Rather than banking on one big scholarship, students are finding success by stringing together several small scholarships. By filling out an online questionnaire, you can get matched up with organizations that focus on specific subjects, talents, interest groups, ethnicities, and industries. Here’s your first step:

WSJ reports that first what you want to do is make a profile at SallieMae.com/scholarships, fastweb.com or SchoolSoup.com. They’ll use your answers, which include your background, what you’re interested in, your GPA and test scores, to hook you up with scholarship that will fit you.

The amounts can be small, anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000. One of these alone is not enough to pay for your education. But if you can snag several, it starts to add up. While it still won’t be enough for a full-ride, anything that defrays the costs helps. And hey, it’s essentially free money.

November is the deadline for many scholarships, so get cracking.

Just remember to watch out for application fees. For the most part, the only thing you should pay for when applying for a scholarship is postage. Investigate the names of any scholarships asking for application fees, it could be a ripoff.

Applying for Scholarships? Think Small [WSJ]

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