I don’t think anyone should be dismissive of local scholarships. I just looked back and S1 received $8750 senior year which is not exactly chump change. S2, an average student, still got $4200.
@planner03 Local scholarships are usually 1 year only and require a lot of effort for small amounts. Focusing on scholarships awarded directly by colleges is a better strategy.
@itsgettingreal17 Did I say to apply for local scholarships instead of college scholarships? If you have a full ride plus from your college good for you, leave the local funds on the table for others.
In addition to the local scholarships S1 also has college and national scholarships. He doesn’t have to work or take loans. He got an expensive Mac and all of his dorm furnishings paid for. He gets all of his books paid for and doesn’t have to download PDFs, comparison shop, or even buy used if he doesn’t want to. He can fly home any time he wants to and have it paid for. He gets discretionary funds to spend however he likes. For him the effort paid off and he can now sit back and reap the rewards.
From @planner03 Then target outside scholarships through your school and community. Every school district has hundreds of them, and if you can pick up a few you will have funds to cover the expenses your financial aid doesn’t.
How do you find these? I don’t think our school district has more than a handful. Our town has none and our state has very few that I have been able to find (and almost none are relevant).
Thanks for the outpour of information. Just to clarify, I go to a small school, so we really don’t have a giant list of scholarships. I know all of my classmates very well. Yes, this list is for me, but I am sharing it with my class. Our one guidance counselor hasn’t compiled a very comprehensive list. I completely understand that most people will not be eligible for all scholarships. However, I am in a fairly special boat because my class is small. We have essentially the same qualifications. (Yes, I know we all are not exactly the same.) We are above average academically.
I will focus on school specific colleges. Luckily, the top fifty or so schools offer 100% of demonstrated financial need with a few exceptions. I was just curious to see if there were other private, non-specific scholarships out there. The best example of these is Bryan Cameron, Jack Kent Cooke, Quest Bridge (Yes, I know.), Elks, and Dorrance (for Arizona/Hawaii). Does anyone know about these types of huge scholarships? I know it’s a fairly long shot, but it’s worth the time.
I already have full-ride to all three in-state universities. (ASU, NAU, and U of A). I’m just looking to boost it with these scholarships because they will often cover fees and travel outside of room, board, and tuition.
Are you attending a private high school and are there large public high schools in your city?
Some high schools have open websites, and you can use the scholarship list to find local scholarships. The one our school had included some that our kids weren’t even eligible for (lived in the wrong county), I think because the schools just copied the lists from each other. The schools put everything on there and you just had to go through them to see if you were eligible. Some were for low income, some were for military kids (tons of those), many were only valid for instate schools.