During this time of the year, many seniors are either applying or being accepted to colleges. One thing that crosses their minds is how they will be able to pay for it. For many, one option is through scholarships.

Some of the earliest application deadlines were around Oct. 1. According to counselor Rod Johnson, most of the deadlines are continuously on the 1 and 15 of each month.

A popular website for those searching for scholarships is Fastweb. Fastweb has around 600,000 to 700,000 scholarship opportunities.

“It has everything from entering freshmen to post doctoral work,” Johnson said. “It’s the one the counselors and financial aid people recommend the most.”

Another opportunity for information about and how to win scholarships is a meeting held on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007. Johnson will meet with the senior class during advisory. Last year over $104,000 in scholarships were given out.

Albert Lea High School graduate Alexandra Larson is attending Luther College this year. Larson received scholarships from Luther and two scholarships from other organizations. One was a $500 scholarship from Paths of Peace and the other was $1000 per year from Grace Lutheran Church. Although Larson is only in her first year of college, the scholarships have already benefited her.

“My Paths to Peace scholarship helped me buy my books for 1st semester,” Larson said. “I never realized how much my books would cost. It was terrible.”

Larson is in the freshman choir, and the scholarships have also helped cover some of the costs for her lessons.

“My voice lessons are an extra $600 or so,” Larson said. “If I didn’t have the scholarships, I would have had to pay for that.”

Johnson has a few words of advice for seniors trying to apply from scholarships.

“Do apply because I know for sure that if you don’t, you can’t win,” Johnson said.