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Scholarship search engines like Zinch are great–they expand your reach and match you to scholarships you might not know exist. These are massive scholarship databases and every student should take advantage of them. However, the large applicant pools for many of these scholarships means the competition is intense.

Consider going local. Unearth local scholarships in your own community. The applicant pools for these scholarships are smaller and your chances of winning them increases. You will be surprised at the local scholarships that are often overlooked and no scholarship money is dispersed.

Check out these resources and add them to your scholarship search criteria:

Your guidance counselor

First stop–your high school guidance counselor. Local scholarships come across their desks frequently. Check back often to see if any have surfaced and let your counselor know that you are interested in applying to all local scholarships.

Local newspapers

Check out your local newspaper (even if it’s online) for scholarship winners that they publish every year. Do the research and find out the deadlines for these, get the information and apply for next year.

Area high school websites

Did you know that you can go to other area high school websites and look in the counseling section? They often post scholarships that are set aside for local students, not just students at their high school.

Local organizations

Many local organizations like the Lions Club, the Elks Club, the Rotary Club, and the Toastmaster Club give scholarships yearly to deserving high school seniors. Contact the local organizations and ask for information about their scholarship opportunities.

Your network

Ask your pastor, your parent’s friends, your parents employer and any other people in your network of friends and family if they know of any scholarships. You would be surprised at how many scholarship opportunities go unpublicized.

Local companies

Local companies often give scholarships to deserving students. Engineering firms, architectural firms, law firms and even oil refineries recognize student achievements and give out yearly scholarship awards.

School organizations

Any school organization may award student scholarships such as the school band, the JROTC parent organization, the drill teams, the PTA and others. Any group that your child is involved in could possibly award scholarships.

These scholarships are typically not as large as the national ones, although some are; but the odds of winning are so much greater. And ten small scholarships can add up to the amount of one large one. Start the search early in high school so that when senior year comes around, you will have a list of local available scholarships.