<p>this is my first year, second semester at CC, i live in cali and they don’t have financial aid for me, reason is that my parents make over 100k a year and they claim me on their tax return. i don’t want to ask them for money to get through college, i am getting good gpa in my school and i am wondering how you guys apply your scholarships?</p>
<p>a. It does not matter whether your parents claim you on their tax returns. If you can answer no to all the dependency questions on FAFSA you are a dependent for financial aid purposes whether or not they claim you on their taxes. If you can answer yes to any of them you are independent for financial aid purposes regardless of whether they claim you on their taxes.</p>
<p>b. Most institutional scholarships and the vast majority of outside scholarships are for incoming freshmen. There are fewer for transfers or continuing students and they are generally much smaller. Check your school to see what scholarships they have. The deadlines are probably very soon (at my daughters school departmental scholarship deadlines are the end of feb).</p>
<p>The easiest way is to just start applying everywhere. 
I hear that a lot of students don’t like to write essays, so there’s a better chance of getting $$ from scholarships that ask for essays. Go to collegeboard.com for a scholarship search engine, and I’ve found that fastweb.com is a good source for me.</p>
<p>If you’re over 18 (that sounds reasonable for a college sophomore, but I don’t know how old you are) you’re no longer assumed to be financially dependent on your parents, so their salary shouldn’t matter, should it? You could have a heart-to-heart with the people at your financial aid office- they tend to know a lot about what’s available for who.</p>
<p>search google for scholarships</p>
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tinuviel - I am afraid this is completely incorrect. For financial aid purposes a student is considered dependent on their parents until age 24 except for certain circumstances (married, veteran, already completed a bachelors degree, having a dependent child of their own).</p>