<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I am currently a freshman in college but I am having a hard time finding scholarships. I didn't win any scholarships in high school because I wasn't involved in extracurricular school activities (I only volunteered at the animal shelter because I loved animals and apparently many scholarship reviewers were not impressed with that) and I wasn't a "outstanding student" (high school GPA was a 3.4 and SAT score was 960 reading and math combined).
Now, I finished my first semester and I have really great grades in college (my GPA is a 3.9 unweighted) because I like college better than high school.</p>
<p>However, when I look for scholarships, I find that most want applicants who are high school seniors or are majoring in business or science (my major is Art Studio with a concentration in graphic design). I have applied for about 15 different scholarships and I haven't received anything yet... and its starting to get discouraging. It seems the requirements are very obscure (you must be from "so and so" part of the country, with "so and so" major and be attending "so and so" high school)</p>
<p>My EFC is zero and I am an "underrepresented minority" (I am African American) and my family has a very low income. However, I cannot win any scholarships.</p>
<p>Has anyone had any luck on here applying for private scholarships? Are there any tips for students who need scholarship but are already enrolled in college?</p>
<p>There are not that many for those in college. You can look at FASTWEB and indicate that you are not a freshman and see what it turns up.</p>
<p>My experience has been that your best bet is looking at the departments at your school and see if they have awards and grants for upper classmen. My son just got one at his school. That was why he declared his major in that department. He felt he had a good chance at the award. Talk to your financial aid officers and ask what is available in the school from the departments. Your accomplishments in college are certainly such that if there are such awards, you would be in line to get them.</p>
<p>Your best bet is probably to transfer to a school that meets 100% of need.</p>
<p>What schools have good financial aid packages that I qualify for? I thought most schools don’t accept freshman transfer students. Am I incorrect?</p>
<p>Most schools will entertain applications from transfers, although they usually have a lower rate of admissions. This is especially true for Ivy Leagues, one of the few schools that offers to meet full-need to all applicants. If you could post some details such as activities, grades, and scores (from high school and college) we can see if you would be a viable transfer applicant to an Ivy League university or to a lower-tier university that might have institutional aid available for talented students.</p>
<p>I don’t think ANYONE here can tell an applicant if they are a “viable applicant” for an Ivy League school…or anywhere else. The student should look at a Naviance scattergram…or the accepted student stats for a particular college to see if they are in the ball park for admissions to that school. Keep in mind…it’s a ballpark guess. EVERY year brings different applicants to a school and different needs the school wishes to fulfill.</p>
<p>To the OP…it is likely that you didn’t get scholarships out of high school because your SAT scores and GPA scores were not competitive for scholarship awards. Your best bet now is to look into departmental scholarships within your university. Some schools have awards that are for upperclassmen and these are typically awarded to top students in a particular department. Discuss this with your advisor and the financial aid folks at your school.</p>