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Making The Most Of Your Scholarship Search

Making the most of your scholarship search

 

With the frenzy of college application deadlines finally starting to wind down, it’s time for high school seniors to turn their attention to private scholarships. While the majority of scholarship money will come directly from colleges in the form of merit scholarships, there is a lot to be said for spending some time searching for private scholarships.

And while you might be burnt out from your college application process, here are some ideas on how you can make the most of your scholarship search.

 

Searching for scholarships is like a part-time job. It’s not a one and done deal. The more you search and the more you apply, the more likely you are to win something.

Beware of scams. It should never cost you more than a postage stamp to apply for a scholarship. Also NEVER give out your social security number or bank information.

Start your search locally and be prepared to do the work that other students won’t. Check out scholarship opportunities through employers, your church, local organizations, your bank or credit union, the town library and, most importantly, your high school’s college counseling office.

Search smarter, not harder. To narrow down internet search results, trying searching more specifically such as “accounting scholarships 2014 2015.”

Your major matters. If you know what you want to major in, you should start looking for scholarships through professional organizations and associations affiliated with your field. For example, here’s a list of scholarships offered through the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) for students majoring in engineering.

Make good use of social media. The ScholarshipExperts.com Pinterest board has over 1,300 scholarships!

Look for scholarships with essay requirements. Then, apply the same rules for college application essays: Grab the reader’s attention in the first two sentences and tell a story. If your essay bores you, it will most definitely bore the scholarship selection committee person who has to read it.

At the end of the day, scholarship searching is a time-consuming process. Pace yourself and stay positive.

If you would like some assistance with your college search, contact me today for a free 60-minute consultation.

Here’s what other families like yours are saying about how Dobler College Consulting made a difference for them.

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Eric Jan 13, 2015 , , , , , , , , No Comments
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What To Look For When Researching Colleges

Elon University

Elon University

With students applying to more colleges than ever before, it’s critical for them to know what it is they are most interested in before they begin the arduous work of filling out applications and writing supplemental essays. Obviously, things like geographic location, campus size, cost, and chances of admission are talked about frequently. With that in mind, I’d like to talk about some points students should be paying attention to that don’t always enter the conversation right away.

Look at the numbers

While admission rates and averages for GPA and test scores can provide valuable information that should factor in deciding whether you should apply to a college, there are other numbers which are just as important, if not more important. Pay attention to a college’s retention rate, the percentage of students who are in-state versus out-of-state, the make-up and diversity of the student body, the number of males to females, and how many students live on campus. You will find out very quickly that colleges are not created equal.

Affordability

I beat the drum on this issue with my students because I just don’t want to ever see any of them graduate with excessive student loan debt. Start off by finding your EFC (Expected Family Contribution) and then compare that number to how much assistance the college is likely to give you. For students who have a low EFC (will qualify for need-based aid), pay close attention to how much of your need a college meets. For students with a high EFC (will not qualify for need-based aid), pay attention to a college’s merit scholarship opportunities for high achieving students.

Explore Academic Programs
While you don’t necessarily need to know your major when you begin your college search, you should invest some time figuring out your VIPS. Knowing what you’re good at, what you’re interested in, what’s important to you and what your skills are can go a long way to helping you identify programs that will be better suited for you. So, whether you know your major or not, a few things you should focus on as you research your colleges include:

  1. Does the college have specific requirements outside the major or is there an open curriculum?
  2. If there are specific requirements, how extensive are they?
  3. Is there a first-year student program and, if so, what is it designed to help you with?
  4. If you know your major, are there core requirements you need to complete?
  5. If you don’t know you major, can you design your own?
  6. Who will be advising you? A professor from the department? A general advisor who advises all first-year students? A graduate assistant?
  7. Does the college (or the department of your major) require internships and, if so, do they help with securing internships?

All colleges have strengths and weaknesses and it’s up to you to find out how well a college fits your needs. So take the time to research schools, get to know them and determine for yourself which ones are the best ones for you.

If you would like some assistance with your college search, contact me today for a free 60-minute consultation.

Here’s what other families like yours are saying about how Dobler College Consulting made a difference for them.

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Eric Dec 15, 2014 , , , , , , , , No Comments
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Do You Know What Net Price Is?

Do You Know What Net Price IsYesterday I was talking with the parent of one of my students and the conversation was concerning college costs. I had asked him where he and the student’s mother would like to be when it came time to paying for college. Essentially I needed to know how much they were capable of paying so that we could look at the student’s college list in a more informed way.

One thing I firmly believe is that you have to know what you can afford up front.

There’s no sense in investing your time and effort, not to mention your heart, in a college search which is absent of the implications of cost.

Having recently mentioned Marist as an option the student should consider, the dad said that their costs for tuition, room and board (roughly $44,000) was getting towards the higher end of their threshold.

So while this family’s ability to pay will create more options for them than a family who’s ability to pay is much less, the conversation reminded me that so many families haven’t been informed about net price.

So what is net price? It’s the cost a family will pay for one year of college after grant and scholarship aid has been awarded. This cost varies from person to person and you can learn more about why this is by reading a post I wrote about net price last year:

How Much Is That College In The Window?

Essentially, the more competitive a student is when their grades and test scores are compared against the average grades and test scores for students who the college typically admits, the more likely it is that the student will receive a significant amount of aid which will then lower their net price.

With this idea in mind, a competitive student who applies to Marist and is awarded their Presidential Scholarship of $12,000 lowers their net price to roughly $32,000 thus making an expensive school more affordable.

One way you can start looking at a rough estimate of your net cost at a school is to use their net price calculator. Colleges are required to include one on their website, though some are easier to find than others. These calculators will ask you to enter some personal information and will then compute an estimated net price.

Not all calculators are created equal so be sure to pay close attention to the details of what the college estimates you will receive when you get your net price results.

If you want some help and guidance on your college search and application process, contact me today to set up an appointment for a free consultation. If you want to hear more about any of the schools on my travels, I’d be happy to talk to you about any of them as well.

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Eric May 05, 2014 , , , , , , , , , , , , No Comments
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Do You Know What You’re Looking For In A College?

Do you know what you're looking for in a collegeLast week I talked about the importance of paying attention to a college’s personality. Campus culture is often overlooked but colleges do have unique characteristics which make them WHO they are. It is these characteristics, these personalities, that often make a campus feel like home or nothing like it.

If you missed the post, you can catch it here.

Today, I’d like to take a step back and talk about the characteristics that make a college WHAT it is.

With over 4,000 colleges in the country, students must do their research and thoroughly investigate the schools they are interested in to determine if these schools really are worthy of their interest. Here’s a few characteristics you should be paying attention to if you’re not already:

1. Size

There’s a big difference between a large research university like Penn State with 37,000 undergrads and a small liberal arts college like Assumption which tops out at 2,000. You are going to stand out a lot more at a smaller school where classes are built on active discussion and debate, and where professors teach undergrads and will have time to meet with you to talk about internships and your career aspirations. At larger schools, you are more likely to be just one in the crowd. And sometimes that crowd can be to the tune of as many as 400 other students in your Introduction to Business course.

2. Location

Location, location, location. It’s the buzz word in real estate and it can also be rather important in choosing colleges. Visit Brown University and there’s a lot of hustle and bustle going on around you in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. You’ll be in a concrete jungle surrounded by businesses, restaurants, and traffic not to mention thousands of other students from Johnson & Wales, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence College and Rhode Island College. Visit Susquehanna University in rural Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania and you’ll find a very open and green campus nestled alongside a small college town where you’ll quickly become a “regular” at the local coffee shop.

3. Majors

Colleges aren’t created equal and neither are majors. As a graphic design major, will you have to produce a portfolio? For nursing, will you have to complete pre-requisite courses in your freshman year before you can be admitted to the major? As a business major, do you start taking business-related courses right away? Regardless of your major, is there a required internship? Is there an involved alumni-mentoring program? How are graduates of the program doing and where have they ended up? You want to know the answers to these questions so that you know what it takes to get into your program and, more importantly, what it’s going to do for you.

4. Cost

Cost matters, but it matters even more when you pay attention to how strong of a candidate you are at each college. The stronger your candidacy, the more likely you are to receive a merit scholarship. This is especially true at private colleges where tuition and fees far exceed those at public schools. So, while you might have a dream school like Boston College, you need to understand that, even if you do get in, you probably won’t get much, if anything, in the way of merit money and will be stuck with a sizable bill that may not work for you and your family.

If you would like some assistance with your college search or financial aid process, contact me today for a free 60-minute consultation.

Here’s what other families like yours are saying about how Dobler College Consulting made a difference for them.

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Eric Dec 09, 2013 , , , , , , , , , , No Comments
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What You Need To Know About Scholarships

What You Need To Know About ScholarshipsWith the frenzy of early application deadlines finally winding down, I had a chance to participate in the #CollegeCash chat on Twitter the other night. For those of you not familiar with Twitter, chats are where people using the same hashtag (#) can talk about a topic. On Thursday nights, Jodi Okun, founder of College Financial Aid Advisors, hosts the #CollegeCash chat. Since she’s in California, the chat doesn’t start until 10PM EST. It’s a little late for those of us here on the East Coast, but the chat is always worth it.

Last night’s chat about college scholarships was with Tamara Krause of ScholarshipExperts.com. It was a great conversation and there were several takeaways that I wanted to share with you today:

1. If you know what you want to major in, you should start looking for scholarships through professional organizations and associations affiliated with that field. For example, here’s a list of scholarships offered through the American Institute of CPA’s (AICPA) for students interested in majoring in accounting.

2. To narrow down internet search results, trying searching more specifically such as “engineering scholarships 2013 2014”.

3. Make good use of social media. The ScholarshipExperts.com Pinterest board has over 600 scholarships!

4. Beware of scams. It should never cost you more than a postage stamp to apply for a scholarship. Also NEVER give out your social security number or bank information.

5. Start your search locally and be prepared to do the work that other students won’t. Check out scholarship opportunities through employers, your church, local organizations, your bank or credit union, the town library and, most importantly, your guidance office.

6. Searching for scholarships is like a part-time job. It’s not a one and done deal. The more you search and the more you apply, the more likely you are to win something.

7. Scholarship searching is also a great job for parents who want to be involved in the process.

8. If you have to write an essay, apply the same rules as an essay for college applications: Grab the reader’s attention in the first two sentences and tell a story. If your essay bores you, it will most definitely bore the scholarship selection committee person who has to read it.

9. Start your search early and continue with it on a regular basis. There are actually scholarships out there for elementary school students!

10. Look for livelines versus deadlines. Find out what the earliest date is you can apply and apply on that date. Be the one to lead the pack of applications!

At the end of the day, scholarship searching is a process and a time-consuming one at that. Pace yourself and stay positive. Also keep in mind that private scholarships can often affect your financial aid award. Colleges treat scholarships differently, but some will reduce your merit scholarships dollar for dollar for each private scholarship that you earn. If your merit award is renewable (and most are as long as you maintain a minimum GPA), sometimes you need to approach scholarship searching very strategically.

Here’s an excerpt from a recent MarketWatch article about this issue:

“The findings by the National Scholarship Providers Association also point to how colleges treat outside scholarships when they’ve already given their students free aid. According to the NSPA, many colleges will take back the free aid they offered students who end up receiving an outside need-based scholarship.

In some cases, it is a dollar-for-dollar reduction that equals the amount of the scholarship. So students who get a $5,000 private scholarship could end up losing $5,000 in free aid that a college has offered them, which would leave them with the same out-of-pocket costs that they had before they received the scholarship.”

So, if you’re unsure of how colleges will treat private scholarships, give them a call and ask. It’s better to know up front before you invest a lot of time in your scholarship search.

If you want some help and guidance on your college search and application process, contact me today to set up an appointment for a free consultation.

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Eric Nov 15, 2013 , , , , , , , , , No Comments