Scholarships for sophmores and up?

[Chris in VA]

Or, how to find scholarships when your child only got non-renewable ones for freshman year... Ugh. 

So, dd got about$4300 in scholarships to go to college. 2K was from our church, 1K was from her high school music dept. These were one-time deals. The other $1300 are possibly renewable. 

Our status as a clergy family has now changed to Missionary status, so we think she's eligible for two other scholarships through the Episcopal Church. But we are looking for more support. 

Her college is hopeless. She doesn't have time to RA and we don't qualify for any grants. The music dept really doesn't seem like a good place for scholarships because they go to performance majors. 

We are not minorities, don't have the usual qualifiers for scholarships  and she doesn't have time for essay-writing. 

Besides working this summer, which is a given, any ideas for scholarships would be appreciated. She needs about $2K. She'll be playing out and also attempting to get a retail job for the summer and should be able to earn enough to pay the 1/4 of her total expenses that we require, but an extra 2K would make it easier to afford books and music supplies and such. 

[Arch at Home]

Work study or an on campus job is an easy way to make that kind of money. Have her put in where ever she can. Did was unable to find one her first year but snagged one in the spring of that year for the next year after making some connections. 

[Lori D.]

What dept. is her degree in? Have her ask to see if there are often smaller departmental scholarship awards of $1000-$2500 for students in that dept. However, those are usually given to juniors and seniors.

Also, see if there are any "leadership" awards -- smaller partial scholarships where the student puts in some hours helping out at campus life activity things, or works as a dorm RA. DS#1 received a scholarship for $2000 to lead a weekly dorm Bible study + put in a few hours of "volunteer work" as a student leader, such as working the dorm move-in days, and setting up for a campus activity event.

Work study awards are Federal Financial Aid, based on FAFSA. Check and see if the school requires her to reapply for FAFSA to see if she is eligible for any Federal Aid. There are a lot of potential downsides to work study money:
- often the awards can be very small (like, under $1000); the average work study award is $2650
- the student still has to *find* and *apply* for jobs that pay out the work study money (it's not a guarantee once awarded)
- the student has to *work* and earn the money (at a typical rate of $7.25/hour)
- once the total work study amount has been paid out as an hourly wage, the student is "out of a job"

Students can usually earn a lot more money -- and don't lose the job -- by just going with a part time job. Can she tutor? She could possibly get one of the on-campus tutoring jobs, which often means long hours of no one needing your help, so you get paid to do your own homework, lol. Or, giving music lessons has got to be more profitable -- surely she could charge at least $20 for a 45-min. lesson -- $25 if she needs to travel to the student. Five students/week = $100 for 5 hours of work... And if she could set that up to work with homeschool families, she might be able to do it all in one location on one day... Just a thought!

For more "outside" scholarships, check Scholarships.com website, which allows you to search by various topics. Here are scholarships for college sophomores.

Good luck! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Lori D.

[Chris in VA]

Thanks for the ideas. She is just so incredibly busy that working seems impossible during the school year. As a music education major, she has 20 credits. But that doesn't tell the full story. She has 10 classes, is in two orchestras which meet 8 hours a week (only one is for credit and only carries 3 credits) and for which she must practice two to 3 hours a day...She has to attend 10 concerts a semester (no credit for that, just part of class). Heck, she even lives in the furthest dorm from the music building, where the majority of her classes are. Anyway, yes, she could probably squeeze in a couple of babysitting jobs, but I want her to have some sort of life at college,  too. 

[Lanny]

She needs to go to the Financial Aid office in her school, ASAP.   If she/you did not file the FAFSA for the 2019-2020 school year, you need to do that immediately.  Many people do not file the FAFSA because they believe that they are not eligible, and a large percentage of those who do not file the FAFSA are in-fact eligible for Financial Aid.

And yes, from the university web sites I look at, on their Scholarship pages, it looks like the majority of the scholarships begin with the Freshmen year so this is a tougher place to begin looking.  If you have any "spare time" you can search in her account on the CollegeBoard.org web site for Scholarships and also on Scholarship America.  https://scholarshipamerica.org/ however I read that she doesn't have the usual qualifiers for Scholarships, so that would suggest a stronger incentive for her to try to see whether or not she does in fact qualify for Need Based Financial Aid.  

Tutoring Music would probably bring in more $ per hour than a campus job.

Depending upon the level of her talent, transferring to a different college/university is another possibility, but that would require a lot of her time with auditions, applications, etc. and she is time limited.  I see university athletes transferring from one unviersity to another in the news, so possibly that is something a Music major can do too?

Good luck to her and Shalom!

 

[klmama]

Have you searched online for music education scholarships?  

[JanetC]

Getting scholarships after freshman year takes as much time as a job: There are many fewer scholarships out there, and they tend to be very competitive. If there are no scholarships available from the school, that makes things worse because you are competing nationally.

I recommend an actual on or off campus job instead: The hours have a guaranteed payback versus spending hours finding and applying to scholarships and not knowing until the last minute whether the hours pay off.

If you manage to find some one-year scholarships to cover next year, what happens the year after that? Now is the time to look at your four-year plan for paying for college. If you can't afford where she is, perhaps a transfer is in order. Or she could look into taking a year or two off to work to earn her own way through school.

 

[Lori D.]

20 credits plus all the other requirements for the semester is WAY too much for most students, and is not going to leave time for working, much less time for campus life.

Even if it means having to go an extra 1-2 semesters, I'd strongly encourage backing down to 16 credits/semester. Otherwise, she is in serious danger of academic burnout (this is only her freshman year! and working in the music field often also means a Master's degree, and high likelihood of a PhD!), or in compromising her health (ask Jean in Newcastle of these boards for her story 😞 ). Or, if the school's music program *requires* taking 20 credits/semester, then it may be time to take a very serious second look at other schools, or a degree in a very different field.

Totally agree with JanetC -- and I'd just add, make sure to get that FAFSA in and find out if DD is eligible for *subsidized loans*. Of course none of us want our kids coming out of college owing debt. But we also don't want them cracking physically or mentally due to the strain of trying to get through debt-free by taking on too much every semester in an effort to get through "faster" so as to not have to finance extra semesters. The maximum amount of *subsidized* loans your DD would possibly be eligible for is a total of $15,500 = $4500 (sophomore year) and $5500 (each of junior and senior years). That is a very reasonable amount of debt to pay off, as the median annual salary for a music teacher is $41,000. Even if she can only find work at HALF that rate ($20,000), having college debt of $15,000 would still be well under the recommended maximum debt level of no more than one year's salary at the average entry level of pay for a new graduate.

Also, I totally agree with Lanny -- music tutoring is going to earn her more money in fewer hours of time than babysitting, or a part-time entry level job either on or off campus. She could even arrange to give a slight discount and have parents bring their students to her at a location that is on or near campus so she doesn't lose time to commuting. Just 2-3 students, all scheduled close together with only short breaks scheduled between each, could earn her $40-60 per week for just 2-3 hours of time. At entry-level pay at a part time job, that would take at least twice as much time (and possibly more, if commuting) out of her week to earn the same amount of money. And time is her most precious commodity right now.

BEST of luck in finding ways of making this work without overloading! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Lori D.

[Lanny]

Chris: Upthread, I suggested you/she file the FAFSA for the 2019-2020 school year and yes that needs to be done.

A more immediate thing is for you/her to file the FAFSA for the 2018-2019 school year if you have not previously done that and submitted it to the school she is attending now.

On the FAFSA web site, you will find two (2) forms available and they are for different school years and the Tax Returns referenced will be for different tax years.

There are some schools known for maximum financial aid. This list is not complete, but if she should look into transferring to another school, is a good place to begin:    

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2018-09-18/18-schools-that-meet-full-financial-need-with-no-loans

 

[Chris in VA]

Thanks so much for your help! To answer some questions, yes we have filed FAFSA. Yes, we can afford this school. Yes, the classes are all required and typical for music ed majors. They need the required classes in order to develop skills and the classes compliment each other; theory is taken concurrently with aural skills, lessons and orchestra must be taken at the same time...there's a block of classes that every music school is going to demand and no way to separate them out and go an extra year at this point. Her AP credits, which I thought would create some holes in her schedule,  some space, don't even come into play til her Junior year, really. It is just the nature of the major. It is essentially a double major. 

But she is going to be gigging this summer and I think she will be fine afa earning enough. We actually did find a couple scholarships at JMU for music education majors that she will ask her viola prof about. 

Thanks again!

 

 

Edited February 4, 2019 by Chris in VA

[GoodGrief]

Are there any scholarships in your local area? Our local utility companies and service organizations tend to have scholarships for older students, even those attending out of state, though it is true that they are not as plentiful. The good news is that there tend to be fewer applying for them too.

My daughter needs to get about $3500 a year, and so far she has had good luck with a scholarship attached to my husband's employer and a local utility.

The scholarships can be tough to come by, though I do point out to my daughters that even if they spend 10 hours on the scholarship hunt and only come up with a $500 scholraship, that's still $50/hour. It does sound like your daughter's time is exceptionally limited though, and it will likely to be difficult to find a scholarship that doesn't require an essay. (sorry about this weird smilie, I can't seem to delete it)🙂

[Lori D.]

5 hours ago, Chris in VA said:

... yes we have filed FAFSA. Yes, we can afford this school. Yes, the classes are all required and typical for music ed majors. They need the required classes in order ... and ... taken concurrently ... Her AP credits, which I thought would create some holes in her schedule... don't even come into play til her Junior year...

Since reducing credit load is not an option, and there really isn't time in her schedule for writing essays/scholarship search, nor is there time for working during the school year, AND we don't want her over-doing and having a physical health/mental health crisis, then it sounds like the options are down to one or more of the following:

- mom & dad kick in a bit more to cover some/all of that extra amount
- friend/family member gifting her with cash
- DD tightens belt as much as possible for next year
- DD takes out small amount of subsidized loan to cover the extra needed
 

...But she is going to be gigging this summer and I think she will be fine afa earning enough. We actually did find a couple scholarships at JMU for music education majors that she will ask her viola prof about. 

Yea! Good luck!

[Lanny]

Chris::  If your family income was reduced by this change in what your DH does, I think (but am not positive) that you can modify the information on the FAFSA(s) that you have already filed. That would apply to the one for the 2018-2019 school year and also to the one for the 2019-2020 school year.

Also, the FAFSA and the CSS Profile will take your new Overseas address.

[Chris in VA]

1 hour ago, Lanny said:

Chris::  If your family income was reduced by this change in what your DH does, I think (but am not positive) that you can modify the information on the FAFSA(s) that you have already filed. That would apply to the one for the 2018-2019 school year and also to the one for the 2019-2020 school year.

Also, the FAFSA and the CSS Profile will take your new Overseas address.

We are actually making more here 😉

[Lanny]

Awesome.  In that case, don't update the FAFSA forms you filed before...

[Guest]

On 2/3/2019 at 4:40 AM, Chris in VA said:

Thanks for the ideas. She is just so incredibly busy that working seems impossible during the school year. As a music education major, she has 20 credits. But that doesn't tell the full story. She has 10 classes, is in two orchestras which meet 8 hours a week (only one is for credit and only carries 3 credits) and for which she must practice two to 3 hours a day...She has to attend 10 concerts a semester (no credit for that, just part of class). Heck, she even lives in the furthest dorm from the music building, where the majority of her classes are. Anyway, yes, she could probably squeeze in a couple of babysitting jobs, but I want her to have some sort of life at college,  too. 

Music majors are nickel and dimed to death-lots of 1 credit hour ensembles that take 5 hours a week in rehearsal alone. It is hard to work and be a music major. 

If she does stage band/combos at all, and is willing to put up with drunk fraternity guys, music majors can pick up a decent amount on weekends playing parties. I will say that this is harder for girls-it’s a good idea to make sure the combo includes a few guys who aren’t going to be shy about not letting the girls in the group be handled. If she does string ensembles, etc, sams deal, only instead of drunk fraternity guys, you get drunk wedding guests. A violinist, vocalist or flutist can often pick up weddings as a soloist. Sometimes church choirs will need “ringers” either for an orchestra or as soloists and will pay, especially around Christmas and Easter, or will hire a college student to direct a children’s choir or bell choir.   I will say that this is harder in Harrisonburg, with two strong music departments and a lot of extremely good amateurs. But it’s a good idea to get herself out there to the music ministers at the big churches and to the school music teachers if she’s interested in teaching private lessons or being an accompanist for a school performance or something similar.

 

[Chris in VA]

1 minute ago, dmmetler said:

Music majors are nickel and dimed to death-lots of 1 credit hour ensembles that take 5 hours a week in rehearsal alone. It is hard to work and be a music major. 

If she does stage band/combos at all, and is willing to put up with drunk fraternity guys, music majors can pick up a decent amount on weekends playing parties. I will say that this is harder for girls-it’s a good idea to make sure the combo includes a few guys who aren’t going to be shy about not letting the girls in the group be handled. If she does string ensembles, etc, sams deal, only instead of drunk fraternity guys, you get drunk wedding guests. A violinist, vocalist or flutist can often pick up weddings as a soloist. Sometimes church choirs will need “ringers” either for an orchestra or as soloists and will pay, especially around Christmas and Easter, or will hire a college student to direct a children’s choir or bell choir.   I will say that this is harder in Harrisonburg, with two strong music departments and a lot of extremely good amateurs. But it’s a good idea to get herself out there to the music ministers at the big churches and to the school music teachers if she’s interested in teaching private lessons or being an accompanist for a school performance or something similar.

 

Yes, she is part of a group that plays weddings in the spring and summer. They have a pool of players and a standard repertoire and form quartets based on who is available. It was started by college students. She has 4 or 5 gigs already. It is great money! 

[katilac]

No time to write essays knocks out most scholarships. Even the ones for a couple of hundred dollars generally require essays. 

It is worth talking to the music department. Depending on their funding, they may be able to scrape together something for someone who has proven themselves a good student. They may tell her no, but she shouldn't tell herself no (aka as "don't ask, don't get"). 

She should look at tipping jobs before retail to make more money. Wait staff, hostess, barista, and so on. The nicer the neighborhood, the nicer the tips, but even meh tips are likely to outperform retail pay. That type of job also tends to be more open to temporary staff.