Probability of Scholarships

Paying for College
1

<p>Like many thousands of other seniors, I'm starting the scholarship search. By doing a little research, I've found out that I don't qualify for as many local scholarships as I had hoped (my family isn't impoverished, my parents went to college). So, I have turned to fastweb to search for other sources of scholarship. Before I start tearing through the apps recklessly, I want to get some imput from knowledgeable CCers. </p>

<p>I was thinking that I'd have a better chance to win essay based scholarships because those aren't as dependent on stats as other ones. Now I'm still an above average student (valedictorian even at my small school) and I volunteer occasionally, but there are hundreds of people that have better resumes better than me. Maybe I'm approaching it wrong. I'd rather write 10 good essays than do 50 normal apps that I have little to no chance of winning. What do you think?</p>

2

<p>That's what I've been thinking as well. (I'm not a senior yet--only a junior so don't worry--I'm not competition...)
Plus there are all these random sweepstakes like sign up for our magazine/scholarship website/etc and get entered in a sweepstakes to win 10000 dollars. Tempting but not very probable.
Sorry, this isn't a very helpful post but I have this q as well.</p>

3

<p>You're the one who knows best which scholarships best fit your profile. It's a good idea to apply for scholarships you have a better chance of winning rather than applying for a large number of scholarships just for the number. Here are a few I would take a look at:</p>

<p>2008 UNA-USA High School Essay Contest <a href="http://www.unausa.org/site/pp.asp?c=fvKRI8MPJpF&b=3376775%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.unausa.org/site/pp.asp?c=fvKRI8MPJpF&b=3376775&lt;/a>
-local competitions organized through your local UNA-USA chapter (check the website for nearest chapter)
-Deadline: postmarked by January 5, 2008 (check with local chapter for their deadline which might be different)</p>

<p>Another one to think about is the Elks Most Valuable Student Competition. Even though it's factors include financial need, that's only one small factor among many. Plus it also starts at a local level so chances are you might only be competing against five other students for the local scholarship, then you'd move on to the district level, and possibly on to the state and national level. At the national level, there are 500 scholarship winners, so you never know what your chances are until you give it a shot.</p>

<p>Bottom line: Apply for scholarships you at least have a chance at, but never underestimate your story or your opportunity for a scholarship. The only way you're guaranteed of not winning is if you don't apply.</p>

4

<p>bjs_7, tell me a little about yourself (such as race, state of residence, gpa), and I'll see what I can do.</p>

5

<p>I'm a white male from a fairly rural part of IN. I'm 1st out of 125 at a small-medium school. My GPA is 4.0, but we don't have weighted grades and 3 other people share my ranking. I have taken the hardest classes offered though (AP Chem and AP Cal). My SAT is Math: 710, CR: 640, Writing: 690 ==> 2090. I was hoping for better results after studying before my second time, but no such luck. ACT perhaps?</p>

<p>Pretty normal ECs. Student Council, Key Club, NHS, Math & Social Studies Academic Teams, Golf (I'm not good though), I'm sure I'm forgetting others... - I have worked around 15 hours a week for the last 14 months though (about 35 in the summer when you add my second job), so maybe things that consider work experience would be good.</p>

<p>My main concern is that I won't stand out due to my racial lacking, financial lacking (not rich, just not poor either), and the fact that 3 out of 4 of my parents (remarried) have graduated from college and the other one is currently attending. I am a triple legacy - haha - at Purdue, and that's definitely where I'll go if they offer me a little merit money. Is there any good way to help a school know that you're really depending on their merit aid (without sounding like an idiot or a brat)? I could go to a more "prestigious" place more than likely if I really wanted to... </p>

<p>To make matters worse, my county (along with every other county in the state) offers 2 full rides sponsored by Eli Lilly to any college in the state. My friend won last year, and I'm very happy for him; however, when it comes right down to it, I have better stats than him. The only deciding factor is that you have to be a first generation college student. His family has more money than mine due to his dad's business; that's just not fair in my opinion. A study done a couple of years ago showed that a college educated person in my county made an average of $57,200 per year, while a high school education would get you an average of $56,900 (due to our incredibly strong industry in RVs). This does not seem right; life's not fair I guess. Sorry, I had to vent though. grrrrrrr</p>

<p>Thanks for the help!</p>

<p>And to Proud Husky, I just downloaded the Elks app, so thank you. I think I have a decent chance of winning my district or whatever the first tier is.</p>

6

<p>whoops my SAT is 2040, not 2090, I guess you could add if push came to shove :)</p>

7

<p>Even if you are one of many valedictorians you may still get a scholarship from your school or school district. Also a lot of scholarships are based on leadership and grades. If you know what you would like to major in in college let people know and and go for scholarships in that area. Don't get discouraged because a lot of surprise scholarships turn up at the end of the year that teachers recommend you for without your knowledge.</p>

8

<p><a href="http://www.delts.org/About/Scholarship/committed.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.delts.org/About/Scholarship/committed.htm&lt;/a>
<a href="http://franktfairfoundation.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://franktfairfoundation.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Also, have you looked into the Robert C Byrd program. They have one in every state.</p>

9

<p><a href="http://www.prosserhallock.com/students/tekie%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.prosserhallock.com/students/tekie&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.beccascloset.org/scholarship.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.beccascloset.org/scholarship.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

10

<p>I have more, and I'll send them to you later.</p>

<p>Btw, do you have financial need. Because if you, then what about the Horatio Alger scholarship. I won that scholarship in high school, and I didn't have a 4.0 like you did. So, you surely have a good chance,.</p>

11

<p>My EFC is going to end up being pretty high probably because my parents have saved a good deal of money. It stinks that we get punished for exercising financial control.</p>

12

<p>Do you have grandparents? It's perfectly legal to put the money in your grandparent's name. That way, your efc doesn't decrease.</p>

13

<p>umm, I do, but I really doubt we'd go that route.</p>

14

<p>I don't know exactly what you're looking for in a school or how "prestigious" are your needs, but I get the impression that you're from Indiana. My daughter has two friends who were very good students (top 20 out of 350) at her high school last year and they received very nice scholarships from Tri-State University in Angola - about $17,000 each. It's quite small, but has a couple of nice standout programs depending what you are looking for...</p>

15

<p>your counselor should tell you about the local scholarships available in your area.</p>