How to Save Time Searching for Scholarships

How to Save Time Searching for ScholarshipsSave Time and Have Google Search for You!

Sure, you could just run Google searches over and over every week, but why bother when you can have Google do it for you? Set up a Google Alert instead. Google Alerts are email updates of the latest Google results based on your search query. It’s simple to use, so pull out your Personal Keyword List.

Google Alerts checks regularly to see if there are new results for you. If there are, Google sends them to you in an email. We suggest you set up alerts for each keyword + “scholarship” to maximize your results. You can narrow down your search terms after a few weeks of scanning your Alert results. The point is to get as many targeted scholarship ideas as possible but not be overwhelmed by the shear number of returns.

Start by signing into your Gmail account and head over to http://www.google.com/alerts. In the Search Query box, type your keyword and “scholarships.” For example, “women scholarships” or “UVM scholarships” or “psychology scholarships.”

For Result Type, you can start by choosing “Everything” and modify the Alert later. Or, you can select from: News, Blogs, Videos, Discussions, Books.

Then select your preferred Language from the drop-down menu. Select How Often you wish to receive notices. We suggest “Once a Week” to keep the number of alerts manageable, but you could select “As It Happens” or “Once a Day.” Pick what works for you. We use “Only the Best Results” for the How Many category because it reduces the noise and gives you only the most relevant results. You could, however, select “All Results” and do your own filtering. Finally, you select the email address you want the alerts delivered to (use your scholarship research Gmail account). Then just hit the “Create Alert” button and move on to set up the next alert.

Lastly, check your Gmail inbox at least weekly and set aside time to review your alerts for scholarships you can apply for or that you can add to your Scholarship List. Take a few minutes to “Manage Your Alerts” to delete, refine, or add new alerts. Each alert can have dozens of links, so you’ll want to continue to modify your alert queries to provide the most targeted, high-yield results without being overwhelmed by irrelevant “matches.” Try it out, see what works for you, and play around with your keywords.

Related Link:  How to Use Google Alerts