Visa proccess does not require ticket, so you do not need to buy ticket before you get the visa. We bought the tickets before because, it is cheaper if you buy as earliest as possible. We prefer to buy buy the tickets on net, it is much cheaper. There are so many travel agents but they are much more expensive. All you need to do is search on Google! 

Form after form shall be filled. It's VISA applications and scholarship application forms that takes most time right now. Everything must be just right. And to search for the different scholarships takes allot of time!
There are plenty of ways to search, sometimes you can find information at the library, you can search the web, call to the church for exampel. Maybe your counselor at school has some tips. The main key is to start in time. Many scholarships have one or two dates a year when they process applications. We have searched some different scholarships but haven't had any succes yet, we are still hoping to get some help with the financing. If else we will take the money from our own pockets and we know it'll be worth it.