<p>Okay, I'm going to be a sophomore come next September. It's crazy how I'm half-way done with high school. While I'm excited and enjoying the times, I'm apprehensive about the future, too. I have NO savings for college. I will love to attend a good well-reputed school, but all of them are over 40,000 dollars a year. I've considered attending my state school UMass, but I know I won't be happy there. </p>
<p>My parents are middle class. I don't think I'll qualify for a generous amount of fin aid, not including huge loans. I don't want to burden them by giving them a HUGE bill over their heads. My best plan of action is recieving A LOT of scholarships. I've heard stories of student who were able to pay for all, nearly all, or half of their college education by applying to scholarships. I plan to do that, but I don't know when to start applying and how to go about doing that. I know that as parents most of you have gone through this process with your children. Any Advice?</p>
<p>P.S.: A few months ago I signed up to Fastweb out of curiosity. I didn't apply to scholarships because I wanted to build my resume(volunteering experience, etc.). But, I know that these scholarships are out there, so I'm not too in the dark.</p>
<p>For starters, Private_Joker, there are the numerous small scholarships targeted to specific populations (children of autoworkers, students wanting to major in a certain field, Rotary scholarships and on and on and on). Each of these usually requires an application and an essay. There is a lot of work involved to amass enough $ from these to make a serious dent in the cost of attending college. If you need substantial $, I suggest that these are best work to "fill in" after you have been accepted at a school and see how much you need after any "major" awards, as below.</p>
<p>There are some very high ticket competitive scholarships about which others know more than I, Coca-Cola... If you are competitive for these, others can inform you.</p>
<p>Then, there are merit scholarships offered by some colleges and universities. These can also range from a couple thousand $ to full tuition.</p>
<p>I suggest you check the thread in this Parents Forum on schools known for good merit aid. It's a lot to slog through, and it is an ever-changing landscape, but it will give you a beginning idea of what's out there, where you fit in the chances to land one of these, and which colleges of interest to you offer them. I think your best bet is to focus on schools you like which might offer you a substantial amount.</p>
<p>That's my take on it, and I'm sure you'll hear from others.</p>
<p>In what I have observed, most of these scholarships are offered to Seniors in the year they are applying to college. Doesn't mean you can't start checking them out and writing those essays!</p>
<p>But, if I wait until I am accepted to college, will it not be too late to apply to a lot of scholarships? I'm noticing that a lot of scholarships have deadlines around mid-year. It seems that it will be hectic to apply to these scholarships while paying attention to college. I know that the application process of scholarships is time-consuming. I will have to apply to MANY scholarships in order to recieve a few in a short period of time. </p>
<p>I know that many scholarships are for college-bound seniors, but there are quite a few for high school students in general, too. Those are the type of scholarships I'm interested in. I'm a decent student. Nothing to special about me. I'm trying to improve my resume(volunteering, better grades, more involved, summer plans, etc.), but I'm not counting on getting any major awards in the future from the schools that are on that scholarship thread if I apply to those colleges. I'm keeping my options open, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I have a better chance of applying to outside scholarships. </p>
<p>Most of the big scholarships are for high school seniors that will be going into college in the fall. The big scholarship season starts January of the senior year, with some big scholarships requiring your attention during the fall of senior year. Some of the really big scholarships are for science contest winners ($100K), but these are impossible for a regular person to get.</p>
<p>Most of the scholarships available for younger students are more of an essay writing contest. </p>
<p>Some thoughts of ways to get college money: beauty pageants (hey, if you got it, use it for college); after freshman year, become a resident advisor and get your room and board for free; live at home while going to college, which will save you LOTS of money (of course, this will only work if you live within commuting distance from college); go two years to a community college while living at home and transferring to your dream college later; go to a cheap in-state college and go to grad school at your dream college; do really well on the PSAT, become a National Merit semi-finalist and get a full scholarship to the schools that give out such good scholarships to NM finalists.</p>
<p>Fact is, if your parents are middle-class but don't have a lot of disposable income, if neither they nor you are willing to go into a lot of debt, if your parents haven't saved a lot of money for you over the past 20 years, your options may be limited.</p>
<p>You must plan out your college search to include financial safeties--schools you could get into and that you could afford. Check recent postings about schools that give good merit aid.</p>
<p>Yah, most of the big scholarships are for seniors. But, if I get a lot of the little scholarships sooner or later they'll amount to something. That's what I'm hoping for by applying early in the game. I'm just confused about how I'm going to do this. How can I be one of those kids who recieve enough to pay all, nearly all, or half of their college education?
As you said, ellemenope, my options are limited, so I have to really dig into the few options I actually do have. I know the resources are out there for me if I plan and work hard. Just don't know where to begin. I don't want to scramble at the last minute to scrape for all the loose cash. I don't want be those kids who cry about not going to the college they want, either. I'm not specifically talking about ivy-league or top 25 but a good, well-reputed school that suites me perfectly. </p>
<p>P.S.: I never knew that being an RA meant free room-and-board. Does this apply to all schools? How do you get the job?</p>
<p>Middle school is the time to start the scholarship search. I am not kidding. </p>
<p>The earlier you see how your natural interests can lead to scholarships, the better documentation one will have when it's time to apply. In addition, by learning about people who win scholarships, you can get good ideas of things to do that will make you competitive and also will help you pursue your intellectual and extracurricular passions to the max.</p>
<p>As for being an RA, not all colleges have them. There's probably info about whether colleges do have them on the colleges' web site or through the scholarship or housing office.</p>
<p>What colleges look for are: honesty, integrity, an ability to get along with all sorts of people, assertiveness, a sense of responsibility, and good grades. Typically one can't be an RA until one is at last a sophomore. Party hearty types, extremely shy students or students who are barely passing need not apply.</p>
<p>I believe that it will be very difficult for your to finance a significant portion of a private college education via independent scholarships. And even if you do garner a few significant ones, many colleges take that amount from their finaid offer so your net remains much the same. However, it is likely that most colleges would reduce loan and work study amouts first.</p>
<p>Your best bet are the merit scholarships offered by the colleges themselves. There are many which offer free rides or full tuition scholarships to their best students. My son took this route and was offered total merit scholarships in excess of $375,000. Most were in the $15k/year range but he is getting $25,000/yr from Rensselaer.</p>
<p>He used the USNews data base to find colleges who offered a high %age of their students significant finaid and then went to the college web pages to get detailed info about the merit scholarships offered and their qualification reqts. He applied to only one college that did not fit this category(Oberlin) and their merit aid offer was less than $4k.</p>
<p>By going this route you can expect to be in the top quartile of the incoming student body which, I believe, offers some significant academic advantages beyond merely the gpa one can reasonable expect to achieve. However most posters here disagree and encourage their progeny to shoot for academic reaches.</p>
<p>FYI, the colleges my son applied to included RPI, Case, Allegheny, Oberlin, Wooster, and Penn State. For all except PSU he used the CommonApp and received acceptances/finaid offers from RPI and Case by early January. Needless to say he had a fun and stress free senior year.</p>
<p>There are many scholarships for juniors, and the most for seniors. Our counselor kept an updated list in the office and my D kept checking to see if she could apply. The really big ones are VERY competetive, with kids from every state applying. Though to win. But there are tons of smaller ones - 1Khere, 1K there, etc. The Catch-22 with many scholarships won outside the schools is that most schools seem to apply them to your work-study and loan amounts, then to their share of FA.
This is how it works: Based on parental income and FAFSA reporting, your contribution and family and student contributions are determined. (Even now, your parents and you could sit down and go to Princeton Review and check to see how much they and you would be expected to pay if you were going this fall - they have a calculator to project this and will give you an idea of how much you will be expected to pay each year) School FA uses this in determining how much, if any FA your family will receive. School merit scholarships which are named awards go straight against the tuition, and in some cases, R&B, etc. A really good merit scholarship could make it possible for you to pay absolutely nothing at the school where you applied and were accepted, but these are rare. Many will pay a portion or all of the tuition, but don't provide for R&B, books, etc.<br>
Outside scholarships are treated differently at most schools - a rude awakening for us. The family contribution stays the same. So, either you earn enough for everything, or the outside scholarship amounts, if greater than WS and loans will most likely just go back to the college and creditted against its share of the FA package. You and your family will still be expected to pay your predetermined share. Now, this predetermined share, based on FAFSA has been treated differently by different colleges. Some stay strictly to the amounts, some realize how unrealistic FAFSA can be for middle income families and give more FA. It's good you are looking now. Planning early is key. Good luck!</p>