<p>CSF? It helped me a little.</p>
<p>Another rejection today for my son :(</p>
<p>So far, no luck on fastweb-advertised national scholarships. The competition is just too great, so unless you're really phenomenal, it would probably be a waste of time to enter--especially if the application entails writing an essay.</p>
<p>How much of a Community service do sholaships usually take?
I'm a junior going to senior but i came to the US in the sophpmore year.
it's only recent that i found out that sholarships are CS-based...</p>
<p>the more hours you have, and the more passion you can show through your essay for your work is better.</p>
<p>re: the competition is just too great . . .</p>
<p>From the you never know unless you try files: that's what we thought until my son won a Claes Nobel Scholarship from Natl Socy of High School Scholars -- $5,000. We were shocked - 1 of 5 out of 10,000 applicants, many many of whom had higher test scores and/or earth shattering honors/ECs. </p>
<p>What made the difference? Possibly a great essay - a creative way to a simple question, with a memorable first line? He adapted one that he used for apps, so it was not painful at all!</p>
<p>Esquette -- would your son be willing to share the essay? We are just starting down this road and I am wondering what a good, winning, unique, interesting essay looks like. You could email it or PM me, if you want. If not -- I certainly understand.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>applied to 16, won 2, semifinaled and waiting on 2, 5 said no
adds up to $2500 plus $1000 won, and waiting on $4000-$6000.
It was A LOT of work, and I DID re-use different parts of my essays.
I don't know how people can apply to so many scholarhips -- my school office and administration were getting really annoyed with all the recommendations and transcripts. The one's that didn't have to be official, I just copied and kept a pile at home. </p>
<p>I guess even for the $3500 towards a $35,000 private school - it's worth it. Except now I've got to start over for the next 3 years of college ;-)
Yikes.</p>
<p>"I don't know how people can apply to so many scholarhips -- my school office and administration were getting really annoyed with all the recommendations and transcripts."</p>
<p>ahoo2u brings up a good point here. My son told me the same thing, and has been reluctant to enter any more scholarships. After the college application season is over, the high school counselors need to focus on freshman scheduling, ensuring graduation requirements are met, and other administrative issues. They do not want to be doing more recommendations and transcripts for seniors. And even during college app. season they are swamped already and aren't keen on kids giving them more work.</p>
<p>I just won my first 'major' scholarship today. $5000 from the national office of my dad's union. Very cool. Mom is an MBA at Chrysler so I didn't qualify for aid even at the most expensive of schools. (There's why I'm going to Michigan.) I have a very good amount saved up for Michigan, and mom and dad have offered to cover the gap. My ultimate goal is to get enough scholarship money so the gap between what I have and the total cost is gone so I can graduate in the black.</p>
<p>New total:
$5000 dad's union
$1500 Michigan Regents
$500 DaimlerChrysler non-need based
$3000 Michigan Merit Award</p>
<p>Wowowow. My dad talked to someone at work whose kid got this union scholarship a few years ago. I guess it is $5000 A YEAR. I'm so pumped about this. This theoretically puts me in the black for 4 years at Michigan.</p>
<p>I also won a national scholarship from my dad's union (APWU) for $4,000. I was expecting a better chance with the local ~ but I didn't get that. Totally surprised with the national scholarship! They only give out 5 academic merit scholarships and 5 technical education scholarships across the whole country.</p>
<p>John</p>
<p>hsmomstef -- I pm'ed you about the essay. No problem sharing -- that's what helped my son get started on his.</p>
<p>My S found it too time consuming to apply for more than a few. He applied fo three and got two:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The Jefferson Scholarship at UVA - it's not given by the university, as most people believe, but by the Jefferson Scholarship Foundation! Four years full tuition + expenses at UVa. Approx 35 awarded ea. yr. Must be nominated by school, then compete thru Jefferson Scholar Foundation chapters. What shocked me is how many high schools are entitled to nominate a student but do not do so. ASK YOUR COUNSELOR during the summer! He made the finals - 1 of 4 kids from Md chapter. Finalists are advised early that they will be accepted to UVa. He did not get it, but enjoyed the ride. Process took from Oct thru Mar -- tons of time and energy but a once in a lifetime experience he will always treasure, including candelight dinner in the Dome Room of the Rotunda!</p></li>
<li><p>Claes Nobel Scholarship from The National Society of High School Scholars -- see above!</p></li>
<li><p>Local broadcaster's Student Scholar -- $1,600 - 1 of 6 winners. Check these media scholarships out -- they are targeted for local students, so the competition pool is much smaller! Most websites will have the info somewhere.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Fortunately, I found out in early March that I had been awarded a full ride Merit based scholarship from the school I wanted to attend. (NCSU-Go Wolfpack!) By this time, however, I had already applied to 10 different outside scholarships (7 National, 2 State, 1 Local if you were wondering.) In the end I was awarded 7 of these. Several times toward the end of the year I was on the receiving end of some angry glares. "Why is she getting all this outside money when she already had a full ride?" "Why is she still applying for scholarships?" The answer is that I was not applying for anymore. In fact I stopped applying for scholarships entirely after I was notified of my award. I understand their concern, and if I had known was going to be so lucky as to get a scholarship to me dream school I would not have applied to any of the other scholarships. </p>
<p>Anyway, my advice to anyone applying for scholarships would be to, as long as time permits, apply for everything that you qualify for. Even if you might not win a huge National Scholarship it might be worth your time to apply, since a local organization might also use the application to give out awards.(Such at the ELKS Most Valuable Student Competition. I did not get any National money, but was awarded a smaller amount through a State Organization.) I would also reiterate that one should always save any essays they write, since many times I was able to tweak an essay I had already written to fit for another scholarship application.</p>
<p>So far here are my results as a rising senior:</p>
<p>AAA Travel Challenge- Won State Championship, Qualified for Nationals, got $1000 US Savings Bond
Dupont Challenge- Didn't Get
AFSA Essay Competition- Got Honorable Mention, no money
Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead Essay Contest- Waiting on</p>
<p>So basically I have $500 unless I wait for the savings bond to mature. I'm going to be working on a ton of scholarships this year since I really want to go out of state. At least I know my essay writing skills are fairly decent since I got honorable mention for AFSA. Good luck to everyone who are awaiting results and to us rising seniors as we apply for lots in this upcoming year!</p>
<p>Hey but if you apply for Lots of scholarships... wouldn't if cost Lots of money ??</p>
<p>Just the cost of postage, paper, ink, and transcripts.</p>
<p>Susantm:
what do you mean by transcript? don't schools give students their own transcripts for free?</p>
<p>no, like susantm said, we have to pay to cover the postage, ink, and paper of the transcripts. transcripts that are tansmitted via the web are free.</p>
<p>At my son's school, the first transcript was free; the rest were $2 each. This will probably vary by school; some may provide more free transcripts.</p>
<p>erhsswimming: When did you find out about the AFSA essay competition? My son entered but got nothing yet from them.</p>