What am I doing wrong?

Paying for College
1

<p>I have applied for 50+ scholarships, concentrating on smaller ones where I thought I might have a chance at winning. I got none of them.</p>

<p>I don't know why. I focused on ones based on personal achievements, which are a strong suit for me. I have taken graduate and advanced undergrad classes in high school, done high-level research for three years at a very well respected university, and founded a nonprofit. I have glowing rec letters from well-known researchers and well-known people familiar with my work who also know me very well. I didn't expect to win everything but I thought these things would be good enough to get me some scholarship. I carefully edited all my applications (I can send examples if you PM me) but still got nothing. I can also PM more details.</p>

<p>My grades are not amazing but I still have mostly As in extremely challenging classes (GPA around 3.5). Are grades such a big factor they just throw my application out? This can't be all because I have also applied to scholarships that do not consider grades. </p>

<p>I have not been able to apply for scholarships that require financial need as I do not technically have any. However, due to personal circumstances, I might have to pay my way through college on my own. I know this can't just be because I don't have financial need though as many scholarship apps do not ask about need.</p>

<p>What am I doing wrong? I need to win scholarships but I am failing repeatedly and I can't figure out why. I have tried different approaches in my applications to no avail.</p>

2

<p>That is one of the biggest problems with private scholarships-you can’t rely on them. Plenty of outstanding candidates are chasing the money now that all sources are widely available on the Internet. The best source of “tuition-discount” is merit aid through the university. If you can’t get these scholarships, what do you plan to do about next year? Are you going to take a deferral at your accepted schools and work a year, or take a gap year and apply to more affordable colleges?</p>

3

<p>I have a few options I am exploring for next year. I don’t need long to complete school because of credits I currently have so this is especially frustrating. </p>

<p>I keep hearing stories about people winning hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships. How do they do it? Surely there must be some method. How do you even manage to win a single scholarship?</p>

4

<p>I also hear stories of people winning millions of dollars in lotteries. How do they do it???</p>

<p>Sadly, the problem is similar - there are too many people applying for any candidate to have a sure chance of winning, no matter how qualified he or she is.</p>

5

<p>The issue is, unlike lottery winners, the people who win hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships usually win multiple scholarships. This cannot simply be pure, random chance.</p>

6

<p>People who need large scholarships to afford school should not be relying on private awards. Most private scholarships are hard to get, are for small amounts, and are only for one year.</p>

<p>If you need money, you should apply to the schools that will give you the money based on your stats. </p>

<p>As for hearing about people winning scholarships…you’re hearing about a tiny minority. They’re like lottery winners. We often hear about lottery winners across this county…but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t rare.</p>

<p>Who wins hundreds of thousands in scholarships? Who? The largest ones I’ve seen are the very lucky few that win like $20k per year…and they’re rare. Most win little or nothing.</p>

7

<p>I thought I applied to schools that would give me money based on my stats but got little. Indeed, people with lower stats from my school got more at some of the schools I applied to.</p>

8

<p>I’ve had excellent success getting outside scholarships this year (enough to cover tuition and books at 4-yr public). So far, I’ve had about 50% success rate with applications (still have several outstanding though). I’ll be a senior next year (college), and I also had decent luck last year (although not near as much).</p>

<p>I’ve also had the privilege of a few in-person interviews as part of the process, and have gleaned some fairly useful information from donors. First and foremost, it’s imperative to follow instructions literally and exactly, and turn in applications on time (or preferably in advance): Some will outright disqualify you if you fail to do so. Secondly, it’s important to write quality essays. But in my opinion, that might not mean what you think it does. Find a way to highlight your accomplishments, while still being extremely modest. Incorporate a bit of your feelings in goal statements. I’ve been complimented several times on my essays, and I always hear the same thing: My writing is enjoyable and reads like a book rather than being dry and boring. So, it’s needs to be very professional, but also very personal and enjoyable to read. I always try to think like I’m writing for a respected magazine (excellent content, but interesting). I’m sure they get tired of reading a diatribe of accomplishments. Thirdly, you should match your application to what the donor is trying to accomplish. Think of it like matching a resume to a job description. Try and figure out what might be important to them, and relate it to everything in your application.</p>

<p>I restarted last year after a 10-yr gap since my AA degree. I had a cumulative 3.5, but hadn’t been in school for 10 years. Donors were mostly not impressed at my applications last year, because I had nothing to show for current grades, involvement, etc. I was actually told, outright and in person last year, that I didn’t have a sob story OR current grades to prove myself, and my competition had both plus a lot more, so I was not a strong candidate in comparison to others. I’ve had a 3.93 GPA since I returned, put in 50-60 hour weeks every week for a year, and yes, I think that was an absolutely huge factor in the turnaround this year.</p>

<p>Modest, thankful for the opportunity, volunteerism, active involvement in school clubs, absolutely rock solid goals, excellent writing, and PROOF of success…that’s what they want to see, in my opinion. If you’re not practically killing yourself to reach your goals, you’re probably behind the competition. They want to give money to someone who has proven they’re driven to reach their goals, plus professional and pleasant.</p>

<p>Sorry you had such bad luck, don’t give up! If you had any contact with any of the donors, it might be beneficial to ask how you could have improved your application, if you’re up to hearing the honest answer.</p>

<p>It’s so competitive out there right now, even if you have all those things, there is still a huge luck component. The fact is, donors are always looking for something very specific, and you might never know what it is, and you just might not have the certain quality they’re looking for. Doesn’t mean you’re not great, you’re just missing a component they’re looking for. You should never consider scholarship money as a sure thing: Probably better to assume you’ll get zero, then be ecstatic when you do get something.</p>

9

<p>*I thought I applied to schools that would give me money based on my stats but got little. Indeed, people with lower stats from my school got more at some of the schools I applied to.
*</p>

<p>You may not know all of these students’ SAT scores or their M+CR scores. </p>

<p>What was your M+CR score? </p>

<p>Students who NEED merit, need to apply to a couple of schools where the merit awards are ASSURED for stats.</p>

10

<p>My M+CR is 1530. I do know the scores of the other students.</p>

11

<p>My one son applied to a lot of scholarships and only got one, and that was a special interest group award that few people would be eligible for. Scholarships are hard to get; it’s not you. My son had nearly perfect test scores and that was all he netted. Don’t be down on yourself. This is typical.</p>

12

<p>If you get an outside scholarship, a schools may reduce its finaid. Most schools use it to reduce your federal Stafford loan first, and even let any balance go against your out of pocket expenses. But some will reduce their grants to you on some percentage basis of the scholarship, e.g., by fifty percent.</p>

13

<p>With a score of 1530 M+CR, if you didn’t get good merit offers from schools, then you didn’t apply to the right schools.</p>

<p>The other kids may have been awarded merit for their majors, ECs, talents, or maybe they’re URMs or something. Or, they may have had “need” and their merit had a need component.</p>

<p>Are you a NMF?</p>

<p>If you get an outside scholarship, a schools may reduce its finaid</p>

<p>The student doesn’t have any need…so that isn’t a concern. He’d be full-pay. He needs merit to reduce what he has to pay.</p>