institute's Kor Memorial Scholarship is created to financially aid creative language majors. For those who are not familiar with Klingons, they are big, hairy creatures that have appeared in Star Trek. Fortunately, you do not have to be a fluent with the Klingon language to qualify.

The Starfleet Academy Scholarship is $500 college tuition grant awarded to members of the Starfleet Academy, an organization copied directly from the fictional Star Trek academy. Aside from that, the Starfleet Academy also offers the Gene Roddenberry Memorial Scholarship for Aspiring Writers and the DeForest Kelley/Dr. Leonard McCoy Medical Scholarship to its deserving members.

Another bizarre shot at college education is the Duct Brand Duct Tape Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest. Aside from the fact that you are going to college, the only other requirement is that you and your date should dress in duct tape on your prom night.

There are still a number of weird scholarships and college tuition grants that are out of this world when it comes to weirdness. But if such scholarships can land you in college, then perhaps you better try to internalize and see if you have some weirdness in you.

Watch out for Part 2!