<p>Now that the apps are in, the FA and scholarship apps are due. We've done the FAFSA and soon the CSS but my son isn't motivated to fill out those scholarship forms and write those essays. Anyone going through the same thing? I'm getting frustrated!</p>
<p>Ds knows that if he wants to go to some of these private schools he’s looking at he has to earn big-time money. DS has gone after three big outside ones, a big one at a school to which he’s been accepted and will pursue a couple of small local ones, for sure. Not sure how many others he’ll pursue.</p>
<p>Thankfully, he’s written so many essays that he can reuse some!</p>
<p>From a student’s perspective, I’ve been looking for local scholarship money and then some at the college I will be attending. I applied for a full-ride scholarship at my future college which is specifically for those who are majoring in the School of Communications. I don’t think I have a great shot at it but hey it could be a miracle. I also applied to a Leadership Scholarship. </p>
<p>I am also applying for two scholarships through the Knights of Columbus since my dad is a member and then one Community Foundation which any student who goes to school in the county can apply for. </p>
<p>I look a lot but it takes time to find them and then deal with the essays, LORs, transcript requests, etc.</p>
<p>I know I’m looking EVERYWHERE for money</p>
<p>My husband and I plan to sit down with S and talk about the COA of his choices. We did that before he sent in his apps but it seems like it’s time to remind him.</p>
<p>md and r6l, good luck in your $$ search! I’ve been following you two (and other srs. on this board) and I know you’ll be very successful!</p>
<p>lilmom…</p>
<p>Are these outside scholarships you’re talking about? If so, have you checked to see if these are “one time” scholarships, or are they renewable? </p>
<p>As for motivation…if your son has a financial safety school, then just calmly tell him "the ball is in your court…get the scholarship apps in, or you’ll be going to your financial safety school. </p>
<p>After saying that, why do you need to say anything more? His actions would tell you what he wants. Right?</p>
<p>BTW…what will you do if does get his apps in, but he doesn’t get any scholarship money?</p>
<p>^mom2collkids, yes, most of the ones I’ve seen are one time awards. Our EFC is so high that we’re not relying on any FA (we’re not rolling in dough…) S has received some merit $ from the one school that’s accepted him so far. It is also one of the most expensive schools on his list. He has a financial safety and he really doesn’t want to go there.</p>
<p>If he applies and gets nothing, then at least he tried. OTOH, even a $500 award could help him buy a new computer!</p>
<p>*He has a financial safety and he really doesn’t want to go there.
*</p>
<p>then maybe he needs to apply to another financial safety. A financial safety isn’t a financial safety if the student doesn’t want to go there.</p>
<p>*If he applies and gets nothing, then at least he tried. *</p>
<p>Well, if he knows that you’ll pay full-freight even if he applies and fails to get any outside scholarships, then he probably doesn’t have much motivation.</p>
<p>If he has a week-long vacation coming up from school, and you were planning to travel, tell him that unless he gets rolling with those scholarship apps, you’ll leave him with your nastiest cousin (the one with the huge wart on her chin) to do them that week. His choice.</p>
<p>If he receives ANY funds from you in the form of allowance, put that in escrow until he produces. Money for money. It isn’t fair for him to bag it now. Is he expecting you to pay for prom? No way. Etc. Gasoline money? HAHAHAHA, no. Start writing.</p>
<p>OP: When you say “scholarship apps” are you talking about school apps or outside apps? Before he spends alot of time applying for outside scholarships, check with the schools. Even if he gets outside money, there’s a good chance that the school will use it to reduce his FA package, leaving your out-of-pocket unchanged.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>That is true, but I think the OP isn’t expecting any FA anyway.</p>
<p>Our EFC is so high that we’re not relying on any FA</p>
<p>Unless, the OP means that their EFC is at a level where FA would be minimum. If so, it won’t change out-of-pocket, but it might reduce a loan or gap.</p>
<p>Mine has started applying for a couple specific scholarships. One is local and the others are college specific. We didn’t ask the kids to go all out looking for $$, but we did ask them to take advantage of financial scholarships where there were reasonable expectations of garnering some assistance. It is also a good idea to understand how the particular college will handle those outside scholarships relative to the entire picture as some do use them to reduce their contribution leaving the out of pocket the same.</p>
<p>mom2, the OP said:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Since they are at least applying for FA, I wanted them to be aware that it can be impacted by outside scholarships.</p>
<p>We were told by his GC to fill out the FAFSA forms even though we would most likely not qualify for FA. That was confusing to me but rather than not fill them out and wonder, we chose to do it. His top choice is an expensive private that may offer him some merit $ but we won’t know that. His financial safety moved from the bottom of his list to the top (I just found out this morning!) So, that may be the reason why he’s not too concerned about $. </p>
<p>I’m talking about outside scholarship money - requiring essays, etc. What bugs me the most is he’s won essay contests and helps others with their writing and yet he won’t use that talent for some of these scholarships!</p>
<p>Interesting info on the the impact this may have on FA. By the time my our second child is ready for college, we will most likely be looking for some aid!</p>
<p>After all the acceptances came in last year, I made Son cut the list in half, then he applied for specific scholarships at only the schools that made the cut. All of the scholarships were at least $1000, recurring (so $4000 minimum total.) He also went on two vocal auditions. For his efforts, the state public offered $0 total, one school offered $2500 per year ($10,000 total) and the school he’s attending offered $2000 per year ($8000 total). </p>
<p>He got applications for two local $500 (non-recurring) scholarships. He got one of those. The other application required more essays and letters of recommendation than ANY colleges to which he applied, so I didn’t make him complete that one.</p>
<p>I would say to research some of the more time consuming scholarships, so see if you can get info about past winners. If all the past winners have 4.0s, have testified before Congress and have started their own non-profits while working 30 hours a week to help support their 9 siblings, and your kid hasn’t, you many want to give him a bye on that one.</p>
<p>As a college senior applying to grad school, I completely sympathize with your son. I had a few days over winter break that I more or less dedicated to finishing SOPs (grad school essays) and apps, and by the end, I was just sick of it! </p>
<p>What motivated me was remembering exactly why I was applying to these schools (all excellent fits for my research and professional interests) and remembering that “it only takes one” and what if the app I didn’t finish might have ended up being the “one”?
The same is true for college–it takes one affordable, “great fit” school</p>
<p>Good luck to your soon!</p>
<p>*After all the acceptances came in last year, I made Son cut the list in half, **then he applied for specific scholarships at only the schools that made the cut. **All of the scholarships were at least $1000, recurring (so $4000 minimum total.) He also went on two vocal auditions. For his efforts, the state public offered $0 total, one school offered $2500 per year ($10,000 total) and the school he’s attending offered $2000 per year ($8000 total).
*</p>
<p>That strategy is fine as long as the schools’ scholarship deadlines weren’t long before acceptances are known. </p>
<p>I know of kids who’ve been accepted to several merit schools, but they didn’t submit the online scholarship application. Now, it’s too late for many of them. For some, it’s a huge deal because the scholarships were for half tuition, 3/4 tuition, or full tuition (or more!)</p>
<p>***We were told by his GC to fill out the FAFSA forms even though we would most likely not qualify for FA. That was confusing to me **but rather than not fill them out and wonder, we chose to do it. </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>The GC may have told you that for the following reasons…</p>
<p>1) your child may need to take out a Stafford loan</p>
<p>2) some scholarships require FAFSA submittal for consideration (even if you don’t qualify for FA.</p>
<p>3) some people “think” that they won’t qualify for any grants/aid, but if the school’s defined COA is higher than you though, you might get some help.</p>
<p>*His top choice is an expensive private that may offer him some merit $ but we won’t know that. </p>
<p>**His financial safety moved from the bottom of his list to the top<a href=“I%20just%20found%20out%20this%20morning!”>/B</a> So, that may be the reason why he’s not too concerned about $.*</p>
<p>So, his financial safety has now bumped his top choice for #1. That happens. Both my kids did that, and we were fine with that. They’re happy as clams, and we’ve agreed to help them with med school, etc, since they’ve saved us so much money.</p>
<p>Kids are burned out by this time of year. If they applied to very challenging colleges, the process was draining. I can remember my daughter standing in the kitchen last year, holding a full-tuition scholarship letter in the air and declaring that if she didn’t get any money from #1 choice, she would be attending scholarship school–and that is what she did. She was a top student in a prep school that used a grading system that was strange to local scholarship committees and she received $0 local money. Two of the scholarships she applied for I was sure she would get, but did not. Soooo, the local scholarships are tough to win. My daughter decided that she did not want to owe anyone anything and did not want to worry about money at all. And we are what I call financial purgatory; no one should feel sorry for us, but we don’t feel comfortable writing that $60K check when there’s another sibling in high school.</p>