College Scholarships

Yes, you can have a child in top 10 % and no or few scholarships It is a very competitive area. Fastweb is a great source, and there are several others. But a $1000 scholarship vs 8000 students applying is hard to get. I totally agree that the best place to look is at the school the person plans to attend. My niece goes to an out of state school. Because it is out of state, even with some assistance, she is going to have big loans when she is done. She is getting an apartment next year (2nd yr there) and then for 3rd and 4th, she can be considered in state student so it will be cheaper or possibly free if she gets the scholarships/assistance she is told she will get.

I have a senior in HS. What do you mean by "scholarships?" Do you mean financial aid based on need, merit/academic money from the college or university, sports or activity-based scholarships, or scholarships the students apply for from corporations, etc. (for example my son applied for the "Amazon Scholarship")? There are a variety of ways in which students get college money and the qualifications and criteria vary widely. And yes, a student can be in the top 10% of their graduating class and not get a "scholarship," depending on what you mean by that and depending on where they choose to go to college.

Most college money comes from the school itself, either need or merit-based. The first and best place to start is by looking at individual schools--are their awards of money need-based, merit-based or both? Private schools generally give more money than public schools, although the more selective schools (think Ivy League, etc.) usually don't give any academic money. They don't need to do that to attract quality applicants or students. Their giving is usually need-based.

The next best resource is your high school's counseling office. Your child's counselor should have information about legitimate scholarships. Many of the smaller scholarships not affiliated with an particular college or university are local.

I should know this, but I can't recall off hand. I think there is a federal website where you can plug in your family's financial information and it will spit out what your family is expected to pay for college based on need. It is quite startling. The amount families are "expected to pay" is not realistic for most families. We are in the midst of filling out the FAFSA and CSS (detailed forms required for any sort of financial aid requests) and it is burdensome and difficult to fill out the forms. The good news is that with proper research and some flexibility as to where a student is willing to go to college, most good students can get some sort of financial aid or merit money. I have a friend whose daughter is attending a big, respected university for $6,000/year, which includes tuition, room and board. They did their research and she is fortunate to be good enough in a sport to get some money for that.

The key is to get started early, look around and research. I prefer research by word of mouth from experienced educators, finance experts and/or other parents. It will be more reliable than just checking out websites or searching the internet.

Check to see if your school district offers "dual enrollment."

My youngest is 17 and by the time he graduates he will have at least 32 transferable credit hours from our local community college. These credits are "free" to us; i.e., they are paid by our school district. This is not a scholarship but it does the same thing (pays for college in essence).

Also, I would plug in with your son's high school guidance department. They often have leads on scholarships.

Check with your husband's or your employer too, as well as volunteer organizations that you are involved in.

Good for you thinking about this early! Best of luck.

Depending upon his major? He may be able to get scholarships from local businesses.

For example, Lockheed Martin gives scholarships for Engineering students. It may only be $3K - but hey that's $3K you don't have to worry about!

PriceWaterHouseCoopers, DeLoitte and other Big 5 companies sponsor students with exceptional grades and aptitude for finances/accounting.

My dad is with the Retired Master Chief's Association. They give out scholarships as well. His group is associated with Lockheed Martin and sometimes they work in tandem.

Talk with your guidance counselor.
Talk with the school your child is shooting for and see what they will do.

Does your child play sports? Look for that as well.

Always, always, always complete the FAFSA every year he's in college. Always. My SD lost out on some money because she skipped it one year. Even $2K is $2K less you have to deal with later.

Have him go to the guidance office at his school to discuss grants and scholarships. Sometimes local companies or groups like the Lions Club will give out small scholarships that will pay for a semester of books or something. I got a few of those, and it really helped. If there are contests, even if they are a few hundred, see if they would interest him enough to apply. Some do not offer money til the student is a junior but it's good to know what options there are. I got a small amount of money because I was initially going to major in something pertaining to that organization. If he knows he's going to want to do engineering, then perhaps see if any engineering companies offer such assistance.

Go to the prep for college seminars offered at his school. Encourage him to be a well-rounded person, because colleges are looking at academics, yes, but more than just that. My stepson got an academic scholarship. My stepdaughter did not, so she had to take out a few personal loans.

Think outside the box when he's older. As a sophomore, we moved my SD off campus because she's working (pay for food) and her rent is $100 a month less than the on campus housing she didn't like anyway. My cousin started at community college and transferred after 2 years, getting many of the basic classes out of the way for half the cost. He should also look into CLEP tests to see what he can do that way (and if he can get any AP credits) to lessen the number of classes he'll have to take. When he applies to schools, make sure you and he go over the financial details for each. My stepson went where they offered him a scholarship and my stepdaughter went to a school where the overall package was just better. I turned down an in-state school because an out of state one offered me a better financial package.

Be prepared for loans and just try to be smart. We kept my SS on the "unlimited" meal plan because it was cheaper in the long run for him to graze all day in the cafeteria. My SD doesn't have a car on campus - saving her $$ for parking, plus all the car maintenance. There are buses and she takes those daily. Etc.

I would recommend setting up an appointment with your child's HS guidance counselor.

Some of my kiddos had 'less than stellar' counselor's in the past, so we looked at what their respective interests were, what organizations they (or friends) had an affiliation with, and made sure we filled out the Financial aid forms.

In addition, I have 529 accounts (last child going to college goes this fall).

She has an EXCELLENT guidance counselor. We are seeking LOTS of smaller scholarships that we would not be aware of.

Every little bit helps!

Best luck!

There are a lot of local scholarships that are given out within your community. Check into those... I know Champion Energy has some. Around here each PTA from each elementary school has a scholarship for 1 student who went to that elementary, the high school PTA presents several scholarships, local businesses and organizations provide scholarships as well.

When our daughter was in high school, the weekly news brief via email listed potential scholarships for student to apply. The advisors office also had a separate room with loads on information and applications for scholarships.

The advising office at your high school should be well equipped with scholarship information and how to's as applying. They would be my first stop because they have the knowledge on what to do, when, etc.

It is true that a lot of the top 10% don't get a scholarship and due to the size of the high school and ratios of the scholarships. My daughter graduated with honors and recognized and still didn't have an automatic scholarship due to the size of her class... over 1200 students. She was in the top 10% as well.

My daughter graduated in 2013. We did not go through the FASFA program and such. I know a lot of people do but it is hard to qualify for any scholarship through that venue if you are prepared for your child's education. We had saved since before she was born via several types of savings and 529 and a lot of our efforts of sacrifice in order to have her fully funded for college kept her from getting any scholarships through FASFA and government sites. She is fully funded and does not have to worry about her college expenses but she plans to go to grad school afterwards and the scholarships she receives now certainly help for future costs. She hasn't decided where she wants to go to MBA so we could easily be looking at another $200,000 +/-.

That said, last week she got a random check from the business school at her college. I didn't know about and neither did she but after checking it out... it was a scholarship she knew nothing about!! Nice chunk of change for her.

I was told she was being rewarded for her consistent GPA of 4.0 and being on the Dean's list. She is in her Sophomore year right now.

Gook luck and best wishes!!

https://www.collegeboard.org/search?tp=usearch&x=15&a...

According to my kids' GC, this is the only legit scholarship site. There are a zillion possibilities.

All three of my kids also use this site daily in hs. Not sure if it's a Northeast thing or not.
http://www.naviance.com/

Do not ever assume you won't qualify for fed/state grants.

All three of my kids were offered Merit scholarships from the majority of the schools they applied to.

The most useful advice I can give to the family of a hs freshman, is schools are looking for well rounded students. Involvement, advocacy, etc, are very important. Join clubs, volunteer, play sports, etc, and track it all on your Naviance account for the next 3 years.

:)

There are lots of smaller scholarships out there in your community that add up. My SD is a junior in high school and just won $2,500 from an essay contest that she won (the VFW's Voice of Democracy contest) and she's in the running for a $30,000 scholarship if she wins the national contest. If your child scores high on his 11th grade PSAT, that can open up the door to many corporate scholarships that are based on the NMSQT level. My company is one that if an employee's child or grandchild scores high enough to qualify for a commendation on that test (top 5% of scores, I think) they can get scholarships worth thousands of dollars.

It's unlikely that a child graduating in the top 10% of his or her high school class would qualify for no merit-based financial aid at all, but the money can be fairly small depending on the school. A competitive student is a more attractive candidate to a mediocre school, so a state school looking to attract better quality students would offer more money to a great student. I have a friend whose son has a full scholarship to UMass, which is an OK but not great school, because he was a great student. He got into more competitive schools that offered him less money but because he'll need a master's degree anyway, decided to take the free ride now and then have to only pay for grad school.

Is you child a Senior and will be graduating soon or is it earlier in their high school career? You should be working on scholarships and building a high school resume way before the Senior year in school and also finding a few teachers that might write letters of recommendations. If your child is a Senior, one of the first things you need to do is file a FAFSA form - even if you are not interested or eligible in collecting any government funds, many of the scholarships will ask if you have filed. Most high schools have college nights that include sessions on applying for college and scholarships - look on the website for your child's school - or better yet, ask them to find out the information. If you have missed that - check with other local high schools or nearby school districts and see if you can attend. I went to one at our local high school and then attended one with a friend whose child was at an upscale private high school. The private high school groomed the kids much better in applying for scholarships. If your child has already decided on a college, you can also contact them and get a list of scholarships that might be available on campus. You can have a child in the TOP 10% and still not get any scholarships - many are based strictly on financial need - if your income level is to high and/or if you have scrimped and saved over the years to put money away for school - you will have too much money to be considered. That is totally not fair, but we felt saving for our kids' college education would give them options that they might not get. Good luck - there are lots of scholarships out there - the counselors can give you a list of some legitimate sources.

Go through the school, they will have a list of what's available.

My daughter's now in her freshman year in a university we never thought we'd be able to afford. Unfortunately, financial aid income limits are the same throughout the country so if you live in a high cost area like we do our income seems high when it's not really. (Real estate taxes for a small house on a 1/3 acre are $750 - $1000 monthly! And don't get me started on income taxes, electricity rates, auto & homeowners insurance and more... So my duaghter's eligible for $5400 in low interest student loans. But - the university itself offered good scholarships. We did apply for a number of others: from my employer, from my husbands, one at my church, and a number of others - and recieved none of those. But my daughter's university of choice has given her about $7,000 a year for all 4 years. So when combined with her loan and our savings we got closer to the goal. Then we decided to fix up my mom's apartment (attached to our house) to cover the rest of the cost. My mom passed away last year and I'm sure she would love to know that her grand-daughter is able to go to a good college.

We are also encouraging her to take on an RA job in her last two years of college as that reduces her cost.

Finally - many high schools offer classes that come with college credits. My son is in 10th grade and is taking two computer classes connected to a SUNY college and an civil engineering class connected to another college in NY. At the end of this year he'll have 9 college credits. He could get out of high school with one semester of credits done. My neice took enough IB and AP classes in highschool to graduate a year early from college - so she only had 3 years of college to be paid for.

There are some creative ways to pay for school - and it's not as daunting as it seems from 9th grade. Your kid matures a lot in high school - alot in 12th grade alone. It does work it's way out - surprisingly.

There are tons of small scholarships available from business groups like the Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce, organizations like the Newcomers Club and the Civic club, synagogues/churches, and school groups like Music Parents/Athletic Boosters and so on. $300 here, $500 there, it all adds up. The Guidance Department will have a list of usual sources and what's required (essays, etc.)

Do not assume you will not qualify for financial aid. No one can afford college anymore unless you're the son of the Koch Brothers. So apply apply apply -- do the FAFSA form on line even if you can only do part of it while you wait for your taxes to be done. You can save your partial application and then go back to it. It's also a good exercise to have the child do some of the preliminary work on this. Wakes the kids right up about the realities.

Also, we found the most help from the college financial aid offices. They are awesome once the acceptance is offered - they know all the ins and outs. Use them. That's their job. There are tons of scholarships within the university for various departments, etc. It's not just the valedictorians who get scholarships. Or the football players either. The Fin Aid office pieced together a big package for our son combining federal loans, scholarships, and so on.

And apply for federal student loans only in your child's name. Otherwise when they graduate, the payment is based on the parents' income. You can help your child but don't put the loan in your name.

The high school MAY put on some evening programs for parents - some of them are helpful, some not so. Depends on the school district.

We never found anything useful from on line scholarship services.

http://www.fastweb.com/

The school counseling office will also have a list of scholarships. You can usually weed many of them out pretty quickly, because many/most of them are for minorities or low income.

Fastweb is one of the main ones, but your kid will have to be diligent. Yep, it's annoying to have kids in the top 10%, be in the middle bracket financially, and not have them get any scholarships.

Check with schools he is interested in attending. I won an honors scholarship at the school I attended. I also was awarded a music scholarship and another scholarship from them specifically because I was coming from out of state.

Apply for scholarships even if you don't think there is a chance. I wasn't going to apply for the honors scholarship that I won because I had the minimum GPA and the minimum ACT score needed to apply. I didn't think I had a chance. I ended up winning it and had 1/2 of my tuition paid for all four years at a private school.

Check with the guidance office at school. They will have lists of scholarships. Look for local businesses and groups that might have scholarships. Sometimes just knowing the right person can be an advantage.

Plan on spending hours filling out scholarship applications. The more he fills out the better chance he has.