<p>I'm currently a senior and I have begun applying for scholarships and colleges. I come from a low-income family, less than 20,000 a year, and I am Hispanic. Because of my family's low-income i got a job at a local fast-food place the summer of my Sophomore year in order to contribute. When Summer comes around I usually work 40 hours a week, however when school starts I am only able to work weekends, about 20 hours a week, in order for me to keep up with my AP classes. Is it a good idea to mention my job in college applications or scholarship applications? Will I receive less money if I mention I have a job? My family doesn't make much money so I really need the most money I can get.</p>
<p>P.S. Last year I made a total of about $5,000</p>
<p>You are going to have two different types of applications to deal with: (1) college & scholarship applications and (2) financial aid applications.</p>
<p>For college & scholarship applications, I think the fact that you’re working so hard to pay for college shows initiative, maturity, and responsibility, all of which are good!</p>
<p>For your financial aid (FAFSA & PROFILE) applications, you’re going to have to disclose ALL family resources, including your own income and savings. It would be dishonest not to disclose your earnings.</p>
<p>You may want to find out about putting your savings in a 529 college savings account. Others here can advise you about the advantages to using a 529 account.</p>
<p>Earning that much shouldn’t hurt any aid that you’d qualify for.</p>
<p>However, if you’re saving money, have your parents hold it in their name.</p>
<p>As for scholarships…Apply to the SCHOOLS that give you scholarships for your stats. Those are usually for all four years. </p>
<p>If you apply for private scholarships, those won’t often help you pay for college because those are often for only FRESHMAN year…they’re not for all four years.</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>what are your test scores and GPA?</p>
<p>@mom2college kids
I live in Texas.
ACT Composite score: 29
English:26
Math:28
Reading:32
Science:29
Combine English/Writing: 23 Writing score:6 (not good 
SAT:
Reading: 590
Math:580
Writing:550
My latest GPA was 4.88 on a 5.0 scale.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Your ACT is MUCH better than your SAT, so take that again and study for that. If you get it to a 30+, then you’ll have more scholarship options.</p>
<p>Study the English section since that’s what’s bringing your composite down. Also practice the other sections because a point or two increase there will also help.</p>
<p>The key to getting a better Writing score is:</p>
<p>Write a LOT. shorter essays get lower scores. Be sure to stay in the same tense and don’t switch from First Person to Second Person.</p>
<p>Try to include a Literary reference. My kids seemed to find a way to include a literary reference to Animal Farm or some other book in many of their standardized testing essays. </p>
<p>Since you live in Texas, be sure to apply to some Texas publics (UT and TAMU), including some of the lower ranked schools…like UT-Dallas and some others. </p>
<p>Be sure to fill out the Texas scholarship, and the Texas version of FAFSA. Submit FAFSA early!</p>
<p>If you get your ACT to 30+, you’ll have more options. </p>
<p>What is your rank? It sounds like you’re an auto-admit to UT. UT has pretty good aid for instate low income students.</p>
<p>Absolutely include your work, including the number of hours worked. That says a lot about you in very good ways. </p>
<p>Have you considered applying to college through Questbridge? It is a free, national program that works with high-achieving high school seniors from low-income families. Students who are matched (to colleges) through Questbridge get full four-year scholarships. They also have support programs and workshops. The application deadline is September 28th this year, so you’d need to apply soon, but it could be very worth your while.
[National</a> College Match Overview](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/for-students/ncm-national-college-match]National”>QuestBridge | National College Match)</p>
<p>Also, please ask your high school counselor about getting college fee waivers that you can use instead of paying application fees. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>In general, if you parents’ income is less than $23,000, your EFC would be 0 and you would get the max Pell grant.
I don’t think your income would imact your EFC at all.</p>
<p>See the Resources sticky thread at the top of the Hispanic Students forum (under College Admissions, Specialty Topics) for information about scholarships, college fly-ins, etc.</p>