Outside scholarships: be honest. Does it work?

[1bassoon]

We're on the hunt, ladies.

 

We've trolled fastweb, bookmarked good scholarships, and are starting to apply, apply, apply. . . . . .my dh is unemployed, we're beyond broke, and I've got a talented kid.

 

SO - someone give me the nitty gritty.

 

Will this pay off? What can I expect? Did anyone have their local high school guidance office help them find scholarships?

 

What are your experiences?

 

:bigear:

[Kareni]

You're question is a very good one. You'll doubtless hear of both favorable and unfavorable outcomes that various students experienced. Here's my experience which I posted previously.

 

You said, "Let's talk about scholarships"

 

Must we? It's a painful topic.

 

I'd heard from many who said that it's not worth one's time to apply for scholarships, but I didn't believe them and encouraged my daughter to apply for a variety.

 

Our state has an organization that provides one application to apply for several hundred opportunities. It's rather like the Common Application in that there is one application, but Opportunity A requires an additional essay on topic A and Opportunity B requires an essay on topic B while Opportunity C requires a copy of one's hunting license {no, I'm not kidding!}. DD also applied to several nationwide scholarships that were based on cultural heritage, etc. Net result: my daughter did not receive a single scholarship besides the ones she was offered from colleges who admitted her.

 

Have I learned my lesson? Probably not as I asked her to submit an application to the statewide organization again this year. Clearly, I'm an optimist.

 

One other thing to consider as regards scholarships is your child's college's policy. My daughter's college allows the first $500 of the student's scholarship total to go to the student. Half of the remainder is used to decrease the college's grant to the student and the other half can once again be used to decrease the student's contribution. (Admittedly, if your child has no need based aid, all scholarship monies would go to the student.)

 

I posted the above back in March in this thread which is well worth reading.

 

I'll update by saying that my daughter did not receive any scholarships from the state organization after she reapplied this year. I don't think I'll ask her to apply next year.

 

I wish your talented kid much success in her scholarship search.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[creekland]

My oldest didn't win any large-area scholarships (meaning national or state), but he did win two local scholarships. One was located through our high school guidance office and is a REALLY nice sized scholarship that was well worth the effort it took to apply. The other came through an organization he had belonged to since 8th grade. While smaller, it still covered books and a little extra.

 

While looking/applying he also came across an essay competition from a local club. He didn't win, but my middle son also entered it and he did win his age group (out of 300+ entries I was told). He just won $50 (his age group), but if he can repeat as a senior it could be more... That said, beware the vast majority didn't win.

 

In general, I think you have a better chance if you are a good essay writer. My oldest is not. My middle son is. Belonging to organizations also helps.

 

Yes, check with your local high school guidance office. Ours produced a packet of local scholarships available and how to apply, etc, once a month. It never hurts to try, and the more local the better. My oldest came close on two more scholarships. He will try for all of them again this coming year.

 

ps Any aid won will not reduce your EFC if you have need based aid from the Federal Gov't (their rules). It will reduce the difference between your EFC and financial package first, then it will reduce need based aid (loans first, then grants and/or work study). Only payments coming from the student or parent count toward the EFC. Therefore, even if Grandma wants to help (called an MGM scholarship - My GrandMother), have her send any dollars to YOU or your student - then write a check from YOU to the college.

Edited October 21, 2010 by creekland

[JFSinIL]

My son only applied for one outside scholarship - the fraternal organization to which we have belonged for years offered it, a prerequisite was to have had a certain number of hours of community service in prior years, which ds did have - he wrote his 500 word essay and got his letter of rec. from the lady who runs the special needs camp where he has been a counselor a week each summer. It was only a $2,000 a year scholarship - but for all four years (so $8,000 total) - and ds was one of 300 kids who got one in all of USA and Canada (thousands applied).

 

Look and see if there is ANY scholarship offered by any group to which you might belong, also the local Rotary, etc. I did not push ds to go the FastWeb, etc. route as there are just too many other kids trying for the same scholarships. A smaller, local pile of money might be easier to get.

 

Oh, the local high school also gave him a one-time $500 scholarship for being good in Biology. It will cover ONE term of books!

 

PS - It helped that the college he attends now offered most of its aid as a merit scholarship - had it been grant money they would have been able to nibble away at the grant and replace it with the outside scholarship. Instead, it got stacked on as additional money :-)

Edited October 24, 2010 by JFSinIL

[1bassoon]

Thanks so much - especially for the link to the March thread: I'm mostly terrible at searching the boards.

 

I don't want her to spend eons of time on scholarship applications, if they'll all end up for nothing.

 

I've got relatively high hopes for the Horatio Alger scholarship: for families of very low income, and they offer a performing arts scholarship as well.

 

Sounds like I'll be calling the local high school soon!

[Luckymama]

In addition to checking with the local high school, look at your state's Department of Education website. Our state has a listing of all local/state/area scholarships there. It's the same listing that is available in book form at the high schools AND at the info area of the state library branches.

 

I went through the book when my son brought his copy home and marked all the scholarships for which he is eligible. There are less than 10 because most are either need-based (in addition to merit) or are specific to a certain population, such as member of an organization, race, ethnicity, gender, and/or intended major. It will be his choice as to which he applies as some require a lot of essay writing in relation to the $ scholarship amount.

[Miss Marple]

We're on the hunt, ladies.

 

We've trolled fastweb, bookmarked good scholarships, and are starting to apply, apply, apply. . . . . .my dh is unemployed, we're beyond broke, and I've got a talented kid.

 

SO - someone give me the nitty gritty.

 

Will this pay off? What can I expect? Did anyone have their local high school guidance office help them find scholarships?

 

What are your experiences?

 

:bigear:

 

If your student knows what field he/she intends to major in you can more easily find scholarships. Some fields are actively working to add graduates in order to replace retirees. Those fields seem to put more money into the students. Other fields, like a history major, are just not as lucrative in the scholarship realm.

 

There are a lot of organizations that offer scholarships for essays - usually of a certain philosophical bent. If you are into "green jobs" research that and find organizations that support and provide research in that area. They will often post scholarship information on their website. We have a conservative political think tank here in OK that has a wonderful yearly essay competition. A dear friend's daughter won first prize this past spring and received a $5,000 tuition waiver for the school of her choice!

 

We try to stay away from the large national competitions because the competition is too fierce, in general, to justify the amount of time one puts into essays/projects.

 

Another thing to remember is that the money can come rolling in *after* the student shows that he/she can compete in the academic world. My ds's scholarship level has increased from 1/2 total yearly cost as a freshman to complete coverage of yearly costs as a junior. He is being rewarded for his excellent performance in the earlier years. He is also in a field that anticipates a great number of retirees in the next few years so there is a lot of money being spent on these students.

 

Keep looking: check with the department of intended major and search the internet for those competitions that are in keeping with your political/philosophical bent.

[distancia]

This might help you.

 

My nephew comes from an affluent family (over $150K a year), so need-based scholarships were out. All he could do was hope for merit aid.

 

He lives in the south, Tennessee. He knew that northern schools are always eager to recruit southern students. His ACT scores were 32 in English and 31 in Math. His high school classes were good but not great: Honors, no AP. but because his classes were fairly easy (for him), his GPA was very good, like a 3.8 unweighted. No biggie extracurriculars, but he did work part-time in a real job at the shopping mall. He also acted as an assistant to the film crew at the local community TV station, he helped film town meetings. He wanted to major in film/video production.

 

He applied to 3 schools: 2 private northern, and his state school, Tenn (the fall-back). Both northern schools offered him FULL ride tuition scholarships, with some additional funds to cover housing. The state school, Tenn, offered only a $4000 state scholarship towards tuition. It made way more sense, economically, for him to attend the northern schools. He accepted one and got in, with the only requirement that he maintain a 3.0 average.

 

My niece, sister to the nephew, scored 29 and 28 (English and Math) on her ACTs. NO extra-curriculars whatsoever other than prom committee in Senior year. Part-time jobs at the mall. She wanted full merit scholarships, and she knew she could get them at lower-tier schools. She did get several offers, and these were from schools that had students with significantly lower ACT score averages, like in the 22-25 range (low to mid 500s). They were all private, out-of-state schools in small towns. D chose to not accept and instead, is now attending a state school in a mid-sized city.

 

My step-daughter is a third example. She comes from a rich family. She attended private boarding school. She was not the top of her class, nor was she big on extra-curriculars, participating in them only during her first two years. She came out with a 3.4 or something GPA, only AP English, (I remember her math in senior year was Honors Pre-Calc). Her SAT scores were not remarkable, low 600's English, mid 500's Math. She applied to Emory (reach), our flagship school (UF), and two third-tier, out-of-region schools.

 

SD was accepted at the state school with tuition-only scholarship; offered FULL merit scholarships at both out-of-region schools, where she would have been top dog among the student body; and zero funds from Emory. [Point of fact she was not accepted at Emory but had to do 2 years at an associated college, prove herself, then transfer into Emory].

 

In answer to your question, yes, merit scholarships are definitely available. From what I have seen with my three family members, it would mean having your child attending a particular school that is of a slightly lower caliber so that your child would be considered a "stellar student". For some people this might be a turn off, but for others, it can be very rewarding. I had a professor who once told me he preferred to be a "big fish in a small pond".

 

The way my niece and nephew did it is they looked through 2nd and 3rd tier colleges out of their area which offered programs they were interested in, then they looked at the average SAT/ACT scores for incoming freshman. They considered those with lower scores to be "scholarship-friendly" schools and they applied to those.

 

In your case, with your financial situation the way it is, I would even ask for application fee waivers.

 

I have sent you a PM which contains the list of schools my relatives applied to so you can see what kind of colleges they were dealing with.

Edited October 21, 2010 by distancia

[creekland]

What Kimango wrote about are not outside scholarships, but rather, those offered from the colleges themselves. Colleges that offer merit and need based aid are the best sources... and I fully agree that a student wants to be in the top 25% of students admitted if they want to be competitive for these (esp merit aid). My boys all know to look at schools where they are in the top 25%.

 

For us and our oldest, the college money was the start, then the outside scholarships filled in a bit more.

 

Here's a list of colleges you might want to consider if looking for "college" aid:

 

http://www.insidecollege.com/reno/The-Experts-Choice-Colleges-that-Go-the-Extra-Mile-to-Make-It-Financially-Possible-to-Attend/352/list.do

 

(The Experts' Choice: Colleges that Go the Extra Mile to Make It Financially Possible to Attend)

[distancia]

What Kimango wrote about are not outside scholarships, but rather, those offered from the colleges themselves. Colleges that offer merit and need based aid are the best sources... and I fully agree that a student wants to be in the top 25% of students admitted if they want to be competitive for these (esp merit aid). My boys all know to look at schools where they are in the top 25%.

 

Absolutely!

 

Here is a link of many public- and private- schools. http://collegeapps.about.com/od/choosingacollege/a/CollegeProfiles.htm

Read the first few sentences so you get a snapshot of the school, then zip down the page, heading straight for the average SAT/ACT scores. Look at those colleges with scores that put your child in the top 25%--or even better, the top 5%. These colleges will want your child!

 

Find those where your child is head- and shoulder- above the crowd. Do your research on those schools and look at the best of that pool. Narrow it down. From that smaller pool, visit the college sites and see what they offer for merit aid scholarships as well as need based. Narrow the list down further to those schools which have the desired program or a program close to the desired program.

 

Your best opportunities will lie with inside scholarships, i.e. those coming from the college itself. Round out additional sources of funds with local/smaller scholarships based on essays, ethnic group, etc.

 

Believe me, there are many choices out there.

Edited October 21, 2010 by distancia

[creekland]

Here is a link of many public- and private- schools. http://collegeapps.about.com/od/choosingacollege/a/CollegeProfiles.htm

Read the first few sentences so you get a snapshot of the school, then zip down the page, heading straight for the average SAT/ACT scores. Look at those colleges with scores that put your child in the top 25%--or even better, the top 5%. These colleges will want your child!

 

 

I LIKE that site for a quick overview. Thanks for the link!

[Guest Ana Braga-Henebry]

The best scholarships are the ones awarded by the college he applies to. Outside ones help a little, but the bulk will be the college's. The bigger the name the college is, the more scholarship $$ they will have to give.

Ana

[Miss Marple]

The best scholarships are the ones awarded by the college he applies to. Outside ones help a little, but the bulk will be the college's. The bigger the name the college is, the more scholarship $$ they will have to give.

Ana

 

This has not been our experience. My ds#1 has more scholarship $$$ from outside sources than from his school - which is in the top 5 nationally for his major (so I guess it could be considered a big name). The school tries to spread the money around as much as possible, whereas the private sources pick the very best applicants that meet their criteria.

[Kathy in Richmond]

We were in similar circumstances last year when our dd applied to college. My dh was in the midst of unemployment then, too. So :grouphug:, I know how stressful the experience can be.

 

I'm assuming that your family will qualify for need-based aid. You'll want to look for colleges that "meet full need" if at all possible. In our experience, that was the best source of grant money.

 

Also, be aware that if you do receive need-based aid directly from a college, then any outside scholarships your child receives (after lots of hard work!) may not always be stacked on top of the need-based grants.

 

Both of my kids' colleges limit them to approximately $5000 in outside awards. The colleges use that outside money to reduce or eliminate the on-campus & summer work portions of their financial aid awards. If they exceed that amount, the college will gladly accept the money, but it will reduce their college-funded grant aid dollar for dollar.

 

My son had a similar experience to kareni's dd when it came to applying for outside scholarships. Lots of work & nothing to show for it. My daughter, however, did win one $1000 renewable award. Every bit helps (and she surely appreciates it), but it's small compared to the grant aid her college gave her.

 

~Kathy

[Photo Ninja]

Fast web was a complete waste of time for my dc. Many of the scholarships end up with tens of thousands of applicants, and others are more propaganda than real scholarships. But give it a look to see if anything jumps out at you.

 

My ds applied to all the scholarships he qualified for. Most had a need based component, so he didn't qualify based on their standards. Truly, there is a great need because we can't pay for college at all, but evidently if parents have a job, a child is not considered to have a need. okay, my vent is over. Ds spent a lot of time writing essays and completing applications and did not receive anything. It really was a waste of time, but we would not have know had he not tried. My other ds and dd decided they were not going to spend all that time and effort and not get any scholarships. For us, their merit scholarships from their colleges are the best option.

 

Look at local organizations. See if your local newspaper or Kiwanis club or other community organizations offer scholarships. You may have to make some phone calls to find them, but you may find that local scholarships are a better option than nationwide offerings.

 

Look at the schools they are accepted to. Sometimes the school will offer merit or need based scholarships. Some departments offer scholarships, depending on your dc's major. For ex., all the students in my ds's school who are Theater majors receive a scholarship. My ds is not a theater major, but those who are appreciate the extra financial aid. Be sure your dc look for any departmental scholarships because most have a separate application.

[plansrme]

Look at local organizations. See if your local newspaper or Kiwanis club or other community organizations offer scholarships. You may have to make some phone calls to find them, but you may find that local scholarships are a better option than nationwide offerings.

 

Look at the schools they are accepted to. Sometimes the school will offer merit or need based scholarships. Some departments offer scholarships, depending on your dc's major. For ex., all the students in my ds's school who are Theater majors receive a scholarship. My ds is not a theater major, but those who are appreciate the extra financial aid. Be sure your dc look for any departmental scholarships because most have a separate application.

 

This is excellent advice. Look especially at mid- to large local companies HQ'd in your area, as they tend to be heavily involved in the local communities.

 

And keep in mind that there may be more scholarships available for some departments or schools within the college than others. For example, when I was in college, kids who wanted to go to vet school could choose from among several different undergraduate majors. Some were located in the smaller, more intimate College of Agriculture; some were in the big ol' impersonal science department across campus. Many (possibly most) of the classes overlapped, and in the end, they both converged in vet school, but the College of Agriculture had a whole lot more scholarship money to pass around to undergraduates than the science department. (I worked in the dean's office as a student and saw how this process worked.) There also was more outside money for agriculture students than science students, so the pre-vet majors in agriculture got more of that, too.

 

All this is to say that if there are different majors that will get your student to the same point, definitely consider which path might be paved with more $$$!

 

Terri

Edited October 22, 2010 by plansrme
remove the inadvertent thumbs-down sign

[distancia]

The best scholarships are the ones awarded by the college he applies to. Outside ones help a little, but the bulk will be the college's. The bigger the name the college is, the more scholarship $$ they will have to give.

Ana

 

I have to agree with CynthiaOK, this is not true in many instances The top tier, larger and more-endowed universities generally have greater numbers of high-caliber students applying, so the competition is fierce.

 

The mid-tier schools are often overlooked and those schools are more than willing to pay handsomely to have a high-caliber student on their campus.

 

Don't blow off those 3rd tier schools! They are the one that offered my relatives the best (translation: full) merit scholarships.

[creekland]

I have to agree with CynthiaOK, this is not true in many instances The top tier, larger and more-endowed universities generally have greater numbers of high-caliber students applying, so the competition is fierce.

 

The mid-tier schools are often overlooked and those schools are more than willing to pay handsomely to have a high-caliber student on their campus.

 

Don't blow off those 3rd tier schools! They are the one that offered my relatives the best (translation: full) merit scholarships.

 

Just beware that the actual education isn't always the same - more or less as per that "top tier" thread currently active on the high school board.

 

I won't let my boys look at schools that are far below their caliber for that reason... but having them comfortably in the top 25% works for us. (Plus, I try to make certain their schools are good in their desired major and provide good contacts for jobs, etc.)

[flyingiguana]

At my daughter's college, if she were to win any outside scholarship money, the school would subtract that amount from what they originally gave her so she'd end up not gaining anything.

 

I don't know how common that is, but you might want to check before spending lots of time on applying for outside scholarships.