<p>Yes, in his thank-you note, he can ask when he will get the money. Sometimes organizations wait until the student has literally started college just in case the student changes their mind about going, which has been known to happen.</p>
<p>Actually parts of the award ceremony at our high school last year were very touching. Relatives of students who tragically died gave out some of the scholarship awards in their deceased child’s name. The grantors of these scholarship wanted to see that their child’s memory was being honored and wanted to meet the recipients of these scholarships. The same for awards set up in honor of past faculty members. It would have been wrong to not show in person to recieve these awards and acknowlege the benefactors.</p>
<p>D won a scholarship in honor of the boy gun-downed in Kent State (captured in that famous photo) who was a resident of our town. For years, since the tragedy, family members or friends of the family have returned to our high school to honor him. And each year, they tell the story of what happened to him. D was truly touched to receive such an award and was happy she had the opportunity to meet his family.</p>
<p>P.S.–D did write thank you’s last year. I do not expect to be hearing from them for re-newed scholarships. That would be a very pleasant surprise indeed.</p>
<p>Hey- there are juniors and seniors who fly under the radar at school, but who are active and/or accomplished at a national level in their sport or hobby or other activity. Once in a while they will win a scholarship or award (or college acceptance) over the school’s known star.</p>
<p>Yes, we had memorial scholarships at the senior awards night last week, too. They were touching…one in particular was for a boy who wasn’t a star student or star anything, but had graduated from the high school and then lost his life while recklessly driving. It happened a few years ago. His best friend also got up to speak during this scholarshp presentation. I nudged s, who was sitting next to me, because I wanted him to hear the message loud and clear. </p>
<p>These families have lost their loved ones. How giving of them to raise money to give a scholarship to a graduating senior.</p>
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<p>With all due congratulations and respect to your D (she sounds terrific), one reason some of the other students you mentioned might not have applied is that the were not “loved by the administration”. A lot of great kids/top students do not have the confidence that comes with knowing that the top people in the school will likely acknowledge their accomplishments. They figure they won’t get picked anyway (often times they are correct), so they don’t bother.</p>
<p>I have my own scholarship saga, but it’s on another thread and I don’t care to go over it again.</p>
<p>At our school’s awards night, dollar values are not announced and only school/local awards are given. Aside from the school specific state scholarships (ie. lottery), you really don’t know how much is being given to each student. I think that’s a better method than going on about all the outside scholarships each kid received. Can’t imagine how long that would take…ours was 2.5 hours as it was!</p>
<p>My D did not want to apply to many locals as she’d been accepted to a college with a great FA package and knew many of her classmates had not received alot of awards. So she applied and won only one local and encouraged her friends to apply for the others. This apparently was noticed by one of the teachers as, the day after awards, he nominated her for the Red Cross Scholarship which the school is eligible for and she is now the only nominee. Sometimes it pays not to gobble, I guess!</p>
<p>Finding scholarships is time-consuming and, as previously noted, the applications are beyond tedious (or was it painful). The student should be commended for grinding out the applications.</p>
<p>Applying to lesser-known, niche scholarships can yield impressive results. Since niche scholarships have both small numbers of eligible candidates and limited exposure, applicant pools can be quite small. Industrious early birds can get many worms.</p>
<p>Fastweb.com maintains a current database of thousands of general and niche scholarships and automates the scholarship search process. Fastweb’s filtering system considers scores of candidate attributes ranging from ethnicity to skateboarding status (e.g.,[Patrick Kerr Skateboard Scholarship](<a href=“http://www.skateboardscholarship.org/”>http://www.skateboardscholarship.org/</a>)).</p>
<p>Fall Girl…
There were plenty of other kids who were loved by administration. D happened to have an exceptional grade and I can list at least 10 of her close friends who should have applied and did not. Confidence had nothing to do it. Many had higher grades and EC’s just as strong. They were just unmotivated the weekend before the applications/essays were due and didn’t bother. And their parents were clueless about any of the scholarships. Some of her friends were awarded small scholarships that did not require any application (just teacher or guidance recommendations.) But the bigger scholarships (awarding $1,000 to $5,000 each) required essays and work. D’s friends had even made fun (good naturedly) of D for having to stay home that weekend to do the work because of her “mean” parents. But in the end D thanked me for making sure she did it. (She calculated that she earned over $1,000/ hour that weekend.) D’s friends were upset with themselves and their parents even more so.</p>
<p>ps–I hate what “scholarship gobbling” implies. It sounds greedy. The truth is that we were sending D to a private school without financial aid. And regardless of what our EFC said, that $12,500 helped and also made D feel like she had contributed personally towards the cost of her education. She probably applied to a dozen scholarships through the guidance department’s packet–so everyone in the school had equal access–and in the end was awarded 5 or 6 scholarships. If everyone had applied who was equally as qualified, she may have earned 2 or 3 max. She was fair with her friends and
and told them about the deadline and that she was applying, but never having bothered to read the packet, her friends did not truly understand the cash value of many of the awards, even though they were listed.</p>
<p>Well, it’s certainly interesting to come back and see 5 pages of comments on my original post! Let me clarify a few things. Our school has very diverse population of many socio-economic groups–the parents of the majority of students wouldn’t have a clue about scholarships. The Guidance department does have a website that has links to scholarship search sites, but does not provide packets and is not otherwise proactive–each counselor has a huge caseload, and, frankly, some of them are terrible at their jobs. I’m convinced that there were many seniors who badly needed scholarships and had a good chance at winning them, but neither they nor their parents were savvy enough to go after them. And a lot of these kids hold down after-school jobs and would be hard pressed to find the time to complete the lengthy applications or, since they are dependent on public transportation, travel to interviews. Frankly, if you’re an educated, upper middle class CC parent whose kid attends a nice suburban high school, you just won’t get it. </p>
<p>As for the boy in question, we know the family. He is quiet and laid back, and I assure you that his scholarship efforts were entirely engineered by the parents, with the help of the consultant, and that he had no choice but to comply. My gut tells me the consultant and parents did most of the application work–I don’t think the boy could have handled it all. This is not a case where a teen, concerned that he not burden his parents, elected to devote himself to a scholarship hunt at the expense of his leisure time. The fact that many scholarships go begging just shows that they can be snagged via an aggressive campaign initiated by sophisticated parents. (Note that I pointed out the boy’s ethnicity only to explain how he might have qualified for so many awards.)</p>
<p>So, bottom line, I’m not envious of the boy’s scholarship success, but I am discouraged, as always, by a system that allows the rich and powerful to so often win all the marbles, and I do feel there are some ethical issues to wrestle with here with respect to the parents. The situation reminds me of the one-day prom dress sale at our school, which is intended to enable girls to attend the prom even if they can’t afford to buy a gown. All the gowns are $25. Students donate gently used dresses, and a few local retailers donate brand new ones. Last year D can home grinning from ear to ear because she had snagged a brand new, $350 gown. I was furious. We can afford to buy her a dress, and she had kept it out of the hands of someone who really needed it. She was greedy. I wouldn’t expect her to discard a dress that appeared on our doorstep, but she shouldn’t have sought one out. The boy’s parents were also greedy. I wouldn’t expect them to turn down a scholarship that a college granted of its own accord in order to entice their child to attend. But given their affluence, I have a problem with their consultant-led scholarship campaign that resulted in a free education for their only child.</p>
<p>And now I’m thinking that I should put my money where my mouth is and talk to the Guidance department about a parent-led effort to raise needy students’ consciousness about scholarships.</p>
<p>As for the awards ceremony, it was two and a half hours long and deadly boring. People kept sneaking out to the lobby where refreshments were laid out for a post-ceremony reception, so by the time the presentations were over, and the reception was to begin, not a morsel was left!</p>
<p>uskoolfish, I agree and would not say that anyone was a “gobbler” unless they were seeking out awards when they already have their full costs met. Even then, I guess it’s a matter of personal choice. I am happy when full scholarship (or close to it) kids decline scholarships and/or withdraw their apps knowing that someone else who needs the money has applied.</p>
<p>MommaJ, I can’t believe parents would get up and wander about during the program unless they’d brought small children with them! And to consume all the refreshments too? I guess there really are some “gobblers” in your area, lol!</p>
<p>I think your thought on helping needy kids with scholarship searches is a good one if you can get a few parents to help (how about gobbler-boy’s?). Few guidance offices address financial aid at all, other than handing out the local packets and maybe a handout about FAFSA and a few websites, and so many parents don’t take the time to help research and plan. Our HS has a fair number of low income kids but had no idea how to do fee waivers for AP exams and college apps. They also don’t tell the kids that they can take classes at our local CC for free while they’re in HS (I actually found that out by looking at the CC’s website, but too late for D). They do have a separate college/career center but not sure what that guy does! I think one-on-one or small group help would be beneficial for almost any kid who wants it.</p>
<p>And now I’m thinking that I should put my money where my mouth is and talk to the Guidance department about a parent-led effort to raise needy students’ consciousness about scholarships.</p>
<p>Now there’s something OP says I agree with. Rather than complaining about the system after the fact when, as has been pointed out, the information is available readily to anyone, I applaud OP for seeing that s/he can make a difference. </p>
<p>Two years ago we hired a college counselor for S. Few other kids in S’s class do so, though some, not all, could afford to do so. The main benefit of the counselor was to give S someone with whom he could talk freely other than us (a worthwhile benefit). Through S’s experience I acquired a lot of knowledge about colleges. So I got together with S’s college counselor, who does a lot of volunteer work for those who can’t afford his rates, to see if we could coordinate a parent volunteer group to augment the overworked guidance office in assisting students in evaluating colleges, applying to them, and - yes - to identify scholarship opportunities. </p>
<p>I would like to say we are off to a flying success. We are not. The guidance folks, well-meaning and overworked as they are, have been resistant to much of any outside help or assistance. But we are trying and are still hopeful. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, we too explored lots of outside scholarships. The restrictions on many (most?) are huge. Beyond need, there are often affinity requirements based on race, employment, geography, religion, and many others. Then you factor in the repetitive nature of the application requirements. Anyone who goes through all of these to accumulate 12 or more obviously both (a) meets lots of the donors’ affinity requirements and (b) did, or had done for him, a lot of tedious work. Not easy. </p>
<p>Finally, for those who have been able to accumulate $thousands in outside scholarships from your local area, you are fortunate. It would be impossible to acquire such sums in our area, where the typical local scholarships are in the $100 to $250 range.</p>
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Would parents volunteer to do this the same year that their own children are applying to colleges? Would that be proper? Who would provide oversight to this group?</p>
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<p>This sounds like an excellent idea!</p>
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<p>I just don’t see a prom dress as analogous to a college education here. If a previously well-off girl’s parents lose their jobs, or have catastrophic medical expenses that aren’t covered under their insurance, or have most of their property destroyed by a tornado, or some similar thing, two years down the road, it won’t affect the high school prom that she already had. But it could very well eviscerate her parents’ ability to pay her college tuition.</p>
<p>I do understand the point you are trying to make, I just think that looking at it from the point of view of “They are greedy and taking things they don’t need” is the wrong way to look at it. I think that your accompanying attitude of “Needy students should be educated about these opportunities too, and be able to access assistance in getting them,” is absolutely right, though.</p>
<p>“And now I’m thinking that I should put my money where my mouth is and talk to the Guidance department about a parent-led effort to raise needy students’ consciousness about scholarships.”</p>
<p>I did that at son’s school, offering a couple of free workshops about how to get scholarships. The workshops were well publicized, open to parents and students, and were offered in the evening. Who came were the usual ones who were active in PTO: the middle and upper class parents and kids. </p>
<p>I’ve been in national and local scholarship committees. Even in poor cities like Detroit, the main applicants would be well off students.</p>
<p>I’m convinced that most poor students would only apply for scholarships if the winners were chosen by lottery. For some reason, poor students seem to count themselves out on other types of scholarships.</p>
<p>Also, it’s not as if info about accessing scholarships is a secret. Anyone who has access to the Internet (and poor kids do have access through their school libraries) can find sites like CC that tell how to get scholarships. Of course, they also can simply stop by their GC’s office. At S’s high school, on the window of the GC’s office, it said that there was scholarship info inside. Inside, there were books about how to apply, and there was a packet of info about local scholarships.</p>
<p>My son is in the same boat. He was so tired from all the hard work he put into getting great grades and sats that he just could not write another essay for scholarships. We ended up applying to only four outside scholarships - he rec’d none. We only have senior awards night left - possibly he will get something then. But I have no issue with anyone getting a scholarship they applied for.</p>
<p>This is an interesting thread…
If an admitted student receives FA - is it not true that most ‘Merit Scholarship’ and/or ‘Outside Scholarship’ $$ are just taken off the FA package offered??
Momma3 - Yes, yes…
" And a lot of these kids hold down after-school jobs and would be hard pressed to find the time to complete the lengthy applications or, since they are dependent on public transportation, travel to interviews."</p>
<p>It depends on the institution as to what happens with the finaid when outside scholarships come in. With my older son (now out of college), the outside scholarships were subtracted from his finaid grant.</p>
<p>We heard from several places with this next son (graduating high school senior) that they take the outside scholarships off the loans first and then work study.</p>
<p>“If an admitted student receives FA - is it not true that most ‘Merit Scholarship’ and/or ‘Outside Scholarship’ $$ are just taken off the FA package offered??
Momma3 - Yes, yes…”</p>
<p>It depends on the school and whether the financial aid is meeting 100% of the students’ demonstrated financial need. Some schools subtract scholarships from the loans and work study in the students’ package. Most colleges in the country aren’t able to meet 100% of students’ demonstrate financial need, so it’s likely that students earning extra scholarships won’t have the scholarships subtracted from their financial aid packages.</p>
<p>" And a lot of these kids hold down after-school jobs and would be hard pressed to find the time to complete the lengthy applications or, since they are dependent on public transportation, travel to interviews."</p>
<p>That’s bogus reasoning because the students whom I’ve seen apply to the most scholarships often have the heaviest EC and course schedules. Still, they squeeze in time to fill out scholarship applications.</p>
<p>A low income student who is serious about finding scholarship money can find the time to apply. The problem is that many simply aren’t motivated to do so. They manage to find means for prom attire and things like that, but somehow won’t invest in themselves by applying for scholarships.</p>
<p>I’ve seen this phenomenon over and over. For example, when I taught at a public university with a high number of students on Pell Grants, our department offered a $1,000 scholarship that one could apply for simply by being a major who submitted a letter requesting consideration for the scholarship and saying why one wanted it. Info about this was posted all over the department’s building. Announcements were made in class. For the 2 years that I tracked the scholarship, just one student applied for it.</p>
<p>Let me tell you, this thread sent me straight to fastweb!</p>