Scholarships - searching for them

[Southernmiss]

Well this is really disheartening. My son will be a junior in the fall and based on his recent PSAT (and SATs he took at an early age) he will qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program. We are working on getting even higher scores on the SAT so he will be in the 2100 -2400 range hopefully. Now it feels like it won't be worth it. He has a high GPA and will have at least 9 AP classes when he graduates. This is what everyone is telling us to do so he can hopefully get scholarship money. He has leadership roles in school and at church and now it feels like it is for nothing.

I get so many conflicting accounts about this subject. So many people tell me there is money everywhere and then I see posts like this. Very disheartening because he will not be able to go to school without loans (he HATES the state of Maryland and refuses to go to school here so we are looking at out of state tuition).

Sorry to say that this was our experience with our ds as well. Valedictorian, excelled in academics and leadership and involved everywhere. But only received one full offer and he took it. It was a school we thought he would never consider, but he has loved it. The other offers were very limited.

The money is not there and the money that is there is spread thinly among the maximum number of students possible.

 

[mhfrau]

Well this is really disheartening. My son will be a junior in the fall and based on his recent PSAT (and SATs he took at an early age) he will qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program. We are working on getting even higher scores on the SAT so he will be in the 2100 -2400 range hopefully. Now it feels like it won't be worth it. He has a high GPA and will have at least 9 AP classes when he graduates. This is what everyone is telling us to do so he can hopefully get scholarship money. He has leadership roles in school and at church and now it feels like it is for nothing.

I get so many conflicting accounts about this subject. So many people tell me there is money everywhere and then I see posts like this. Very disheartening because he will not be able to go to school without loans (he HATES the state of Maryland and refuses to go to school here so we are looking at out of state tuition).

Never give up hope. I think it's kind of a crapshoot myself. We are starting the process also, and our son knows what the bottom line is. He has 58 grand in cash, in his name from a grandma who passed away, so in a way it really messes him up as far as FAFSA is concerned. It's not nearly enough for a top private school that he would love, but it will hinder him as far as need based scholarships.

I know he "hates" the state of Maryland, but would he really allow something that silly to dictate his education that will set the next, and most important, part of his life up? I get tickled because sometimes this age group seems so adult, but they are still like kids

 

[Cmbar]

Never give up hope. I think it's kind of a crapshoot myself. We are starting the process also, and our son knows what the bottom line is. He has 58 grand in cash, in his name from a grandma who passed away, so in a way it really messes him up as far as FAFSA is concerned. It's not nearly enough for a top private school that he would love, but it will hinder him as far as need based scholarships.

I know he "hates" the state of Maryland, but would he really allow something that silly to dictate his education that will set the next, and most important, part of his life up? I get tickled because sometimes this age group seems so adult, but they are still like kids

Yeah I know. So adamant at age 16! Truthfully I hate this state too and I hate to give them one more cent anyway, but it may be the only option. I just don't know what to think now. He has Italian and Cherokee heritage so I am going to definitely look into that angle as well as church scholarships and such.

 

[mhfrau]

Yeah I know. So adamant at age 16! Truthfully I hate this state too and I hate to give them one more cent anyway, but it may be the only option. I just don't know what to think now. He has Italian and Cherokee heritage so I am going to definitely look into that angle as well as church scholarships and such.

Wow, you are lucky! I actually just saw some scholarships listed on CollegeData that were Italian heritage based. And the Cherokee can't hurt. We are just a mishmash of so many different ethnic backgrounds and our "mutt status" is a big downer sometimes

I'm pretty happy that we are in Florida, and even though he has a very high gpa and several AP's, I'm concerned because even the state schools are so selective... I guess everyone wants to come to Florida, which I get since we took the first opportunity to live here also!

 

[Sadie22]

Well this is really disheartening. My son will be a junior in the fall and based on his recent PSAT (and SATs he took at an early age) he will qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program. We are working on getting even higher scores on the SAT so he will be in the 2100 -2400 range hopefully. Now it feels like it won't be worth it. He has a high GPA and will have at least 9 AP classes when he graduates. This is what everyone is telling us to do so he can hopefully get scholarship money. He has leadership roles in school and at church and now it feels like it is for nothing.

I get so many conflicting accounts about this subject. So many people tell me there is money everywhere and then I see posts like this. Very disheartening because he will not be able to go to school without loans (he HATES the state of Maryland and refuses to go to school here so we are looking at out of state tuition).

Sit that child down and explain to him that he needs to apply to a range of institutions that the family can afford, including both public and private ones in our great state. The Distinguished Scholar program no longer exists, but there is money right here in Maryland (and elsewhere) for deserving students so that the cost of college need not force families and students to take out huge loans.

 

[spima3]

Interesting topic.

Oldest DD18 had crappy grades in 11th & 12th grades, but did fairly well on the one and only SAT she took.

She was, however, very involved in activities, and very involved in Speech & Debate, and won a number of awards. I am thinking that along w/ the SAT's helped her to get at least some school scholarships. They were from a state school, which I understand is pretty rare.

She also qualifies for need based aid, and works part time, so I am hoping she won't need to take out too much in loans.

She filled out numerous scholarship apps, on numerous sites, and got squat. So, I think w/ DS15 we aren't even going to waste our time with them when it's his turn.

He's the opposite of DD18. Academically top of his class, but not involved in much in school, but due to budget constraints, there aren't really a lot of activities to chose from if you don't participate in athletics.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years.

 

[imsayin]

Well this is really disheartening. My son will be a junior in the fall and based on his recent PSAT (and SATs he took at an early age) he will qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program. We are working on getting even higher scores on the SAT so he will be in the 2100 -2400 range hopefully. Now it feels like it won't be worth it. He has a high GPA and will have at least 9 AP classes when he graduates. This is what everyone is telling us to do so he can hopefully get scholarship money. He has leadership roles in school and at church and now it feels like it is for nothing.

I get so many conflicting accounts about this subject. So many people tell me there is money everywhere and then I see posts like this. Very disheartening because he will not be able to go to school without loans (he HATES the state of Maryland and refuses to go to school here so we are looking at out of state tuition).

I spent a lot of time researching scholarships. DD was a NMS, top student, etc. Here's the deal: there are full ride scholarships available for NMS's/top students. The catch is that you have to be willing to forego going to a top school. The best schools don't offer scholarships at all, the next level of schools have some scholarships, but they are super competitive. University of Alabama (last year) offered full room and board plus an ipad to National Merit Scholars. Go to collegeconfidential.com and check out the threads on scholarships.

Your best chance for scholarship money is at a school where you rank in the top 25% of admitted students. Go to the school's site, search for the freshman profile. It will list average ACT/SAT of admitted students. Then search their site for scholarship information. The info is not always there, so check college confidential.com threads for additional info. They also have a detailed current list of scholarships available for National Merit Scholars.

Local scholarship competitions are a good option as there is less competition. The national scholarships - Coke, Gatorade, etc. have so many applicants it's close to impossible to get any $$.

Also, many state colleges offer in-state tuition for top students from other states.

 

[::Snow_White::]

Quite honestly, as a junior in college right now I will tell you I have completely given up on national scholarships. I have received all of my money to go to school through local and university scholarships along with a few state scholarships based on academic merit.

I was salutatorian and had a decently high ACT score and did a ton of extra activities in high school. I didn't win a single national one I applied for but ended up with plenty just through a few state funded ones, and our local town ones along with whatever the university gives out. After freshman year I stuck to renewing my state ones and applying for the university ones and special departments and have done fine but my university is also very cheap.

I spent hours upon hours trying to find those scholarships that nobody apparently applies for and found zip. I don't know where they are hiding them but I sure as heck would like to know! That being said, certainly don't be discouraged, I would however spend more time looking for local ones rather than national. My brother will be going to college very soon and I am suggesting he stick with using his time to make his local and state ones very nice and not waste his time with national considering he is very smart with good grades but very little extra activities.

 

[Cmbar]

Quite honestly, as a junior in college right now I will tell you I have completely given up on national scholarships. I have received all of my money to go to school through local and university scholarships along with a few state scholarships based on academic merit.

I was salutatorian and had a decently high ACT score and did a ton of extra activities in high school. I didn't win a single national one I applied for but ended up with plenty just through a few state funded ones, and our local town ones along with whatever the university gives out. After freshman year I stuck to renewing my state ones and applying for the university ones and special departments and have done fine but my university is also very cheap.

I spent hours upon hours trying to find those scholarships that nobody apparently applies for and found zip. I don't know where they are hiding them but I sure as heck would like to know! That being said, certainly don't be discouraged, I would however spend more time looking for local ones rather than national. My brother will be going to college very soon and I am suggesting he stick with using his time to make his local and state ones very nice and not waste his time with national considering he is very smart with good grades but very little extra activities.

Thanks for the advice Kayla! Can you also explain to me what "extra activities" are the ones the colleges are looking for? I hear that most colleges want to see that you challenged yourself more by taking the AP classes and such more than the extra curricular activities. Did you find that to be true?

 

[Cmbar]

I spent a lot of time researching scholarships. DD was a NMS, top student, etc. Here's the deal: there are full ride scholarships available for NMS's/top students. The catch is that you have to be willing to forego going to a top school. The best schools don't offer scholarships at all, the next level of schools have some scholarships, but they are super competitive. University of Alabama (last year) offered full room and board plus an ipad to National Merit Scholars. Go to collegeconfidential.com and check out the threads on scholarships.

Your best chance for scholarship money is at a school where you rank in the top 25% of admitted students. Go to the school's site, search for the freshman profile. It will list average ACT/SAT of admitted students. Then search their site for scholarship information. The info is not always there, so check college confidential.com threads for additional info. They also have a detailed current list of scholarships available for National Merit Scholars.

Local scholarship competitions are a good option as there is less competition. The national scholarships - Coke, Gatorade, etc. have so many applicants it's close to impossible to get any $$.

Also, many state colleges offer in-state tuition for top students from other states.

Thank you for the advice. I didn't know that some states offer in state tuition for top students. My son just wants to go south of Maryland so he would be thrilled to go to a school like Univ of Alabama. I don't think he will be closed to going to a smaller school either.

When do you start applying for these scholarships?

 

[Cmbar]

Sit that child down and explain to him that he needs to apply to a range of institutions that the family can afford, including both public and private ones in our great state. The Distinguished Scholar program no longer exists, but there is money right here in Maryland (and elsewhere) for deserving students so that the cost of college need not force families and students to take out huge loans.

Well Sadie I have to disagree with you about our "great" state as I filled up my car this morning with our lovely new additional taxes, oh and its raining so there goes my tax bill!

However, there are some good private colleges in Maryland. He would consider Hopkins and Loyola I suppose but he really doesn't want the Univ of Maryland system. I graduated from Univ of MD so I can't completely trash the school, but I would be much happier if he is able to get some money to go out of state. But you are correct in that he is going to have to be reasonable about his choices.

 

[::Snow_White::]

Thanks for the advice Kayla! Can you also explain to me what "extra activities" are the ones the colleges are looking for? I hear that most colleges want to see that you challenged yourself more by taking the AP classes and such more than the extra curricular activities. Did you find that to be true?

I personally took my usual classes and 1 AP class which I barely managed an A in. I was in junior and senior honors which just consisted of a few book reports and extra work, not necessarily a class. What I mean by extra activities are clubs and volunteer work. I did a lot of volunteer work in school through clubs like FCCLA, FEA, National Honor Society, and then on my own. We had penpals from our local preschool, went to a lot of meetings, my friends and I started an afterschool program for the 4th & 5th graders twice a month where we'd go out to the school and teach them about healthy choices through games and snacks.

I find that clubs and activities can even be more helpful than grades. If you get decent or average grades but really push yourself to join clubs and participate in opportunities, scholarships really encourage and like to see that. I honestly think that is more important than amazing grades, though grades do help.

In college I've had less time for clubs and volunteering since I'm full time school and part-time work so my scholarships are now strictly financial and academic based. Most of the local ones given out during my senior year of high school were to the kids who participated in clubs so my friends and I received a lot of those.



Choosing a college definitely has an impact. I wanted to move to Des Moines for college but the price was just way too much. I ended up at a local university with great programs that kept a set rate for full-time students no matter the hours. That is crucial in my ability to finish school without loans. Just make sure you consider the options of each school and what matters most!

I started looking for scholarships at the end of my junior year and applied for them as soon as I started my senior year. It's important to check the due dates, especially on the local scholarships. I had quite a few that were due in October. Start early, finish early, you'll be glad you did!

 

[Cmbar]

I personally took my usual classes and 1 AP class which I barely managed an A in. I was in junior and senior honors which just consisted of a few book reports and extra work, not necessarily a class. What I mean by extra activities are clubs and volunteer work. I did a lot of volunteer work in school through clubs like FCCLA, FEA, National Honor Society, and then on my own. We had penpals from our local preschool, went to a lot of meetings, my friends and I started an afterschool program for the 4th & 5th graders twice a month where we'd go out to the school and teach them about healthy choices through games and snacks.

I find that clubs and activities can even be more helpful than grades. If you get decent or average grades but really push yourself to join clubs and participate in opportunities, scholarships really encourage and like to see that. I honestly think that is more important than amazing grades, though grades do help.

In college I've had less time for clubs and volunteering since I'm full time school and part-time work so my scholarships are now strictly financial and academic based. Most of the local ones given out during my senior year of high school were to the kids who participated in clubs so my friends and I received a lot of those.



Choosing a college definitely has an impact. I wanted to move to Des Moines for college but the price was just way too much. I ended up at a local university with great programs that kept a set rate for full-time students no matter the hours. That is crucial in my ability to finish school without loans. Just make sure you consider the options of each school and what matters most!

I started looking for scholarships at the end of my junior year and applied for them as soon as I started my senior year. It's important to check the due dates, especially on the local scholarships. I had quite a few that were due in October. Start early, finish early, you'll be glad you did!

Thank you so much! Great advice from someone experiencing it now! Thank you for taking the time to write back!

 

[IUTBAM]

Well this is really disheartening. My son will be a junior in the fall and based on his recent PSAT (and SATs he took at an early age) he will qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program. We are working on getting even higher scores on the SAT so he will be in the 2100 -2400 range hopefully. Now it feels like it won't be worth it

My DD had a 2260 on the SAT...missed out on a perfect score by only 140 points, and still got no full ride offers from ANY state school in Colorado. They are VERY VERY stingy here. She rocked her PSAT's as well which of course is how she landed her NM scholarship. But squat for such a GREAT SAT score....very disheartening indeed.

 

[Cmbar]

My DD had a 2260 on the SAT...missed out on a perfect score by only 140 points, and still got no full ride offers from ANY state school in Colorado. They are VERY VERY stingy here. She rocked her PSAT's as well which of course is how she landed her NM scholarship. But squat for such a GREAT SAT score....very disheartening indeed.

Yes this is what is so disheartening. I don't know about Colorado but here in Maryland/Va/DC area it is very competitive. Only thing maybe different is that we have a ton of colleges in a very small area. Still I don't expect anything from the state schools around here either.

Do you mind me asking about the NM scholarship? This is a competition right? What kind of scholarship did your DD land? Also, did she have a large number of AP classes as well as a high (heavily weighted) GPA? My son is in all GT or AP classes for all of high school and should still have a 4.XX (if he doesn't blow it next year!) with at least 9 AP classes. He hopefully will score well on the SAT as well, but I just keep thinking this won't be enough. I really don't understand what these kids have to do to get a scholarship! Geez!!! On the one hand though as long as he goes to a college that accepts all his AP classes we should have at least close to a year less to pay for!

 

[3boymthr]

CMbar - Just a thought for your DS who does not want to go to school in MD, look into reciprocal agreements. Oldest DS is also heading into his senior year and I've been hit by sticker shock but we found a light in the tunnel. We found the NE Region Reciprocal Agreement which makes it so that for certain degree fields that are not offered by UMass or other MA state run schools students can go to another school in the NE region that participates in the reciprocal agreement and that offers the degree for a discounted tuition. He wants to study Forestry which is one of the degrees covered by the reciprocal agreement. For us that means his UMaine tuition would be only a small amount more than is UMass tuition. Check around you may find MD has the same program with other schools in the region.

 

[imsayin]

Do you mind me asking about the NM scholarship? This is a competition right? What kind of scholarship did your DD land? Also, did she have a large number of AP classes as well as a high (heavily weighted) GPA? My son is in all GT or AP classes for all of high school and should still have a 4.XX (if he doesn't blow it next year!) with at least 9 AP classes. He hopefully will score well on the SAT as well, but I just keep thinking this won't be enough. I really don't understand what these kids have to do to get a scholarship! Geez!!! On the one hand though as long as he goes to a college that accepts all his AP classes we should have at least close to a year less to pay for!

What the National Merit Scholarship program is:
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_payarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=10126

Schools that offer large scholarships to National Merit Finalists:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15297679-post727.html

Lots of discussion about the National Merit Scholarship from colleges (started in 2009, but has current info near the end):
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html

 

[Sadie22]

The list of institutions cited on the website linked above is not necessarily a complete list as the preparer(s) may not have contacted every institution for complete information. My children's institutions do not advertise the criteria for free tuition and/or free room and board on their websites. However, they do offer it to those meeting certain criteria. You may not find things like this out until your child applies, is accepted, and is offered such aid.

Researching which colleges and universities will offer credit for high AP test scores and what sort of credit is another important step in the process of choosing schools to which to apply. Such credit may allow a student to have the time to take more advanced courses or a wider range of courses yet still graduate in four years.

 

[a1970model]

Here's our experience:
Our son had a 5.0 and scored a 32 ACT. He was involved in Speech and Drama throughout high school. The strategy I took began with the colleges he wanted to attend. I was willing to pay a little more in application fees to cover the "search" in hopes it would pay off in the end. He applied to an Ivy, four 'dream' schools across the country (all out-of-state), and two local universities (I insisted). Once we identified the schools at the beginning of his senior year, we began dissecting their websites to learn about the academic scholarships and/or financial aid offered. He applied for everything we could find before the due dates. Then, we sat back and waited for the offers. No decision was made until we had heard from all of them.

The Ivy refused him; he picked the one with the lowest acceptance percentage. Two of the dream schools accepted him with no scholarship offers, one offered him a flat $5500, and another wait-listed him. The two local universities both invited him to interview for their presidential scholarship. In the end, the private university offered him a little more than half of their tuition for four years. The public university offered him a full-ride; tuition, fees, room and board. He accepted the full-ride.

DS transferred in about 30 hours of AP and dual-enrollment credit and was classified as a sophomore his first year. He could double-major in three years, with a little extra work, but is currently thinking he'll stay for four years and pull a minor as well. I'm glad that we applied to as many colleges as we did because he'll never wonder about the other schools; he knows exactly where he stood with them. He said that he felt like the local public univ. wanted him more and he recently told me that he's very happy with the decision he made last year. Since we paid for his sister's college education (no chance of scholarships), we've offered to help him with his post-grad work. But, he's already discovered a law school in the area that has a full-tuition scholarship and is checking what he needs to do to fill their requirements. However, that hasn't affected my saving every penny I can over the next three years.

Hope that helps someone. Having paid for one college education already, I know how expensive it can be.

 

[pryncess527]

Quite honestly, as a junior in college right now I will tell you I have completely given up on national scholarships. I have received all of my money to go to school through local and university scholarships along with a few state scholarships based on academic merit.

Ditto -- most of the students I work with who get substantial aid got it through the school.

For example, I work at NCSU now -- we have the Park Scholarship which is a full ride for 4 years -- you can read about the selection criteria online:
http://www.ncsu.edu/park_scholarships/apply/criteria.php

I went to a small private college on a full ride from them. I think doing a school-centered approach is the most productive way to find quality scholarships.