My daughter is getting to the age where she needs to start thinking about college. I'm hoping she gets some scholarships to help with the ever-increasing costs of college.

What are some key things that she should be doing? Do you think volunteering is a plus when applying for scholarships?

How do you find out what is available? besides the guidance office at school.

I believe that your daughter should have more then only good grades when trying to get a scholarship. She should try to take up as many extra activities at school as possible. Doing community service would definitely also be a strong bonus for her when applying for scholarships later on.

It may be helpful to look for types of scholarships, first.

Some scholarships are based on academic accomplishments, but there are other scholarships that have different parameters that might not rely heavily on academic performance.

If you can find several scholarships that focus on other skills that your daughter has a natural affinity for, that might be the best place to start!

Great advice Diana. We'll start looking into the scholarships that are out there and then go from there.

She is involved in activities at school- so that is a plus too. Sports and clubs.

As for finding out what is available, there's always Google. Just be sure to look for .gov and .org sites.

Rather than getting involved in as many things as possible, I find that admissions counselors and scholarship boards are looking for those students that have found what they enjoy and are somewhat dedicated to it.

For example, a student who loves a sport and has been active in it for several years, but also used that sport to go out into the community and organize food drives with his team or participate in rallys and stuff looks a lot better than a junior who enrolls in ten clubs her spring semester of school just to fill up her application.

Look for scholarships that fit into your student's interests because it will show through on their application.