If you are planning to attend some sort of post-secondary
educational institution and are uncertain how to fund this endeavor, and if you
are a senior in high school or the parent of a senior in high school this
information is especially pertinent to you. Competition for scholarships is
intense; the more money at stake, the more students who apply. To stand the
greatest chance of securing a scholarship, especially one that is local,
preparation is important. You have to
make yourself attractive to the people awarding the money. Would it surprise
you to know that colleges want students who will become a distinguished alumni
and give back to the school either through monetary means or through
achievements earned that can be attributed to the college/university?
Recognizing what you have to offer a college is important. Assuming you have
identified how to sell yourself to a college of your choice, the challenge is
securing as much funding as possible. Right out of the gate, lots of
scholarships and grants are offered to students who are above average students,
academically. Grades are not the only factor, but many scholarships use grade
point average to narrow the application field. However, the categories that
seem to carry more weight than grades include: ethnicity, financial need,
service, special need, and character. Rarely does a scholarship application not
include an essay question or two about an experience that happened from which
the applicant grew/matured. Relying solely on your ability to get scholarships,
though, is not wise. Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FASFA). To help families with post secondary education expenses each year, the
federal government gives out roughly 70 billion dollars. The free form is
available from most guidance offices or it can be secured on line as well at www.fafsa.ed.gov. You can also complete the four-page form
on-line. The time to begin hitting the FAFSA hard is right after the first of
the year. Don’t delay in submitting this initial form. Sometimes an estimation
of tax information is best as you can correct any errors or bad estimates later
on. Delaying the completion of the FASFA form until late April (for example)
could eliminate you from state aid for that year. Since FASFA requires a lot of
information in order to be able to compute a legitimate picture of your
family’s net worth, having the following information prepared in, say December,
will help expedite the FAFSA process: social security number, current bank
statements, investment accounts, mortgage information, and school codes.
Additional information such as income tax returns for both you (if you work)
and your parents and all associated W2 forms will come after the last day in
January. It is good to begin to prepare by creating a file specifically for
this information. You can also use this file for scholarship information. While
these processes (scholarship applications and FAFSA) are not overly difficult
they are time consuming. The goal of all
this time and energy is to get as much money as you can. The government’s goal
is to do what they can to get money to the most needy and most deserving
people. I do encourage you to consider the on-line completion of the FAFSA. It
is a much quicker process because fewer steps are involved, and you won’t worry
about the safe and prompt delivery of your important document by way of the
postal carrier and various trucks.
