Welcome to the blog for College Planning Specialists in Weston, Florida. Today's post reveals the exact steps you should take if you are looking for money (private scholarships and grants) for school.
First, realize you have long odds to beat: a scant 6.9%, or 14.5-to-one of the undergraduate students that apply for scholarships to college each year actually receive anything at all. The most competitive scholarships receive 400 applications for every one scholarship they give out. A well-known example: each year more than 100,000 students apply for the Coca-Cola scholarship, but only 250 total awards are given. 50 for $20,000 and 200 for $4,000.
But this is not the norm. On average, each recipient is awarded $2,051 in total scholarships over four years; or roughly enough to pay for books at your typical college for ONE of those years. In fact, private college scholarship money represents less than 2% of the total money that’s available for financial aid. (That’s why we advise our clients to focus on the other 98%!)
Here are the tips:
1. Start with a FREE, reputable online scholarship search, like http://www.fastweb.org/ or http://www.srnexpress.com/. Buy a scholarship book that is less than one year old. Library and colleges are good sources. You should NEVER have to pay for this information. There are simply too many good free sources to choose from.
2. Check your and your parents’ employers. Many have scholarships that nobody knows about because they’ve never asked, so that not many other students are competing for them. Each time I teach a class on this subject, we get a call or two the next day from parents thanking me for this, and telling me they found some obscure scholarship through their work worth thousands of dollars.
3. If you are at least 1/16th Native American, check with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They often have substantial scholarships available depending on what tribe you are from.
4. Since you don’t have unlimited time, increase your odds and apply wisely. Look for criteria that matches you and your interests as closely as possible; weed out all others. Do NOT apply for scholarships that ‘everyone’ can apply for, or that aren’t worth that much money to begin with.
5. Try to find things that are more unique to you. For example: Loyola-Chicago has a scholarship for people who meet two criteria: They’re Catholic and they have the last name Zolp!
6. Do NOT waste time applying for scholarships that you do not qualify for. For example: don’t apply for a scholarship that has a 3.75 GPA requirement if you have a 3.6. Your grades may be off by only a fraction, but close does not count in scholarships!
In my next dispatch, I’ll cover six more tips that can show YOU the college money, even if you’re not the world’s greatest student!
Andrew Lockwood, J.D. is co-owner of College Planning Specialists in Weston. He and his partner, Peter Ratzan, M.B.A., offer free, live workshops on topics such as “5 Myths About Qualifying for Financial Aid” and “3 Critical Questions You Must Ask The Financial Aid Office Before You Apply.” For more information and for a free copy of our E-book, visit www.CollegePlanningAdvice.com.
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