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<div align="center"><a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/scholarship-tips-and-mistakes.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/scholarship-tips-and-mistakes.png" alt="infographic" width="430"><br /> Click to Enlarge </a><br />Via <a href="http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/tips/scholarship-tips-and-mistakes.php"> StudentScholarshipSearch.com </a><br />View Other <a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com">Infographics</a></div> <p>

This infographic was submitted to us by StudentScholarshipSearch.com

This is a really useful tool for anyone looking for ways to fund their college education. It’s cleverly designed so it’s really fun to look at, and it definitely offers some good tips. I like the notes from Mom and the procrastination meter–”NO MONEY FOR YOU!”

There’s a lot of numbers that are important for applicants to know, but unfortunately only 1 data set is visualized–the range in award money. The rest of the data is just written out, or expanded upon in another way. For example, “41 out of 50 states offer scholarships” could’ve been a map of the US with the 9 states that don’t offer scholarships in a contrasting color. And while the procrastination meter is cute, it doesn’t seem to illustrate hard data.

This infographic would benefit from a reduction in text, a slight simplification on design (my eye is looking everywhere–it’s a great concept but a bit too busy) and a bump in data viz. That way busy students could check in quickly to see what they should be doing, rather than taking the time to read. If there are any available stats on how many students say they put off their scholarship apps, or a survey on the average number of scholarships students apply for, that would supplement the data really well.

As an infographic I’d give this a C, but as a useful tool for students, an A!

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<div align="center"><a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/fillthegap.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.submitinfographics.com/full-size-infographics/fillthegap.png" alt="infographic" width="430"><br />Click to Enlarge</a><br />Via <a href="http://www.privatestudentloans.com/fill-the-gap/"> Private Student Loans </a><br /> View Other <a href="http://www.submitinfographics.com"> Infographics </a></div> <p>

This infographic was submitted by Private Student Loans.

This is a very well-done infographic. It’s packed with information, which is for the most part delivered in a concise and visual manner. All text is there for an appropriate purpose, but if the majority of the descriptive text was removed, the viewer could still figure out what the infographic is trying to portray. Data viz is employed in most places that it could be, and is reasonably easy to interpret. The alternate ways of making money at the bottom of the infographic are funny. I thought they were intended to be suggestions and was horrified for a minute there…

The top graph took a fair amount of scrutinizing for me, though. Private 4-year and Private on Campus are accidentally identical in the key–though Private on Campus was actually more of a brownish-pink on the actual graph. Perhaps if the colors used weren’t quite so muted, it would be easier to distinguish between them. The boxes also seem to be slightly different shapes and sizes on that graph, which is a little strange. I’m also wondering why Public 2-Year is the only one without a contrasting color strip–it’s just a solid pink color.

It may have been used in the source material, but I found “hidden expenses” to be sort of a misleading term for anticipated items like textbooks and clothes. I thought it would have been referring to student fees, lab fees, etc.–school costs that are mandatory in addition to tuition.

In the grand scheme of things, these critiques are minute. This infographic is extremely informative, uses a wealth of data viz, tells a complete story and falls within the basic guidelines for proportions, info, etc. “Filling the Gap” gets an A-!