<p>I recently read on this site that it is better to apply to local scholarships rather than fastweb ones........someone even stated fastweb scholarships are impossible to win........</p>
<p>I have a question pertaining to this:</p>
<p>Doesn't fastweb sometimes also post local scholarships? Like the ones that are $500 - $2k........I'm sure they aren't one of those BIG scholarships...</p>
<p>I have only applied to the huge scholarships so far........lol........like 10 - 50k and as you can probably predict.........no replies yet.....</p>
<p>I just wanted to ask if these lower prized scholarships on fastweb are easier to win?? </p>
<p>Also, what are the best places to apply to win local scholarships? Where do I look? I live in Jersey City, NJ....a city right next to nyc.........</p>
<p>Does anyone know of any opportunities in the area?</p>
<p>I know this an old post, but for anyone out there with this question… You should contact your guidance counselor if you are in high school. They normally have access to numerous local scholarships. If you are in college, contact the scholarship dept at your school. This can also fall under the dept of financial aid at some schools.</p>
<p>Yep, an old post, but a perennial question.</p>
<p>Walk away from fastweb and from local scholarships. Those scholarships are almost always a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of college, and they are rarely for more than one year. </p>
<p>Almost all scholarship money is given by the colleges themselves, something like 95%+. Don’t waste your time chasing small dollars. Instead, do some research into colleges which are generous with aid and apply to those where your stats would make you a good “catch.”</p>
<p>And don’t depend on your high school counselor. My local high school is always ranked near the top in the state in academics, but their counseling office is terrible.</p>
<p>While I agree with Lasma that the majority of scholarship money comes directly from the schools themselves, I couldn’t disagree more about walking away from local scholarships (and to some extent, FastWeb). My eldest son applied to, and won, several of the local scholarships advertised by his public school’s guidance department, totaling more than $10,000 for his freshman year. Second son is off to college this fall and won 7 of the 12 “outside” scholarships he applied to, totaling more than $35K. This includes one that he found on FASTWEB (The Hadden Youth Foundation) that pays $4300 for all four years. </p>
<p>Both kids only applied to scholarships for which they just had to fill out the applications and do some minor tinkering with their common app or other essays they had already written. So, it wasn’t a lot of extra work. And while some might view $10K or even $35K as a “drop in the bucket” compared to the total cost of a 4 year education, it has been a huge help for our family as we navigate the cost of having two in college at once.</p>
<p>Well, the value of outside scholarships also depends greatly on family finances. For a family that’s paying most or all of the cost of college, those outside scholarships you describe would make a huge difference. For a student who’s receiving significant financial aid, however, the outside scholarships might do no more than reduce the amount of aid the student receives . . . so the net benefit is ZERO. This varies from one school to another, so, for a student who needs significant need-based aid, it’s worth asking ahead of time how outside scholarships would impact the school’s aid package.</p>
<p>^^this is true, but for those on need-based aid, almost all colleges will allow you to first reduce your self help aid, which is usually about $8000 ($5500 Stafford, $2500 work study), before they reduce grants. So, going after $8K in local outside scholarships should be worthwhile for just about anyone.</p>
<p>This is true. Also some colleges are willing to increase your personal COA to cover a computer purchase first year, or sometimes other stuff (cost of a fitness center membership at school, cost of health insurance, etc.) to leave more room for your scholarships without reducing grant aid by as much (if at all).</p>