<p>I've been accepted EA into a top college that gives pretty nice FA. However, my parents make about 160k so I won't get a great deal...though shelving out 40-50k is still a huge amount.</p>
<p>I've been looking into a ton of scholarships - essays, merit-based - and have already applied for a few. I'm not one to do things half-way, but I don't feel I'm a standout either.</p>
<p>Is applying for these scholarships mostly a waste of time? Can someone who has applied for a number of scholarships let me know how successful you were?</p>
<p>Local scholarships that have specific criteria that match your stats/interests/ECs are your best bet. Google your city or county + scholarships, or talk to your guidance counselor to see if he/she knows of any.</p>
<p>My older son applied to 2 national and 1 local scholarship last year; he received the local one.</p>
<p>My younger son has a list of about 12-15 mostly local scholarships that he’ll be applying to.</p>
<p>They can be a lot of work; most require essays and/or recommendations. But sometimes you can recycle essays you’ve already written for your college apps.</p>
<p>Good luck and congrats on your early acceptance!</p>
<p>you need to think ahead to what you’ll be doing for following years. If going to this school REQUIRES that you get these outside scholarships, then you need to consider what you’ll do for your soph, junior and senior years. Many of those outside scholarships are for one year only. What are you going to do for those other years.</p>
<p>And, what will you do if you don’t win any of those outside scholarships (or if you only win a very small amount)? Are your parents willing to pay full freight?</p>