<p>So my family has a bunch of financial problems .. and the burden of paying for college would be greatly reduced obviously if we can find some other outside sources to help pay ... I have applied for a number of outside scholarships so I am still waiting to hear back but I also have another question ...</p>
<p>I've heard many times students writing letters to organizations such as VFW etc. describing the details of their financial situation and how they have gotten some money from these organizations. Do any of you know any others that I can possibly write letters to and ask them for contributions? I worked real hard freshman year and finished with an overall GPA of 3.88 and am just trying to help my parents out</p>
<p>I have, I’m in the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and those departmental scholarships were due during the semester</p>
<p>God Bless you for your caring efforts. Alas, many scholarships are hard to get – particularly if you are using something like Fastweb. From what I can tell, many end up going to home schooled kids (who have the time to do dazzling essays) or to the uber super achievers (4.0 GPA plus athlete, etc). </p>
<p>So, really, really tailor your search. If you live in the subdivision of “Wildwood” look and see if there is a Wildwood Rotary club that gives a scholarship to Wildwood students. Contact your high school and ask the counselor if there is anything she/he suggests. </p>
<p>List out the things that you “are”. If you are a left handed Lithuanian oboe player who enjoys Celtic Cabor tossing, then look under each of those topics. Look for ethnic root scholarships and political scholarships (for instance, if you family are Dems, check and see if the County Democrats have a scholarship). Right there you are narrowing the competition pool. The Whatcom County Democrats are ONLY going to give scholarship money to 1) kids from Whatcom County and 2) kids of Democrats. You are no longer competing against 1 million US applicants. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, as good as scholarships are methods of trimming costs. Can you rent a “triple” in your dorm instead of a double? Eat a cheaper meal plan? Test out of a course? Take some summer school classes at the local CC and transfer the credits?</p>
<p>Too many kids (and parents) hope for Big Dollars from scholarships. From what I have seen, the vast majority of scholarships are in the $500 to $2000 range. That helps but please don’t think a few crying words on your best stationery is going to bring in buckets of dough. Not in this economy . . .sorry. </p>
<p>I hope you will take an eagle eye to everything in your life and your parents life. Can you down size the number of vehicles? Can you trim the number of TV channels? </p>
<p>Suze Orman writes a ton of great stuff – including a book titled something like “advice for the young, fabulous and broke”. Cutting your costs may help as much or more than elusive scholarships. </p>