<p>Cappex, Fastweb - we get emails for scholarships that apply only to kids going to Timbuktu, or majoring in thatch roof construction, or kids of another race or gender or.. It all adds up to these sites just spamming us with lots of useless scholarship information. To add insult to injury you have to click into the scholarships and read in paragraph form before you find out 2/3 of the way down this applies to you not at all. I'd like to put in the kiddo's gender, race, intended major, college start date and colleges to be applied-to..and a comprehensive sortable list is automagically generated. </p>
<p>If you are looking for private scholarships to help fund four years of college, you’re not likely going to find that on any websites or fast web or anything like that. Most private entities have no intention of funding four years of education for essentially strangers. Your child’s GC at his school can point you to some local scholarships for one year awards. </p>
<p>If you need merit scholarships to help fund four years of education, you need to look at the schools that award such merit scholarships.</p>
<p>The ones that you’re looking for may provide $1000 for one year and that may be nice to pay for books for one year, but it’s not going to help you find four years of college. </p>
<p>Again, there really are not a bunch of private entities out there that are handing out large sums of money for four years of college. There are a few exceptions, targeted towards low income students or minority students, but the run-of-the-mill strong student with no hook is not likely going to get selected.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids is spot on. You need colleges that grant large merit awards, not to waste a huge amount of time of Fastweb.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Thank you. While more scholarship dollars are always better than less - I’m more miffed with the search engines and their lack of specificity. And I can’t tell what’s a real scholarship opportunity and what’s the equivalent of sending in a cereal box top to see if you won a scholarship. The web sites likely make money off of providing data to other entities while promising to give you a search engine and real opportunities to offset college expenses. I don’t want kiddo to waste time penning 500 words for frivolous corporate click bait.</p>
<p>You’re better off checking with the guidance office to see what local/regional scholarships are available. Also check to see if your state has a web site for college applicants. </p>
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<p>@patertrium </p>
<p>I completely agree. That’s why I think those sites are a total waste. If you’re just looking for a random $1k for frosh-year-only to make a tiny dent into college costs, then have your child ask your GC for scholarship sources. Sometimes, GC’s have links on their websites. </p>