<p>How can I find a service that will find scholarships, grants, etc. for me? I'm not talking about a free search engine. I'm talking about an expert I pay to do the work for me. I figure they can find money that you and I can't.</p>
<p>There aren’t secret sources of financial aid. It would be a waste of your money to pay someone.</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay each year? If you don’t know, ask…</p>
<p>What is your likely EFC? </p>
<p>If you don’t know…Quick EFC
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | QuickEFC](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Quick EFC - Finaid)</p>
<p>There are, however, a lot of sources people don’t know about. GC at DS school was just telling the senior parents about one kid who was basically the only one who applied for a number of small scholarships around town and won them because there was no competition. They start to add up, even if it’s only $500 here and there.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Yes, but usually if you just ask your GC about these local scholarships (which are often one time only for one year), your GC will tell you about them for FREE.</p>
<p>Also, many GCs lists them on their websites…so check your high school GC’s website and also check the websites of GCs at nearby high schools.</p>
<p>make sure you fill out FFASA nad CAS</p>
<p>The best scholarships are offered by colleges.</p>
<p>If your GC are like the ones in my hometown, they have very little time to actually help students in that way. They do more paperwork than anything else, so I would assume that there might be a need for a pay service. Also, finding for scholarships can be a really time consuming endeavor that some people would be willing to pay for.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>I think the return on investment would be small.</p>
<p>For instance, if someone gave me their stats, I could come up with several possible scholarships for them…some private and some college-based. If they all totaled $500,000, how much would I charge the student? The student can only accept the offers from one school and may not even get awarded ANY of the private scholarships. </p>
<p>So, if I find $500k in scholarship opportunities for one student, but the student accepts a school’s offer worth $60k, what would I get paid? a percentage of the $60k or a percentage of the $500k? </p>
<p>That’s why I don’t think it would work.</p>
<p>beolein…what are your stats? I probably could find you some for free if you have good stats. LOL</p>
<p>You’ve got the best chances of getting scholarships from colleges offering need-based aid (if you qualify for that) or merit aid for students like you. It’s a waste of money to pay for a service to find this info. It’s readily available on the Internet.</p>
<p>Your GC is the best source of info about local scholarships, but most local scholarships are very small.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies. However, no one has really answered the question. The closest is to consult your guidance counselor. As mspackmom says, they aren’t the best source. And mom2collegekids, thanks for the offer! I might take you up on it if you can give me the information on the money provided to college students whose middle toe is longer than their big toe. Really. That exists. And since it can’t be found easily via conventional means, it would be worth it to me to pay an expert to find it and other money.</p>
<p>Beolein…</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>What is your stats? (include SAT breakdown and weighted GPA)</p>
<p>How much will your parents contribute every year.</p>
<p>What kind of campus do you want? large, small, quiet, spirited, rural, city, ???</p>
<p>With that info, we can give you some suggestions</p>
<p>If you really want an answer to your question, do an internet search for college financial aid advisors in your metropolitan area. I agree that you can do this yourself for free, but if you really want to pay someone to do it for you, you will be able to find someone in your area. Ask your guidance counselor, the town librarian, or even check to see if your town’s community education service has a connection to a for-hire college counselor. Another resource would be to ask your local test-prep service for a referral.</p>
<p>I think if you check the high school websites of the high schools in your county (the better high schools), go to the college guidance counseling sections, look for links for scholarship opportunities.</p>
<p>However, these are often small and ONLY for one year…so not the way to pay for college.</p>
<p>If you need merit scholarships to help pay for college, you need to apply to the colleges that give them for YOUR stats…that why I asked the questions in post #11</p>
<p>Thank you, kelsmom, as your wording garnered some success for me in Google, where I previously didn’t have success, prompting my question here.
Thank you, mom2collegekids, you are too generous. There are still two years to go, so I won’t bother you now.
Is everyone basically saying I can find all possible monies on my own by going to the following?
[CollegeData:</a> College Search, Financial Aid, College Application, College Scholarship, Student Loan, FAFSA Info, Common Application](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/]CollegeData:”>http://www.collegedata.com/)</p>
<p><a href="http://www./%5B/url%5D">http://www./</a></p>
<p>[Gen</a> and Kelly Tanabe Scholarship: College Scholarship](<a href=“http://www.genkellyscholarship.com/]Gen”>http://www.genkellyscholarship.com/)</p>
<p>[Apply</a> for Scholarships Awarded by ScholarshipExperts.com](<a href=“http://www.scholarshipexperts.com/apply.htx]Apply”>http://www.scholarshipexperts.com/apply.htx)</p>
<p>[moolahSPOT</a> - find college scholarships, grants, fellowships and loans](<a href=“http://www.moolahspot.com%5DmoolahSPOT”>http://www.moolahspot.com)</p>
<p>[College</a> Answer: The Planning for College Destination](<a href=“http://www.collegeanswer.com%5DCollege”>http://www.collegeanswer.com)</p>
<p>[Fastweb</a> : Scholarships, Financial Aid, Student Loans and Colleges](<a href=“http://www.fastweb.com%5DFastweb”>http://www.fastweb.com)</p>
<p>[College</a> Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.com%5DCollege”>http://www.collegeboard.com)</p>
<p>[AIE</a> - College Planning, Finance, Scholarships, Aid, Jobs, Money Management](<a href=“http://www.adventuresineducation.org%5DAIE”>http://www.adventuresineducation.org)</p>
<p>[Financial</a> Aid Scholarship Search - financial-aid - College Confidential](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/financial_aid/scholarship_search.htm]Financial”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/financial_aid/scholarship_search.htm)</p>
<p>[GAcollege411</a> - Home](<a href=“gacollege411.org - gacollege411 Resources and Information.”>http://www.gacollege411.org/)</p>
<p>[Student</a> Loans, Forgiveness | U.S. Department of Education](<a href=“http://www2.ed.gov/fund/grants-college.html]Student”>Student Loans, Forgiveness | U.S. Department of Education)</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.brokescholar.com/[/url]”>https://www.brokescholar.com/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www./%5B/url%5D">http://www./</a></p>
<p>[ScholarshipMonkey</a> Home](<a href=“http://www.scholarshipmonkey.com/]ScholarshipMonkey”>http://www.scholarshipmonkey.com/)</p>
<p>[ScholarshipExperts.com:</a> Scholarships, Free Scholarships, College Scholarships, Scholarship Search](<a href=“http://www.scholarshipexperts.com/]ScholarshipExperts.com:”>http://www.scholarshipexperts.com/)</p>
<p>[Scholarship</a> Programs - College Scholarships from Scholarship America](<a href=“http://scholarshipamerica.org/]Scholarship”>http://scholarshipamerica.org/)</p>
<p>[Financial</a> Aid Forums - Financial Aid and Student Loan Discussions](<a href=“Financial Aid Award Letter and How to Read It | Edvisors”>http://www.financialaidforum.com/)</p>
<p>[NextStudent:</a> Student Loans, Private Student Loans, College Loans](<a href=“http://www.nextstudent.com/]NextStudent:”>http://www.nextstudent.com/)</p>
<p>[College</a> Scholarship Search](<a href=“http://www.petersons.com/college-search/scholarship-search.aspx]College”>Scholarship Search Engine | Find Scholarships, Grant & Awards)</p>
<p>[FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>http://www.finaid.org/)</p>
<p>[Scholarship</a> Programs - College Scholarships from Scholarship America .](<a href=“http://scholarshipamerica.org/dollars_for_scholars.php]Scholarship”>http://scholarshipamerica.org/dollars_for_scholars.php)</p>
<p>Federal work study programs </p>
<p>Grants:
Types: Federal Pell Grant; FSEOG; TEACH Grant; The Academic Competitiveness Grant; National SMART Grant; Institutional, Private, and Employer Grants
[Student</a> Aid on the Web](<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp]Student”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp)</p>
<p>Loans:
Federal Perkins Loans
Federal Stafford Loans
Parental Loans for Undergraduate Students
State Loans</p>
<p>Ask the college itself</p>
<p>*
Is everyone basically saying I can find all possible monies on my own by going to the following?*</p>
<p>Yes and no.</p>
<p>Yes, we are saying you can find scholarships to apply to on those sites.</p>
<p>No, we are saying that you probably won’t find all the money you might need to help pay for 4 years of college because most private scholarships are SMALL and only for ONE YEAR.</p>
<p>Again…if you need a good amount of merit money for college, then you’ll need to apply to some schools that give merit for YOUR stats.</p>
<p>I think this is the last year for SMART and ACG grants, so those won’t be available.</p>
<p>Pell Grants are for those with very low EFCs (typically those with low incomes.)</p>