With college on its way, many seniors find themselves applying for scholarships to help cut back the student loans.

It is undeniable that the price of college can be a bit much for many high schoolers. Luckily, potential scholarships are right at the fingertips of students here at BHS. Administrative Assistant Karen Moody is in charge of organizing these scholarships and transferring them to the seniors.

“As soon as [the scholarships] come in, I add them to Naviance,” said Moody. “There is also a big book in the corner [of the guidance department] where the scholarships are listed for seniors.”

   Naviance is a site where students can find help with college, possible careers, and most importantly local scholarships.  Many students, including senior Sierra Donovan, have taken advantage of these scholarships.  

   “I did a handful of scholarships,” said Donovan. “A lot of them were through the school and others were ones I found online. I got the Amvets Post Grant and the BROCT scholarships from the guidance department.”

   Donovan made sure that she signed up for as many scholarships as she could so that she could cut back on student loans.

   “The more money I receive from these scholarships, the less money I will owe after college,” said Donovan. “I feel like it’s a no brainer to at least apply for these scholarships.”

   However, not all students have been thinking this way all along.  Senior Gavon Power finds himself regretting his lack of applying.

   “I didn’t apply for any of the local scholarships,” said Powers. “[Although] now that I see all the expenses adding up, I wish I would have at least applied for some of them.”

   Applying for scholarships can take anywhere from five minutes to a couple hours. Power admits that the time-consuming practice is what held him back from applying for these scholarships.

   “I honestly just didn’t have the patience or effort to sit down and fill out all the form,” said Powers.  “Some of the scholarships also included essays, and I am not a fan of those. The whole process is just so tedious.”

Powers is not alone when it comes to missing out on some local scholarships. Moody believes that a lot of students chose to neglect these offers.

   “We tend to have to remind students a lot about this scholarships,” said Moody. “There [have]  been times where there have been really good scholarships up for grabs, but no one applies for them.”

   However, Biddeford is not the only school with unclaimed scholarships, according to www.fastweb.com over $2,900,000 of free federal grant money is unused each year.  This is why Moody and the rest of the guidance department really encourages students to apply for scholarships no matter how time-consuming they are.

   “It is free money, it’s less of the bottom balance,” said Moody. “Even if it isn’t towards your tuition, its books, room and board, and other expenses along the way.”

   Although most scholarship winners have not been announced yet, Donovan believes she has a good shot at most of them.

   “I think that I will get at least a couple of them,” said Donovan. “Honestly, the worst thing that could happen is I walk away with nothing, and that is worst case scenario.”