<p>Why do these scholarships make you jump through so many hoops just for $500?</p>
<p>Simple, really. To some organizations, giving out $500 IS a big deal and a lot of money for their group. They are trying to make sure its going to someone willing to take some time and effort to ‘earn’ it, because they will then appreciate how hard the organization worked to raise that money and be able to give it away.</p>
<p>It takes most young kids almost 70 hours to gross $500 in a paycheck. I have no issues with making them ‘work’ to get a scholarship.</p>
<p>I understand the feelings, both from the applicant and from the organization. For a senior swamped with AP classes, ECs and sports, and college and scholarship applications, it can get <em>very</em> overwhelming.</p>
<p>Some of the applications are very complex, and for relatively little money. For S1 and S2, we reviewed the ap, the amount of award, and the relative chances of winning. Based on those factors, he decided not to apply for some of them. I intend to have the same game plan with D.</p>
<p>If you need the money bad enough you will do whatever it takes. You may think $500 is not that much but if you had to get a loan for an extra $500 and paid it back over 10 years you would be surprised what that $500 eventually cost you. :o</p>
<p>I think most kids would be willing to jump through a lot of hoops to get a $500 scholarship if they thought they had a good chance of getting it. It’s jumping through hoops for a bunch of small scholarships when the likelihood of any of them panning out is small that’s frustrating. When my daughter went through the cost-benefit analysis of applying for a lot of small scholarships, she (and we) concluded that it didn’t make any sense. The odds of getting them were tiny, the amounts were small and the effort required was great. She’d be better off spending that time studying or volunteering with a worthy organization.</p>
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How do you know the odds? I think that’s why my D was so successful in that many thought they didn’t have much chance so they didn’t apply. My daughter has secured several scholarships over the last 3 years ranging from $750 to $2,000. Most scholarships only require an application and essay, at least the ones my D has applied to. She did have a study abroad one that required the essay to be written in the foreign language and a recording of her reading the essay in that language.</p>
<p>OP, If there are so many hoops to jump why are you applying?</p>
<p>Choose the ones that you feel are most appropriate for you. Do what they ask, the way they ask. Dont apply to those that you are not a match for. </p>
<p>If all they wanted was a generic resume, then every student on the face of the earth would apply.</p>
<p>I’ve applied for tons of scholarships this year, and I really don’t mind the $500 ones where the application is a little more extensive. At this point in the year, I’ve written so many essays and responses to questions that I really just tweak them according to the scholarship/topic.</p>
<p>And as awful as this is to say, usually when there’s multiple components to an application, kids are more likely to miss the deadline…and as long as you’re on the ball and get your stuff done on time, that’s less competition for you! Maybe not the nicest way of thinking, but definitely a realistic and positive advantage.</p>
<p>My son felt the same way. He applied for a load of small scholarships. It took a lot of time and he got zilch from all but one, and it was one tailored pretty much for him… My next one did not bother to try, because for him he could work and make his money, and his odds were very slim. For those who have the time to do it, it can be a nice windfall. My first one got his award doubled because he was the only recipient and a decision was made to close the program after his year. It’s like a lottery, but the odds really are far better.</p>
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<p>Really? Did she still have to compete with other students doing the same thing, or was it an automatic award so long as she did those tasks? Did she have to spend anything for this study abroad venture? I hope that was a sizable award for going through all that.</p>
<p>My wife grew up very poor, so she was trying to find all kinds of ways to pay for school since she was accepted to a great local private. She too looked into scholarships and noticed all these “hoops” that really weren’t worth her time. She could work in student employment on campus for the same time it would take her to write an essay/read a book and be GUARANTEED her money, and make more of it in terms of time/reward ratio.</p>
<p>Now that I have been looking to start college I also looked into scholarships through Fastweb and the like, but I find myself spending hours and hours 1. researching to actually find the scholarships and 2. researching said found scholarships to adequately write to what they are asking (or accomplish other specified tasks). It NEVER seems worth it at such small amounts ($250-500). To come up with enough to help my financial situation to afford college, not only would I need to snag about 10 of those, I would need to APPLY to possibly hundreds to get those 10 considering the odds. I could get a part-time job and make more money for my time than what I would put into scholarships.</p>
<p>I think they’re great little gap closers, like if a student only has to come up with $1,000-2,000 to afford school (after FA), but when you start to get students who are looking to cover $5,000+, then it’s just too much to do to come up with. Again, a part-time job would be better.</p>
<p>The scholarships on Fastweb have thousands of students applying. Students applying to local scholarships have a much higher likelihood of actually winning because there are fewer applicants. I found most students just do not want to be bothered and use the excuse that they don’t have the time to apply. I insisted my kiddos, as high school seniors, apply for at least 10 outside scholarships each. The key was I checked out who had won them in the past (easy with Google) to guesstimate if financial need was involved and what quality of the winners may have helped them win. That way I could eliminate certain scholarships that they were very unlikely to win.For no more than 1-2 hours per application, they had a 30 percent win rate at about $90 for each hour invested. They all then realized how few people apply for some of these scholarships. D3 just called me 2 days ago to tell me she’d just been awarded a $2000 scholarship for an essay that took her 20 minutes to write. Her sisters have also continued to apply for scholarships in college that have a smaller pool of applicants and have successfully won some. They all have part time jobs but the jobs do not pay as well on an hourly basis ; )</p>
<p>Because most people, myself included, believe that it makes more sense to reward kids who are willing to put in the extra work for their education than to simply go around giving free money to anyone who shows up with a 32 ACT.</p>
<p>Besides, when you do the math, if you spend a 40 hour week at home doing nothing but applying for colleges, it’s likely that you will make more per hour than you will at any time in your entire life. If you can win just $5000 in scholarships, that extrapolates to a $260,000 salary for the year.</p>
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Yes, she was competing with all foreign language study abroad applicants. It was not guaranteed and only so many were awarded. It ended up being $1200 so it was definitely worth it. She still had loans but she didn’t have to get any more in loans then she would have if she was at her public university.</p>
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<p>Right. I too looked into local ones. Where do you live that has lots of scholarship offers just for local residents - and that not many local residents know about and apply to themselves?</p>
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<p>Except they don’t actually EARN $260,000 just by applying to scholarships. So how does any of that make sense. “Yes, Son, apply to scholarships instead of trying to work part time because eventually, when you win one it would amount to earning you $100/hr that you put in for it. More than you’ll ever earn. Although you would have only made $200 applying for that scholarship during the few months you were waiting for it. But if you had a part time job for the last 3 months you ould have made about $1,500 ($8/hr for 16hrs/wk at 12 weeks).”</p>
<p>“Right. I too looked into local ones. Where do you live that has lots of scholarship offers just for local residents - and that not many local residents know about and apply to themselves?”</p>
<p>Well, turtlerock, in our area details of dozens of local scholarships are detailed on the high school guidance office’s websites. Announcements are made at the high schools. I looked at websites from all the local school districts. Most of my daughter’s classmates never even mentioned to their parents that there were local scholarships they could apply for- because they didn’t want to make the effort. Students are much more likely to win local scholarships because the pool of applicants is much smaller and the quality of competition is not as high. Have you seen the credentials of the students who win the National Elks Award or the CocaCola Scholars? The odds off winning those scholarships are truly not worth the effort for a student who has not achieved at least at a state level or maybe national recognition in some area of accomplishment.</p>
<p>My daughter started the process of applying for the local and regional scholarships. She completed three before being offered full tuition at a school. She heard back from one of the three, but did not win any. She would be considered a top candidate by many measures. I thought it was a big effort with no payoff. I think kids are better off looking for colleges that offer great merit.</p>
<p>For sure, the best source of scholarship money is from the schools themselves! Two of my kiddos did receive full tuition scholarships but that didn’t stop them from seeking out other awards for which they might qualify.</p>
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<p>I guess that explains my experience then. I graduated in 2006 and now live 60+ miles from where I did, so I don’t exactly have a HS guidance counselor at my disposal. Can’t even use my local CC resources b/c I’m not an enrolled student there. Bummer.</p>
<p>I’m not quite sure how you took my intent… nowhere did I even remotely suggest that applying for scholarships is somehow a viable productive job. My only point is that the ratio of work to probable reward is highly favorable, so even if you have to jump through a lot of "hoops, it’s likely well worth your time.</p>