Fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This will require W-2 tax forms from previous years as filled out by the student’s parents. Most scholarships applications require a completed FAFSA or the information that would go into the application.
Visit a high school counselor and potential college financial aid offices and ask about scholarships for minority students. These are valuable resources for finding scholarships for black high school seniors. Take notes and write down any websites these counselors indicate are good sources for minority scholarships.
Go online and see what the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Education Association (NEA) offer in the way of minority scholarships. Another excellent place to check for scholarships is the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Bookmark the websites if you want to work on the scholarship applications later.
Many scholarships require written essays in response to specific questions, usually involving a student’s ideas about what direction a college education would take. Practice writing answers to these essay questions and ask your high school English teachers to help improve them.
Follow through on your quest. Take the time to complete the applications, and note on a calendar or notepad the date that each application was completed.
Follow up on any scholarship applications for which there is no response. Sometimes there are glitches in computer systems, and so it can pay off to make sure your application was received.