Recent winner of the $1,000 Fall  ”A GPA Isn’t Everything” scholarship,  Mr. Nicholas G. took some time aside to share with his peers (you guys!) his experience in the college and scholarship search. Hopefully you’ll find some very useful tips!

Here’s what Nicholas shared:

What is your secret to finding and applying for scholarships?

My secret is easy and simple, as a matter of fact it should hardly be a secret at all! The key to finding and applying for scholarships is www.Cappex.com! You guys make it so easy to apply, and so easy to find scholarships. The way you organize your database is fantastic and your cap system makes it fun and worth it to create a well organized and very detail oriented profile! Using Cappex has made finding and applying for scholarships easier than I have ever imagined.

Something that helps when applying for scholarships is to keep a little folder on your computer, something with a list of all of the achievements you have made to date. Keep it organized with pictures, videos, links, and whatever else you may have because it makes typing out an application for a scholarship and remembering everything you’ve done loads easier, and ultimately it will give you a better application!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I don’t believe anybody should wait until they grow up to start following their dreams. What I want to be today, tomorrow, yesterday, and every day for a long time now and an even longer time to come, however, is a computer programmer. I would love to focus in game programming and development. The reason I love computer and especially game programming so much is because it’s one of the only trades where you can make something out of close to nothing. Although many would not consider a computer close to nothing, what I mean is that you don’t need materials. You don’t need wood or metal or cloth. You can create worlds, universes, tools, programs, and things that help people in every day life or that people can escape into and enjoy out of pure time, effort, and knowledge. That, to me, is the most amazing thing ever. Nobody should ever wait until they grow up to start trying to achieve what they want to do in life. Don’t limit yourself!

Name one to three things you cannot live without.

Three amenities that I cannot live without include:

1. My computer, of course being a programmer that is a give in.

2.  My piano, as it supplies me with an outlet and endless hours of enjoyment as well as an amazing source of pride and achievement.

3. A close friend or relative, because even the strongest of us sometimes need somebody around to keep us grounded and to bring out the best in us every day.

If you could offer a younger student one piece of advice for the college search, what would you say?

If I could give any piece of advice regarding the college search to a younger student it would be that it’s never to early to start. Searching for colleges can either be an amazing, fun, and incredible experience offering a sense of pride and accomplishment, or it can make you want to rip your hair out. Start early. Once you think you know what you want to do is when you should start searching! Even if you don’t know what you want to do, start making a list. Do you want to go away or stay close, what kind of environment do you want to be in, how large are you willing to have your class sizes? These are all things you should start considering early on to help narrow down your choices! After that do some research and as early as you can start filling out your common application and getting things ready. Cappex does an amazing job of helping you with this and allows you to search for colleges based on different criteria and allows you to keep an organized list of colleges that are on your mind as well as even see how you rank against the students that are going to that school!

But start early and be prepared. Don’t get caught doing everything at the last minute.

You can discover more scholarships from Cappex and beyond. Simply visit Cappex.com. And thanks again to Nicholas for sharing his college and scholarship tips!