<p>I have applied to over thirty scholarships and have gotten a grand total of 0. I applied early, had a great GPA/test scores, and solid ECs. The only scholarship I have gotten was thorugh the university for $5000. People make up this crap about fastweb and college scholarship and say that the money is out there. In the end, do not bank on money from outside scholarships because it is very difficult, if not impossible, to actually get them.</p>
<p>Yeah, you have to have cured diseases and stuff to get most of the scholarships I've seen on fastweb. All my scholarships were local and through the university.</p>
<p>Or you have to belong to so and so club, live in such and such city, and let's not go into the other stuff...</p>
<p>I feel your pain indy787. I applied to 15 my senior year, and was lucky enough to win 1 for $1000 (one-time).</p>
<p>i applied to 10 ....got 0....and be lucky the school is giving u money....im getting 0 from my school as well...so u know what that means.....my parents ....and i ... will have to pay all the 23,000 dollars for my attendance at berkeley... yes...fastweb is stupid...and so are all the other financial bull**** out there ...</p>
<p>It IS hard, unless you have done nationally recognized research, written a best seller, put in 1000's of hours of community service, or fit into a little niche that few others fit into. Or if you have a wonderful essay-writing ability.</p>
<p>My son put in for several scholarships, but all he won were some small local ones--$500 from his dad's union, $200 from school band, $400 and $450 as a two year finalist in a county academic all-star competition. And they are all one-time awards, so will not help next year.</p>
<p>There is just SO much competition out there. The top students often end up winning a bunch of scholarships; the ones just under them may come out with few or none. Yes, it is frustrating!</p>
<p>Local ones are your best bet. But national ones are the most lucrative, even if they're a bit more competitive. I think it's all in which scholarships you apply to--have an eye for what you have a chance with, pick 10 or so, and then make a very big effort on those. I can't imagine how you could possibly have done 30 applications--that's amazing. I would recommend, to anyone entering this process, to get started very early. I don't necessarily mean with the actual applications, but just practicing essays. I had a great English teacher that devoted the entire last quarter of our junior year to writing practice scholarship and college essays. And recommendations are more important than you might think--they can make a huge difference.</p>
<p>You don't have to be stellar to get the money you need--I had good grades, a couple decent ECs, and a glowing rec, and I'll be graduating loan-free. I was really lucky in a lot of ways, but the point is that it IS possible. I'm really sorry you had such bad luck!</p>
<p>Hey, once you get into college there are a lot of scholarships that you can apply for that are through the college.</p>
<p>Well, to be a meaniebutt, scholarships aren't a right or even a privilege. They aren't something you can earn just because you're a good student or even a good person. And it sucks, because that's the way life is. I think kids entering shouldn't get their hopes out too much, keep their fingers crossed, and work out a backup plan on how to afford college without scholarships i.e. part-time jobs and loans and generous relatives.</p>
<p>I think fastweb does work, but only if you know how to tailor applications to what the scholarship committees are looking for. The same holds for regular college apps and for local scholarships. It is easier to get more specialized local/school scholarships, because there's less competition and you are likely to be more suited for those scholarships. But fastweb is easy, whereas local scholarships you hafta hunt around the 'hood... As another note, I wouldn't limit yourself to all local or all national or all big money ones, but really limit yourself to the ones you are most suited to get/are a strong candidate for. Don't go out and apply to a gazillion scholarships because you MIGHT get it - only if you meet all the requirements and then some. Be hopeful, but realistic.</p>
<p>I was actually quite fortunate to receive 2 scholarships through my university, especially because it does not offer many. Local scholarships were also great. I was disappointed at the beginning of my senior year that I had not acquired any scholarship money, but all through January until about May I received all of my scholarships. Local ones were the best, and even though each was anywhere from $200-$2000 they did add up!</p>
<p>~I must say that I agree with OP, though, the money is not just "out there"...it drove me crazy when my grandmother said that all this money is just "out there for the taking"!...writing a bunch of essays and preparing for interviews was certainly not easy!</p>
<p>I applied for a couple also. I also sent away for quite a few scholarship applications/info, never got anything back. <em>shrugs</em></p>
<p>i got about 20 scholarships. most were cuz i was either hispanic, a military child, or local. maybe 3 or 4 were national. i got into the final round of some national ones (ie coca cola, gates but efc was higher than 4k). i do agree that fastweb is useless. only scholarships with certain criteria like race, sports, military affiliation, or locality are worth applying to.</p>
<p>well, although i never really <em>applied</em> for any cuz i didnt <em>qualify</em> for any of them, i actually think that if you do <em>qualify</em>, you can definitely win some. For example, this guy named Robert Smith III earned forty-seven thousand and five hundred dollars thorough scholarships...and this other guy named Victor Trejo earned fifty eight thousand eight hundred twenty-five dollars through fastweb, google search, and his counselors. don't give up your hopes yet! start early, apply to many, be good friends with counselors, is all these two guys are saying as advices. good luck!</p>
<p>In all, I earned 400,000 + including packages from 4 schools as well as outside stuff...It DEFINETELY takes a LOT of work - I worked on essays, searching, etc for 2-3 hours per day, 5 days a week for about 6 months - anywhere from 240 to 360 hours working on them my senior year - it is very exhausting and very disappointing you realize that you work so hard and even then are sometimes turned down...My last year of high school, I walked everywhere with my "scholarship briefcase" and worked on them every spare second of class that wasnt occupied, - it takes a lot of persistence and I can realize that it can be very discouraging but it comes to the point when you realize that despite your situation that you think might be bad, there probably are kids out there that really NEED the money more - some people come from families that literally cant even afford to have three square meals a day...yet, persist on because you will find something eventually. If anyone needs any help with editing essays, advice, etc I would love to help. </p>
<p>(p.s - I dont mean to sound boa****l - as soon as I got enough for my dream school, Rice, I called every scholarship I was still waiting on and told them to withdraw my application so that the application pool would be smaller for those still hoping to be awarded and called my schools and told them to disperse the $ to other people)</p>
<p>I was fortunate enough to receive quite a few scholarships. Out of maybe 50 application I won 2. Coca Cola and Bill Gates. They only take the best of the best in most cases but when I saw the people who were there at the interview and awards ceremony I had no idea why they picked me. If you think about it, it is a huge lotterey. So many young people have these amazing applications and resumes most of the time I would think it is first come first served ( in the later rounds of the comp) or many times they have to have interviews. So like I said it is pretty much the luck of the dram i most scholarships.</p>
<p>I don't think that average students should rely on fastweb for attaining scholarships.</p>
<p>Out of the 2 dozen I applied to, I won 2 (Elks MVS -- state level, $1000 renewable for 4 yrs) and a local one ($2000 one-time). The local ones are definitely your best bets. </p>
<p>After I read that "Scholarship Coach" book (anyone else know what I'm talking about?) about that Harvard guy who won like $100,000 or something in scholarships, I was all gung-ho, and I thought I was ahead of the game by applying for scholarships in junior year and by researching a good scholarship list to apply to so early. If you read some of my past posts on CC however, you'll see that I was tremendously discouraged after my first 10 scholarship apps were rejected. </p>
<p>I think there is a certain strategy/method involved in filling out a scholarship application (I never did figure it out...), but like the OP said, the money is definitely not "out there" waiting for people to take advantage of it. A lot of it is just luck. However, if you can win just one scholarship out of say, 20, I personally think it's worth it...and if you don't even get one...well, at least you know your tried your hardest. It sucks, but that's the way it is. </p>
<p>As for Fastweb...I didn't win any of the scholarships I discovered thru Fastweb, but I still think they're worth a try. Don't dismiss them completely, though I would place more emphasis on local scholarships. To quote the lottery guy, "hey, you never know."</p>
<p>ESther<em>ect</em>u, I sent you a private message.</p>
<p>Fastweb did help me though..... But I guess it really isn't for the "average" person so much. I found that I was a just amazingly lucky when it came to applying. I was hispanic, so I got to apply to those scholarships, then I had the "overcoming adversity" that got me 15k and then I was able to apply for the "Girls' Golf" ones too. </p>
<p>In the end, I had enough help with Latino and Adversity $$ that I didn't apply to more (golf, latino etc...). Money is out there for sure. It's just incredible MUCH harder to get if say, you are white, just above average and don't have any quirky or outstanding hobbies/talents.</p>