Scholarships

, , ,

Scholarship Searching Made Easier

Dobler College ConsultingWith the frenzy of college application deadlines finally winding down families are starting to apply for financial aid. And while some of you will qualify for need-based aid, some of you will not. Or, you will qualify but the award may not be enough to get you where you need to be.

Having said that, if there is a gap between what the college is offering you and what you can afford to pay, spending some time applying for private scholarships can help ease that burden. Scholarships can be found just about anywhere and sometimes getting started can be rather difficult.

Today, I’d like to share a few tips to help make that a bit easier:

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 National Society for Professional Engineers (NSPE) for students interested in majoring in engineering.

2. To narrow down internet search results, trying searching more specifically such as “biology scholarships 2018 2019”.

3. Make good use of social media. The ScholarshipExperts.com Pinterest board has over 1,400 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 your parents’ employers, local organizations, your bank or credit union, the town library, your church and, most importantly, your school counseling 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. When you are using a scholarship search engine like the ones on FinAid or FastWeb you must fill out the profiles completely if you want to have the best chances of finding and winning scholarships. Incomplete profiles are not going to help you.

8. If you have to write an essay, 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.

9. Keep in mind the essays you’ve already written for college applications. Recycle and re-purpose where you can to save time, but pay close attention to what each essay prompt is asking you – a recycled essay that doesn’t answer the prompt will not help you win a scholarship.

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

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

Read More
Eric Jan 14, 2016 , , , , , , , , , , , No Comments
, ,

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.

Read More
Eric Jan 13, 2015 , , , , , , , , No Comments
, , , , ,

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.

Read More
Eric Dec 09, 2013 , , , , , , , , , , No Comments
, , , ,

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.

Read More
Eric Nov 15, 2013 , , , , , , , , , No Comments
, , , , ,

A Conversation About College Part IV

This is Part IV of a running series called, “A Conversation About College” which covered some of the more pressing questions about college admissions that were asked at a workshop I conducted a few weeks ago at Sacred Heart Church in Southbury, Connecticut:

Q: To get academic scholarship money from colleges someone told me you have to be in the top 10%. Is this true?

Academic scholarships, which are also known as merit scholarships, typically are awarded to students who have excelled academically while in high school. However, not all schools will restrict their merit money to students who finish in the top 10%. Some schools will offer money in tiers where a student in the top 10% may get more money than a student in the top 20%. Your best bet is to use a website like MeritAid.com where you can research individual schools to see what they offer and who qualifies. The information may not always give you all the details, but then that is a great question to ask on a college visit or when your son or daughter meets an admissions counselor at a school visit or college fair.

Q: Where do you find scholarship money?

Private scholarships are tricky. They are typically rather small and the search can really chew up a lot of your son or daughter’s time which should be otherwise spent on priorities like school work, athletics or whichever activities they truly enjoy. In fact, the average private scholarship is just $2500 and less than 7% of graduating senior receive one. Having said that, FastWeb.com is a website where your son or daughter can create a profile and then be notified when scholarships which meet his or her criteria become available. I would also have them check with their school counseling office and the town library. Both should have resources for local scholarships as well as application information.

 

Q: Financial aid forms – how to best complete them?

There are two financial aid forms, the FAFSA and the CSS Profile. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the federal form required to be considered for aid at any institution. The CSS Profile is only required if your child chooses to apply to one or more of some 250+ private schools that require it. Check with each school he or she is considering so that you know if you need to complete both. Once you know which forms you need to fill out, you need to know that you cannot fill out the FAFSA until January 1st of the student’s senior year while the Profile can be filled out as soon as your child has identified schools where he or she will be applying.

Another great resource dedicated to everything in the financial realm of the college admissions world is a blog by Lynn O’Shaughnessy called, The College Solution. I tell all my students and their parents that it is a must-read.

If you have any thoughts you would like to share on “A Conversation About College,” please use the comment box below – I would love to hear from you! You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.

Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.

Read More
Eric May 28, 2012 , , , No Comments