<p>I’m a college freshmen, and I need any money I can get. My source for prospective scholarships is fastweb.com</p>
<p>Since I’m an international student, most of the scholarships that come up are for high school students and they’re sponsored by some random organization. The good thing is they don’t seem to care about your citizenship status. The bad thing is their scholarships are for HS seniors. Does anybody know how they verify whether or not you’re a HS student?</p>
<p>Dumb question, but it could be important to me.</p>
<p>I had this other idea that I might apply for scholarships through friends currently in HS, but I figure that scheme would be more complicated.</p>
<p>First, let me make sure you understand that what you’re proposing is called FRAUD. If you defraud ‘some random organization,’ it may choose to press <em>criminal</em> charges against you. Not only would that complicate your life and make things more expensive for you (lawyer’s fees), but I am not sure what it would do to your visa status. </p>
<p>Now, besides that Mrs. Lincoln… They would probably contact the high school and ask for verification that way. Plus, many require transcripts or counselor recommendations and those would have dates. One of my kids won a number of scholarships and most of them contacted her school to announce it, some put her name in the newspaper (along with her high school and year of graduation) and several put her name on their webpages (with high school and year of graduation). If you were to win a scholarship and any of these scholarship sources do that (if it even got that far), you could easily be recognized. Remember… fraud</p>
<p>Yep. Dumb question.</p>
<p>Guess you’re stuck in the same boat as the rest of us that aren’t high schoolers.</p>
<p>Yup… bad idea. And it won’t work.</p>
<p>It is a shame, though, that so many organizations offering scholarships focus them on graduating high school seniors. I mean, it’s great for those kids, but the next year the pickin’s are mightly slim for scholarship money. It’s just the way it is though. You’ll have to focus your attention on scholarships that are open to continuing students. Especially check to see if your college, or your major department, have any scholarships available for continuing students. This is where my daughter has had some good results.</p>
<p>wow i didn’t think it’d be that big of a deal. certainly didn’t occur to me that it could be penalized by possible criminal charges??? that’s a tough word to digest.</p>
<p>yag…</p>
<p>I suggest that you transfer to a cheaper school. </p>
<p>Your previous thread tells us that your parents submitted verification that they would/could pay for your education and personal expenses while you’re here. This was done to secure your visa and to be admitted to ISU.</p>
<p>You kind of came here under false pretenses. You and your family knew the costs, they agreed to pay, and they knew their own financial and retirement situation. The fact that during your first semester, you now need money because they want to prepare for retirement sounds fishy.</p>
<p>This strongly suggests that you convinced your parents to submit the financial agreement by telling them that once you’re here, you’ll find other sources to pay from rich USA. </p>
<p>There are no scholarships that would even approach what you sound like you need. Scholarships for continuing students are only about $1k a year…and aren’t usually available for int’l students.</p>
<p>If a cheaper school cannot be found, your parents will have to continue to pay your costs or you’ll have to return to your home country.</p>
<p>Well… personally I think it’s far-fetched to think you’d have criminal charges pressed against you for seeking financial aid for which you’re not eligible. The real issue is that I just can’t see how it would work. You’re not going to get money that’s intended for graduating high school seniors. Of course they’re going to verify your status! For heaven’s sake.</p>
<p>yaganon, your post is disturbing! You “didn’t think it would be that big of a deal?!” The idea of being PENALIZED for lying to obtain money under false pretenses catches your attention, but the idea ITSELF – lying to obtain money under false pretenses! – did not catch your attention at all? Good grief. Your conscience should have spoken up … the fact that it didn’t is disconcerting. Clearly, your plan is decietful. The fact that you referred to Plan B as a “scheme,” shows that you know it’s unethical. And why did you think YOU should have first dibs at money that generous donors want to give to high school students? And why didn’t you think of the rest of the college freshmen all over the country who are also looking for scholarships? What possibly possessed you to think that YOU might be entitled to this money before anybody else? What if EVERY college student were this unethical. Yuk. You’ve got some work to do, internally.</p>
<p>yaganon -</p>
<p>The International Student office at Iowa State is where you need to start for help with finding more money for your education. They can help you figure out what your options are. Converting your current H-4 to an F-1 may be the best place to start. That way you can work part-time while you are in school, and you will qualify for OPT after completing your degree.</p>
<p>You also need to be thinking about your longer term options. What are you going to do when you graduate? Will your father’s green card application come through before then, and would you still be included?</p>