<p>phantom, I hope that you don't mind me asking but what were your stats.</p>
<p>Sorry to say it is true. My D got a single $500 last year and nothing else is available - this is at UCSD. We didnt get any financial aid beyond unsubsidized stafford and expensive Plus loans. Basically we have to pay for everything out of pocket. And its the same story for at least 90% of her classmates who graduated last year. That is the grim reality Im afraid - get used to it.</p>
<p>Of course it sells lots of books and magazines to say that there are all these billions of $ out there just waiting for someone to simply ask. </p>
<p>The reality is that scholarships are by definition meant for minoritys. Only in Lake Weobegone can the majority qualify as a minority.</p>
<p>most money does come from the colleges- however D has won a couple outside scholarships- all local- I think that if she actually looked she could have found more- but she was happy wiht her grants/workstudy & loans.
The public schools offered her little.
One out of state public offered some money and if she had wanted to go there it would ahve been very nice.
an instate public offered her a $600 renewable scholarship and combined with a Promise scholarship to attend an instate school would have been very reasonable- but her top reach choice which she didn't expect to get aid ( or be admitted) offered her very nice grant and subsidized loans and workstudy
Local scholarships are easiest to get- or ones that you or parents have some sort of connection.
( my mothers high school offers scholarships for grandchildren)
D did get one scholarship that I suppose she qualified for as a minority- ( she is a lesbian) but most were through local service organizations or ones that were basically a lottery</p>
<p>man i guess i have no chance of getting any scholarships</p>
<p>I hardly bothered with most of the National scholarships. They are simply snowball's chance in hell of winning, unless you do something divine in nature. You know, cure cancer, save the world, win the Nobel Prize in _____, and the whatnot. (I'm only saying this in jest, but just to give you an idea of the degree of difficulty to win one of these scholarships).</p>
<p>I won mostly in-house and local scholarships. I won a local District Administrator's scholarship worth $2,000 (one-time), a foreign policy organization's scholarship for $2,500 (for upto five years), an in-house scholarship ($500 a year) and a local philanthropist's scholarship ($1,000 a year).</p>
<p>I think this thread is rather loopsided in its replies. I for one have used FastWeb and other scholarship search sites (and my own high school's scholarship office) and had success. I just took as many applications as I could find and spent a good chunk of time just filling them out and mailing them. In the end I was successful and won national, regional, and local scholarships. In addition to the outside scholarships I won, I managed to obtain a full ride to UNC (where I will be attending school in the fall).</p>
<p>I will admit, however, that scholarships are indeed hard to get. All scholarships whether national or regional or local are competitive. Think about it folks for a second. Everyone who has realized from the beginning that finAID may not come out in their favor are applying to these scholarships. From my conversations with other people, I have found out that once people win a huge $20K plus national scholarship then future big $20K+ scholarships sorta of become 'easier to obtain'. The snowball effect if you will. Is it unfair? While it may seem unfair, it is entirely justifiable. </p>
<p>Yes, a disproportionate number of people win a substantial chunk of the available scholarship money, but then again that disproportionate number of people who won that money worked their tush off in high school and did some amazing things. You reap what you sow.</p>
<p>Some advice I have to people who are applying for scholarships is the following- 1) tailor your application to the general focus of the scholarship. For example, if you are applying for Republican scholarship don't write that you volunteered for Sen. Kerry's Presidential Campaign. If the scholarship is a political scholarship try to emphasize a political edge or tendency you have. If your scholarship is for the Latino or Asian community then highlight efforts you have undertaken to support those specific communities. Don't just laundry list them and say see attached sheet. Seriously folks, tailor the application to the actual organization. Use common sense. The people who win these scholarships tend to fit into the organization's entire profile. Try to fit into that profile with your application (hence the tailoring).</p>
<p>2) Think of your application in terms of marketing. I know this sounds terribly degrading to one's self, but if you think about it like this then it will help you enormously. What perception do you get after reading your application? Is this the sort of person you want to convey? Try selling yourself or marketing your application as a one of kind, unique individual who has a specific niche (whatever that may be) .</p>
<p>I think that the best and most easily obtained scholarships are merit awards from the schools. My D received a $1000 non-renewable outside scholarship for next year, but was offered merit money from four schools, all ones that she would be happy to attend, for 1/2 tuition to full ride, renewable for 4 years. Since many school scholarships do not require a separate application, looking at schools that offer merit scholarships and the qualifications is a good strategy.</p>
<p>Applied to 1, and no response. I realized the time I spent writing the essay and time investment overall isn't equal to what I'd get if I were working or studying in doing many of them.</p>
<p>"I don't think that average students should rely on fastweb for attaining scholarships." Bingo</p>
<p>I would not rely on "one-time-only" scholarships to cobble together my college expenses. You should also note what your college's policy is with regards to outside scholarships. Some deduct them against any aid they would give you, some split the difference with you, and some let you apply them against the loan portion of the STUDENT or SELF HELP portion of your aid package. Note: you will not be chipping away at your EFC unless you get a full ride, 3/4 ride or large merit award that does dip below.</p>
<p>You need to look at college financing as a four (or five) year plan, with tuition and inflation expenses. What will happen in year two, when you do not get 1K from Target or Walmart etc....</p>
<p>My children have received their scholarship money from their colleges, and it is guaranteed to be at least that amount (my oldest actually received an increase this year) over their four years of attendance. While I would not discourage you from trying to get any scholarship money available, just be aware that some monies are only for one year. </p>
<p>If you can pick up a 13.5K per year (this seems to be a standard amount--I've also seen 7K and 12K a lot) institutional merit aid award, it would take you quite a few essays to make the same 54K from local and fastweb organizations.</p>
<p>I applied for financial aid several years ago when I enrolled in the University of Cincinnati. Because my parents are relatively affluent (but not affluent enough to finance college for both me and my sister) there wasn't much in the way of aid, and my high school grades were good.</p>
<p>I now work my way through college as an escort, of all things. I am not suggesting this route for everyone, of course. But you have to find a way to finance your tuition (plus living expenses, incidentals, etc.). Don't expect either the government or an alumni association to hand you a check.</p>
<p>Good luck,
Jessica</p>
<p>Here are some scholarships I think everyone should try applying to:</p>
<ol>
<li>National Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship</li>
<li>you submit your app to your local lodge and move up (local --> district --> state --> national) and you can usually get money along the way. </li>
</ol>
<p>The below have extremely easy apps (I remember they took me at most 10 mins online) -- I didn't win any, but they're worth a try because of how little time they consume:</p>
<ul>
<li>Sam Walton (spring) -- comm. service oriented</li>
<li>Best Buy (spring) -- comm. service oriented</li>
<li>Coca-Cola (fall)</li>
</ul>
<p>*Walton and Best Buy scholarships are each distributed by your local stores (usually 2 winners per store) so you have a greater chance of winning.</p>
<p>*I agree with Seven Nights about the marketing aspect.</p>
<p>***DEFINITELY RESEARCH LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS!</p>
<p>A couple of my observations about the scholarship hunt...</p>
<p>Our son received an ROTC scholarship (tuition & fees + 500/year for books + $250/mo stipend in freshman year, increasing by 50/mo each year). He also received 2nd place in the National Guard Assoc. of Texas (his dad's a member) which is $750 - one time.</p>
<p>That still leaves us with about $7,000 per year to pay for room & board. I'm not complaining, because I know that's chicken feed compared with what some of you have to come up with, but it won't be easy for us.</p>
<p>So, back to observations....</p>
<p>You don't often get something for nothing. Our son will owe the military 4 years when he graduates. He loves the military and wants a military career, so this is not really a sacrifice for him. For others, it would be. Nevertheless, if you have decent grades, decent test scores, and are in good physical condition, <em>most</em> people can qualify for one of these scholarships. (3/4 of them go to "technical" majors, by the way.)</p>
<p>Another option is the National Guard. If you join the National Guard, you will receive generous educational benefits. Yes, there is that going to war thing....but it seems they cutting back on sending Guard units to Iraq, so now might be an opportune time to get in.</p>
<p>Some people don't like being tied down like that, but it couldn't possibly be worse than student loans. That's being in bondage for years!</p>
<p>As far as all those Fastweb scholarships (and our son applied for a bunch of them), they were probably a waste of time. For one, he is a white male whose parents attended college. Also, most of those scholarships seem to have a pretty heavy community service component. Our son did tons of EC's but most were not community service related. </p>
<p>So, for those of you who are early in high school, I'd recommend that you find a way to load up on community service. It would be best if you started something on your own. That seems to be much more impressive than joining in on something that's already operational (which is kind of ridiculous, if you ask me). Look at the website for the Kohl's scholarships and click on the profiles of past winners and you'll see what I mean. I think Mother Theresa might have been one of the early winners.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Look at the website for the Kohl's scholarships and click on the profiles of past winners and you'll see what I mean. I think Mother Theresa might have been one of the early winners.
[/quote]
Nah. She got $50.00 one time from the "Myrtle's Girdles" Scholarship Fund. 10,000 word essay. Seems fair. Her selective college took it away from her because she was getting need based aid, but it did reduce her loan.</p>
<p>.............are there any scholarships for really unusual talents?</p>
<p>Local scholarships are a great place to start. Think about it. Your chances of winning these scholarships is much higher. They are much more limited. I've never been thrilled with Fastweb. I've been bombarded with e-mails from them. A few that I like more:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.Lunch-Money.com%5B/url%5D">www.Lunch-Money.com</a> - not too many results, but very relevant. I think they do a better job of not giving a bunch of useless listings. Plus, they even have some applications right on the site.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scholarships.com%5B/url%5D">www.scholarships.com</a> - Lots of results, some aren't the most useful, but they give you a relevancy score which is really nice.</p>
<p>My best advice is to start with your guidance counselor as a resource, then check with local organizations (especially if you have a community foundation in your area), then contact organizations that you or your parents may be members of (e.g., unions, professional associations). Since most scholarship searches only take a few minutes to fill out, they are worth giving a try.</p>
<p>Also, if you are going to apply, make sure you do a quality application. It's a waste of your time to do a sloppy job. If you plan well, you can often find ways to save yourself time and effort. For example, you may choose to write an essay on the Civil War for a History assignment knowing that you want to apply for a Civil War essay scholarship. You have to do some serious planning to do this, though.</p>
<p>My son who is a senior this fall has been offered four scholarships so far; three of which are at private schools and will barely begin to cover the cost of tuition. The fourth is a full ride based on gpa and ACT scores. The university is small, not considered a presitigious institution but is a good academic school and is what my son is looking for. It was his fourth choice until we visited the campus and now he won't even consider going to the other schools. I do think scholarships are terribly competitive at the more desired universities but they are out there if you are willing to possibly go to a school that is not in your initial consideration.</p>
<p>My sons' quest was a full ride at a good school that would suit him, however it may not suit anyone else.</p>
<p>I would focus on the quality of the scholarship applications not the quantity. I've been on a scholarship committee, and you would be surprised at how sloppy some of the submissions are. You can easily tell when someone spent 10 minutes writing an essay vs. someone who spent an hour or two thoughtfully crafting an answer.</p>
<p>Again, focus your efforts on local scholarships first. I saw an interesting press release at:
<a href="http://www.lunch-money.com/Press-Releases/prScholarshipAward.aspx%5B/url%5D">http://www.lunch-money.com/Press-Releases/prScholarshipAward.aspx</a></p>
<p>It says that for the large national scholarships, your chances of winning are lower than your chances of getting into Harvard.</p>
<p>While the scholarship sites like <a href="http://www.Lunch-Money.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.Lunch-Money.com</a>, <a href="http://www.Fastweb.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.Fastweb.com</a>, and <a href="http://www.Scholarships.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.Scholarships.com</a> can be helpful, make sure you check and see if you have a community foundation in your area that offers scholarships, or you check with your high school counselor about scholarships first.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>The best way to get merit aid is to apply to colleges that offer merit aid and where your stats are far above their average stats. Thus, if you have the stats, ECs, etc. to be a strong candidate for Harvard, you'd have better than average chances of getting merit aid at Emory, Michigan or Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>If your stats make you a strong candidate for Emory, but are at or below Harvard's average, you'd have decent chances for merit aid at schools like University of Florida or Boston University.</p>
<p>When it comes to national scholarships -- those wonderful $10,000 a year ones offered by corporations, etc. -- unless you are stellar in whatever attributes they are looking for, the odds are very long that you will get those. Such scholarships attract thousands of very well qualified students.</p>
<p>Average people don't get scholarships. They don't get internships either unless it's one with a class required by their department to get their degree.</p>