I received an email from my college financial aid saying I won a $550 scholarship. They asked me to write a thank you letter to the sponsor. The thing is, due to my family’s terrible financial situation, I’ve received more than enough grants to cover my tuition for this whole year (its a community college). That said, should I bother to accept the scholarship? If I don’t respond or let them know, can’t it go to someone who needs it more than I do? Thanks for replies!
At least let them know you are not accepting it and why. It would be rude to ignore it.
Yes, tell the school you do not need it. You don’t need to write to the sponsor.
Before you tell the financial aid office that you do not want the scholarship, make sure it is not replacing part of previously awarded aid. When my daughter was a senior, she received a letter informing her that she had been awarded a $1500 named scholarship from her school and similarly was asked to write a thank you letter. It turned out though, that ,because the new scholarship was to be applied toward tuition and she already had a full tuition scholarship from the school, the new scholarship replaced $1500 of the previously awarded scholarship.
Write the letter and take the award. You don’t know now when or where that $550 will come in handy, but as a former low income student who commuted to a cc I can tell you that it’s more likely that you’ll end up needing it than not.
In that case of it replacing the other one, wouldn’t it be better than in my situation to let it go? If I’d still end up with the same amount in the end, the scholarship could go to another student and I’ll have the same amt in grants already awarded to me, right?
Can it be used for books? I vote to accept it and write the thank you letter.
There must be some expenses you can use to increase the cost of attendance by a few hundred dollars/keep at least some of the $$.
Edit:
Do community colleges even do this? Check first.
Keep the money and write a heartfelt thank you letter.
If you don’t need the funds this term, there are likely to be future semesters where your aid might not be as generous or your expenses are higher than budgeted (extra lab fees, etc). Maybe there are extra school services like music lessons that you hadn’t considered before which now open up for you!
If it turns out that this scholarship replaces current funds, it may be that by taking the money from this private scholarship source it lessens the financial burden on your school’s budget. Never hurts to do everything you can to stay on the good side of the Financial Aid office.
Also, many/most private scholarships are only given to students who meet specific criteria. If you deny the award, there’s no guarantee that it will be given to someone else.
Please contact your school’s financial aid office to find the details before you refuse the scholarship.
My D received a couple scholarships that eventually offset the grant money and did not get anything out of them. Nevertheless, she can list them on her CV. In addition, you may contact the agency that give you the scholarship to see if they can defer the money for next year. I wish my D had done that as she had a few hundred dollars in loan and a couple thousands in work study in the FA the following year.
Take it! Do you need a new laptop, or assistance with commuting expenses (bus pass?).
At least it’s something! I’m really hoping to get a scholarship for football, but we’ll see. Good luck.
Take the scholarship. The person who gave the scholarship may be of some assistance to you in the future. At my son’s school once a year the scholarship recipients and donors got together for dinner or coffee. His donor had a lot of reach in the community and let my S know he could call him anytime. Not sure your school does the same thing, but even if it doesn’t just take the money.
Just wanted to add congratulations to you. I agree with all the others who said write the thank-you letter and keep the money, use it to offset expenses like transportation or a computer, books, etc.
Too many students have worse problems, like not being able to afford college. You are a success story and a credit to your college and community.
Best of luck.
Take the dang scholarship and write the dang letter.
When someone gives you a gift, you don’t refuse it.
You say tuition is covered but are all fees? Books? Other required materials?
^ That is a good point. Don’t forget that there are tax credit also to cover those expenses.