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CHART A COURSE FOR A SUCCESSFUL SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH
By Dr. Raymond J. Huntington
If you think your child has to post perfect SAT and ACT
scores and become the high school Valedictorian to get
scholarship money for college, think again! While it’s true
that students at the very top of the achievement scale tend
to get the “free rides” to a college cap and gown,
above-average and even average students can track down
scholarship funds as well. Following the tips on this list
will help your teen conduct a successful scholarship search.
Start early. Most scholarships require students to do quite
a bit of legwork and paperwork, and it can take several
months to find out if you’re going to receive an award. For
this reason, it’s a good idea to start thinking about
scholarships as early as the 9th grade. This will help your
son or daughter gain a fuller view of the opportunities and
have more time to take advantage of them.
Know all the options that are perfect for you. Since many
scholarships are available to students interested in a
particular field of study, starting early also gives
students time to boost their chances by selecting courses
and activities that will improve their eligibility for these
types of awards. Having an athletic or artistic talent can
also open the door to scholarships for students who earn
special recognition for those talents. Awards are also
available for those in underrepresented groups, such as
Hispanic and African-American students, and those who will
be the first in their family to attend college. Creating a
checklist of your child’s talents, interests, and
demographic factors will help you both hone in on various
angles you can pursue.
Talk to the school counselor. Begin your scholarship search
by going to your school counselor, discussing your areas of
interest and any colleges that you’re considering. You
should also discuss the factors on the checklist described
above, and any distinctions you may have earned based on
talents or academic abilities. These could include awards
for accomplishments in the arts, top grades in science or
mathematics and recognition by honor societies.
Look for links at home and in the community. Continue the
search by looking close to home. You may belong to a
religious organization that offers scholarships. Your
parents or other adults in your family may work for
corporations that offer scholarships for children of their
employees. Many volunteer organizations, such as the Kiwanis
and Rotary Club, also offer scholarships. You should also be
able to find directories of scholarships at your local
library.
Go on-line. The Web can be a treasure trove of opportunity
for scholarships. It can also be a bit overwhelming. Once
you’ve developed your checklist, use Google or other search
engines to scout for scholarships that are connected to the
various attributes you’ve listed. You can also chart a
course through
www.fastweb.com , the Internet’s leading scholarship
search service. It’s free and recommended by thousands of
high schools and colleges. Another free service that will
open the door to information about scholarships and other
financial aid is the National Research Center for College
and University Admissions (NRCCUA). By visiting its website
at www.nrccua.org , you
can fill out a survey that will enable you to receive
information from several institutions suited to your needs.
Be alert for scholarship scams. As noted by Finaid.org (a
public service website that offers comprehensive information
about student financial aid), “scholarship scams” victimize
several hundred thousand students and parents every year, at
an annual cost to victims of more than $100 million. By
visiting the site at
www.finaid.org, you can learn the most common
characteristics of come-ons that defraud scholarship
searchers or simply don’t deliver on their promises. As a
general rule, if you have to pay money to get money, it’s
probably a scam, and if you hear that somehow out of the
blue you’ve won a scholarship “prize” that you haven’t even
applied for, chance are it is indeed “too good to be true.”
Dr. Raymond J. Huntington and Eileen Huntington are
co-founders of Huntington Learning Center, which has helped
children achieve success in school for 28 years. For more
information about how Huntington can help your child, call 1
800 CAN LEARN.
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