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" What are the best ways to secure financial aid? The first thing you should keep in mind throughout high school in order to increase your chances of getting financial aid is to maintain excellent grades. Just by having a stellar academic record, you can be eligible for merit scholarships, which are given by colleges, high schools, independent scholarship services, and philanthropic groups like Coca Cola and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Many of these scholarship opportunities will come to you automatically if your academic performance is on the radar screen of your high school, but you can also do some of your own research by visiting www.fastweb.com or checking out the College Board&amp;#039;s Fund Finder at www.collegeboard.com.  Another way to get financial aid is to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid available at www.fafsa.ed.gov. This form is used by most colleges to determine how much your family will be expected to contribute to your college education. Then colleges use that data to dole out federal aid in the form of grants, loans, and work study.  The FAFSA is available beginning in January, and for seniors, the earlier you fill it out the better off you&amp;#039;ll be. Colleges are given a certain amount of federal aid to distribute to students, so you&amp;#039;ll want to be sure that your application is in as soon as possible to get the best consideration for government loans. Once you fill out your FAFSA, you&amp;#039;ll have a better idea of what kind of assistance, if any, you will receive from the government, and at that point you can discuss with your parents the cost of your education and begin creating a budget. Finally, if come the spring of your senior year you&amp;#039;ve been admitted to your dream school and the financial aid package isn&amp;#039;t what you thought it would be, don&amp;#039;t hesitate to call the financial aid office to discuss your situation. You may not have included relevant information on your original application like the fact that one of your siblings attends private elementary school or that someone in your family has had a significant medical hardship in the last year. Just remember that if you get admitted to a school, that means they want you to be there and will work with you to make sure you can attend. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/school/advice/a27742/financial-aid-cqa-0606/>