<p>Does anyone know if community service is important for receiving financial aid? I am a senior, and my parents say that I need to start doing community service now or I won't get as much financial aid. I am not objecting to doing this work, but they continue going on and on no matter how many times I say I'll do it. I currently hold a 4.0 GPA and have had photos and articles published in magazines since photography and writing are hobbies of mine. Would volunteering at a homeless shelter be as crucial to getting a scholarship as my parents say it will be?</p>
<p>Need based financial aid is based on need. Are you going to be eligible for need based aid? Has your family completed the FAFSA forecaster? [url=<a href=“http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf]FAFSA4caster”>http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf]FAFSA4caster</a> - Federal Student Aid<a href=“Note:%20the%20forecaster%20EFC%20is%20an%20index%20for%20what%20federal%20aid%20you%20are%20eligible%20for.%20It%20is%20not%20a%20guarantee%20for%20what%20you%20will%20have%20to%20pay.%20Most%20families%20end%20up%20paying%20more.”>/url</a> </p>
<p>Merit aid/ scholarships can be given for any combination of achievement in academics/ sports/ hobbies/ leadership/ community service, etc.</p>
<p>it really depends on the scholarship. My daughter did a ton of community service. The scholarship she got at her school was purely academic, based on ACT and GPA. Her school has a scholarship that is based on stuff like community service but is much much smaller than the academic one she got. We hoped she she might be in the running for that as well but she did not get it. So in her case her community service did not translate into any merit money at all (fortunately it was all stuff she did for the love of it and not thinking about scholarships, she still does similar stuff as a senior in college). </p>
<p>I am sure there are cases and certain scholarships where it might give a student an edge.</p>
<p>There isn’t a direct question on the FAFSA that says “how much of a mensch are you?” (you can print off a FAFSA by going to their website so you can see all the questions asked)</p>
<p>That said, however, some time helping out at the homeless shelter might do a ton towards the following:
instilling a realization of how hard economic times are – and how LUCKY you are to have college in your future
instill a sense of balance in your life (college application season is so nuts – one can loose touch with the rest of the world
gain some respect for you from your parents
gain some inner resolve to obtain pragmatic living skills so you don’t ever end up on the streets
gain some insights that life sometimes hands decent, smart people a “perler” and good people can end up in some desperate places.
gain knowledge about mental health problems – which may be immensely helpful if you or a friend or family member ever starts to struggle. </p>
<p>All of these help you to grow in maturity, balance and resourcefulness. </p>
<p>Re reading your original post, your tone comes across a bit flippant and irked. So, if I am the reader of a stack of files for merit scholarships (and I have done that) , I would pause longer on the candidate described as “mature, balanced and resourceful” than on one who was a “nice photographer.” </p>
<p>Keep in mind that “Financial aid” is an umbrella term for grants, scholarships and loans. A college will help you find lots and lots of LOANS. What you want are grants or scholarships – and there your parents are correct. Acts of service make a difference.</p>
<p>I think your parents are hoping you can win some private scholarships. My impression has been that most (but not all) private scholarships emphasize both a need component and a community service component – especially the smaller, local scholarships that go to a lot of graduating seniors in a given community. I think that’s simply because these scholarships are usually awarded by religious or service organizations – so of course they want to honor someone who has contributed to the community. </p>
<p>That being said – it’s kind of late to be starting. No service organization is going to be fooled by a kid who starts volunteering in October of senior year – if community service is important, they are going to be looking at each applicants’ history over the past several years. So you would probably be better off looking for the type of scholarships that are essentially essay contests, since you are a talented writer. Your individual chances of getting an award are probably better there.</p>
<p>I do want to mention that even though it might be too late to rack up much of a community service record for next year – there are awards available down the line as well. My son won a scholarship his senior year in college based on community service done during his college years – so there is always a chance that you may be recognized in some way for your contribution.</p>
<p>But I don’t think anyone should really be doing community service with the expectation that you will get a scholarship. These are, for the most part, very small scholarships-- and if you are doing it for the money… well, you’d probably be better off financially to skip the volunteer work and spend those hours working at a paying job.</p>
<p>Financial aid is based on income and assets. Community service is not considered. Sometimes stats are considered at schools that don’t meet need and will give more aid to a high stats student as an incentive for the student to choose their school.</p>
<p>Merit scholarships are based on academic achievement. Sometimes, for very competitive merit scholarships, community service is considered to determine which high stats students should get the limited number of scholarships. However, for a lot of merit scholarships, community service is NOT considered. Oftentimes only academic achievement is considered.</p>
<p>Private scholarships may strongly consider community service, but those scholarships are often small and only for one year. If your parents are wanting you to get a lot of scholarships to help pay for college, then getting private ones is not the way to go.</p>
<p>However, starting community service as a senior is about 2-3 years too late. Any scholarship that is going to consider community service will expect to see that you’ve been doing that service for a LONG time. </p>
<p>Financial aid is determined thru the Financial Aid office after you’ve submitted your income and assets info.</p>
<p>Scholarships are determined by the Scholarship dept. </p>
<p>What is your situation?</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>How much will your parents contribute towards your education each year?</p>
<p>If you need scholarships, you need to apply to the schools that will give them for your stats.</p>