<p>Hi, its interesting that I keep hearing there is lots of so-called 'free money' that goes unclaimed every year from scholarships, but I don't really hear of anyone being successful in obtaining this. My DD has applied for several; large and small, but she hasn't had any luck yet. Does anyone have any advice or strategies to share? She is trying to supplement the self-help portion of her Financial Aid. In other words, avoid taking out loans. Any advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of anyone obtaining those. it looks like, from my experience, that the only real scholarships are given by schools. there are a couple here like the McDonald’s one that are basically like lottery tickets but they’re not really “unclaimed”. hopefully someone here will be able to help more than i did!</p>
<p>My daughter applied for a lot of different scholarships, local, regional and national. She won two local scholarships, one national scholarship and was a finalist for two other local scholarships. The main problem she had was that most of local and regional scholarships had to be used in our state and she is going out of state. Also, many of the scholarship foundations first screen for financial need and then match recipients. My daughter’s need was low because of our EFC and an athletic scholarship. We are so very grateful for the scholarships she received!</p>
<p>Congrats to fishymom’s D! Especially on that national scship, don’t hear about that very often.</p>
<p>D1 received 2 local scholarships, waiting to hear from one more and was a finalist in 2 others. They were based on academic performance, future plans, letters of rec and with at least two financial need was a factor also. We are also very grateful, and encouraging her to keep applying for any she might qualify for every year in college, not to mention any more she can find out about the next few months. Her college gave us the amount she could bring in with scholarships before it would affect the FA package, definitely not there yet :)</p>
<p>For those who posted so far with success stories, that is encouraging! I guess getting at least one win gets the momentum going and prompts you to look for me it seems. How much time on average do you and your children spend looking and applying?</p>
<p>I think it really helps if you apply to scholarships that are more specific: for example, by nationality, religion, parents’ profession, etc. i’ve won a couple of those but none that are open to all.</p>
<p>Sent from my PC36100 using CC App</p>
<p>Beyond a school’s own scholarships, the return on local scholarships is next best. However, in terms of a cost:benefit analysis, working more hours or taking on a second job may be more remunerative for your student.</p>
<p>I agree that the best odds are on local scholarships, so it depends on where you live and what’s available. My daughter has been very fortunate. I moonlighted for a grocery chain during her last two years of high school, and she won a very competitive scholarship from them ($1750/year for four years). She has had a scholarship from a local community foundation for the past two years and has it again for next year - that’s for students preparing for medical careers and requires essays and references every year; it asks for complete financial disclosure, but she’s getting $2,500 for next year even though they know she gets the other scholarship and an 80% tuition discount. She has also applied for and received a scholarship for the last three years from a local church that all students in our region of the denomination can apply for - no word on that one yet as the deadline for applications just past (was $2K the last three years but amounts vary depending on how much the committee likes the essay on weird topics). And she has a federal grant for $22,000 for each of the next two years - thank you to all who voted for President Obama, since it came through Obamacare.</p>
<p>It can be a lot of work, but every thousand dollars helps! When she calls me complaining about deadlines and having to ask for letters, I tell her to look at her loan statements.</p>
<p>My S has applied for several, some national and some local. He hasn’t heard back from any of the local ones yet – we have high hopes that he may win something there but they’re very small and non-renewable in any case. I’m not sure when the notification dates are for all the national ones, but so far no luck on any of the ones that have been announced already. My S is a white male whose parents are college educated, so we didn’t find many that he would be eligible for. (Our state publishes a booklet of state-level scholarships, and the ONLY one my son was eligible for was the Byrd scholarship, which has been de-funded.)</p>
<p>My DD applied to a total of 60 outside scholarships and have a few more lined up in case she doesn’t get any local ones tomorrow night at graduation.</p>
<p>This is what she got from the 60:</p>
<p>Sam Walton = 3000
APIASF/Coca Cola = 2500
Ronald McDonald House = 1,000
SC State Elks Association = 1,000</p>
<p>She was a Semi-Finalist for KFC but didn’t get it</p>
<p>28 are still pending
27 rejections or never heard from but know she did not win</p>
<p>Take Care,
Lisa</p>
<p>My daughter was notified yesterday that she won another local scholarship. And received notice from a regional foundation that their decisions will be out soon. Several others that she applied for have not announced winners yet. So, don’t give up hope. Your daughter may still get some of that “free money” we all hear about!</p>
<p>I think most of the free money that goes unclaimed that you hear about is for very specific scholarships. For example parents must work for specific companies, you must live in a certain county etc or even a combinations of rare factors.</p>