Day 3: What happens to your aid package with scholarships

Yesterday I spoke about going after small scholarships. This post talks about what happens when you get a small scholarship. Today's post might counteract everything I've said so far.

So you've applied for scholarships -- and won $5,000. That's terrific. The money may be sent directly to you or to your school depending on the organization. Most colleges will have you report that outside scholarship to them. And then what happens? Well many schools will reduce your financial aid package accordingly. They won't attack the precious grant money at first. They'll usually reduce the "self-help" portion first. Self-help usually includes expected summer earnings and work study. Some people like not having the work study -- why not just have $3,000 in your pocket instead of working all year -- but if you want to have a good campus job, not having work study will screw you. Wanted that cool (paid) research assistant position? Sorry work study only. The summer earnings contribution is usually somewhere in the range of $2,300. So let's say you surpass $5,300 in outside scholarships. Good for you, but your need based aid will just go down. So you really aren't helping yourself out of the hole very much.

For example I got about 10,000 in aid last year. With my contribution, I would have had to surpass $12,000 in outside scholarships to make a meaningful dent in my parent's contribution.

So is it worth applying to dozens of small scholarships in the hopes of reducing your financial burden? In reality probably not. Though they add up, these private scholarships aren't a realistic way to fund an education. It would be nice to have a few thousand dollars in your pocket to deal with expenses like books and maybe technology (think: laptop). Most of these scholarships are not renewable. They are one time deals. So even if you did manage to take a substantial bite out of your family's contribution in one year, there's no way of telling if you'll be able to pull off the same feat for the next year.

By all means pursue small scholarships though. If there is only a small gap that you need to fill, you'll probably have a lot of luck, and they will be quite helpful to you. But if your need extends into the tens of thousands of dollars, better luck elsewhere.

Happy Trails,
L.

Day 2: Big Money v. Little Money

I'm entering my second year of college. As a high school senior, I did look for a few scholarships, but one of the biggest mistakes I made was not having an open mind. I looked for the large scholarships: 20,000, 10,000, 40,000. If you can pull in one of these behemoths, good on you. But a lot of these tend to my rather competitive. I completely ignored the slew of 1,000, 2,500, and even 5,000 scholarships. It may not seem like a ton of money. Indeed, most of these are meant to be supplemental. But say you earn 10 $1,000 scholarship. That's $10,000 in your pocket. Granted, earning 10 scholarships may not be the easiest thing to do, but it's definitely worth a shot.

Trust me, if you aren't already in college you'll learn the value of a measly $1,000 pretty quickly. That's a years worth of textbooks. Or it can go towards summer storage. (Hey, it could even pay for that new TV you've been wanting...but I wouldn't necessarily go there).

My dad says, "Every little bit counts."I didn't believe him then, but trust me I do now.

So go for the big money, but be sure not to ignore the small money either. I know I'm not.

Happy Trails,
L.

Scholarship Week Day 1: The Scholarship Search

Anyone I've ever heard giving financial advice to college students always says: look for scholarships. Well, where do you look?

For today's post, I'll be focusing on outside scholarships, or scholarships not granted by your institution. These scholarships can come from a variety of sources - clubs, your parent's work, your work -- the list is pretty big. You should also be happy to know that there are scholarships literally for everybody. From atheists to world travelers. I can almost guarantee that there will be someone out there willing to give you money. You don't have to have a 4.0, you don't need to be a stellar athlete, you just need to know where to look.


Online scholarship databases are a great place to start. For most of these services, you just fill out a basic profile and then the search engine uses that information to match you to scholarships.

1. FastWeb.com

Fastweb is a database listing a ton of cool scholarships, some of which I have applied for. Some of them, I should warn you, are a bit weird. There are tons of scholarships from well respected organizations. Some very prestigious. But there are also a good number of contests and promotions offering a cash prize listed here. I haven't had much luck with those, but you might. Just don't bank on any promotions as a solid college contribution.

2. Collegeboard.com

The Collegeboard -- the same one famous for making the tests that millions of students suffer through each year -- also has a searchable scholarship database. It's not just a repeat of FastWeb. I have gotten some unique results. This one seems a bit buggier though, matching me to scholarships that I wouldn't qualify for based on my information (scholarships for the blind, for those who's parents are veterans). Sifting through all that can be annoying.

There are a lot of other database websites out there right now: scholarshipexperts.com, scholarships.com,  go ahead and try as many as you feel will be helpful.

3. Google.com

It sounds almost too simple, but try googling _________ (insert particular attribute here) scholarships. Women scholarships, engineering scholarships, Armenian scholarships. You'll find a ton of links to things that the databases might not pick up. A bunch of my friends would say, "It's so easy to find scholarships. Just google scholarships!" I didn't believe them at first but it's true. Long live Google (Feed the Beast!)


If you want a slightly less electronic approach to the scholarship search, turn to books. Your school's financial aid or college counseling office should have a good number available. Or check out the library. It can be a bit tedious, but I've definitely found some good scholarships worth applying to this way.

My personal favorite book is the College Board Scholarship Handbook. This is the 2010 edition, the 2011 edition comes out July 6th, though I'm not sure how much more useful the most recent copy will be.

How far have I come along on my scholarship search? So far I've applied to 1, and have found 5 others that I plan to apply to.

Wish me luck guys!

And on your own scholarship hunt,
Happy Trails!
-L.

Scholarships

Almost anybody trying to dole out financial advice will tell the college bound: look for scholarships. And good advice it is. Scholarships are free money. Unlike loans, they do not have to be paid back after a specified amount of time, and not all of them require academic excellence or financial need (although many do). So I, like a lot of college students (and college bound seniors) set out to look for all of the free money clamored about by experts. But I was stumped. For some reason, none of the scholarships seemed to apply to me. I was too wealthy, didn't do enough service, didn't have the right career path, wasn't in the right year, didn't live in the right area. I can't be the only one stumped by the scholarship search. So, I figured I start scholarship week. I am by no means a financial expert, but I figured that following me, an average college student, in my search for scholarships might help those others lost in the world of funding their college education.

Hopefully this post finds someone somewhere.
To my 1 reader,

Happy Trails,
L.