Posts Tagged Financial Aid
About College Scholarships and Grants
Posted by admin in Scholarships and Grants on June 4, 2010
About College Scholarships and Grants
Some of the best ways to pay for a college education is by focusing on either scholarships or grants. With college scholarships and grants, none of the money has to be repaid, in contrast to Federal student loans as well as private loans. Access to these types of funding usually has to do with the student’s past achievements in school and more. There are many types of scholarships and cannot be listed in full here; however, a good site to look at all the different scholarships would be college-scholarships.com which lists each one as well as some descriptions available. It is important to know that each scholarship may be different from the next and they may all have different terms and conditions applied to them which you will need to review prior to applying for the scholarship.
In addition to scholarships are grants. As a result of the US government’s No Child Left Behind Act, our government now offers more college grant opportunities than ever. Some of the Federal grants include the Pell Grant, National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (aka SMART) grant, as well as the Academic Competitiveness grant. The money provided by these grants and more are provided in order to help pay for college expenses such as for books and tuition. These grants and more can be obtained through federal and state governments, colleges, universities, as well as other public and private organizations.
There are several different categories for grants such as student-specific grants, degree level grants, subject specific grants as well as grants specifically for lower income students and minorities.
As for the student-specific grants, there are several categories such as those for low income or disadvantaged students, graduate grants, doctoral grants, undergraduate grants, non-traditional grants as well as military grants for college.
When considering subject-specific grants, subjects such as nursing, teaching and healthcare may offer grants for schooling which in many cases will be sponsored by corporations hoping to acquire interns and future employees to their companies after graduating from college with a degree in the corporation’s industry. In addition to the grants provided by many corporations and such, there are also those grants which are offered by your state and information about these types of grants that are offered by your individual state can be found be simply contacting your state offices and/or contacting financial aid offices at your college which you will be attending. There are many opportunities for students to get the funding for a great education and they can all be found by contacting those organizations or their websites for more information. If you are in high school, try a guidance counselor. It is important to get this information earlier on as the more you know the easier things will be once it comes down to getting that education funded.
Great Recommendation Letters Win Big Scholarship Bucks
Posted by admin in Scholarships on January 25, 2010
Your scholarship application is due in ten days. It must have three recommendation letters attached, and, so far, you have not gotten any back from your teachers. A note to each of them last week hasn’t gotten any results. Talk
about strained nerves. All the work to get the application ready, and now letters are halting the process.
This is a scenario that repeats itself hundreds and thousands of times each year. You can avoid this problem by taking important appropriate actions. Start by asking for your recommendation letters at least six weeks in advance. This allows busy teachers to take their time in
writing great responses. After two weeks remind them with a note in their mailboxes. Seven days after that make a visit to their classroom. Remind them in person that your application could be late and disqualified and that you will come by in a few days to pick it up. Thank him or
her again and then stop by once more.
One way to avoid total mayhem is to ask for more letters than is really needed (awards may vary in the number of letters needed).If the requirement is two for an award, ask four people.
If you are applying for more than a couple of scholarship awards (and you really should be), ask the teacher or whoever, if they would be willing to put their comments on a CD.
Remind them that you will be sending out dozens of applications. It will save them time. Then, you will bring the letters by for their signatures. They can inspect the documents before you send them in. A hand-written signature is always best.
Who should you ask? Does it make a difference? Yes, it does matter. Know this: English and foreign language teachers generally write the best letters. They personalize them and may write from a half to a whole page. They also
produce results that have no spelling or grammatical errors. Again, and this is a general statement, coaches and physical education teachers write the shortest remarks and may have mistakes in spelling and grammar. But, go with your best options regardless of teaching position.
Use your high school letterhead, when possible.
Remember to ask your teacher if they can write a positive response. If not, move on. A probable scholarship winner fulfilled all requirements with a big plus and was in line to receive an $8,000 award. Everything was super except for one recommendation letter. She assumed her coach would write a glowing response. He didn’t. Don’t
let that happen to you. She didn’t win.
Follow the same time-line for all requests, and remember this: everything in life is a decision, make the right ones today for your college scholarship success.
Winning Hearts Leads to Winning College Scholarships
Posted by admin in College Scholarships on November 4, 2009
A mother was at home, and there was a knock at the door. She opened the door and was surprised to see a person standing there with a bouquet of flowers. It wasn’t a holiday, birthday, or anniversary. The flowers were a total surprise!
They turned a rather ordinary day into an exceptional one to be remembered for weeks to come.
Little remembrances are cherished. And, the person who sends them is not forgotten. We all like to be remembered in unusual and caring ways.
The teachers and staffs of high schools aren’t any different and yet, it does not happen very often for them. Kind words are good, but a thoughtful note is better, and a small gift is best.
A teacher remarked that she once had a student who had many physical issues. It created some unusual classroom problems in her chemistry class. The mother of that student knew this
and constantly thanked the teacher with complimentary notes and small gifts throughout the school year not just on holidays. It made the teacher feel appreciated, needed, and
respected.
A typical high school has administrators, teachers, and a support staff. Who will be affecting your student? Who will your student have for classroom teachers in the coming year?
Find out who they are. You will want to know the
receptionist at the main desk. Don’t forget the secretary in the guidance office. Who cooks the lunches, sweeps the floors, and empties the wastebaskets? Bus drivers often have a particularly difficult situation. Also remember the principal and vice-principal. Many times all of these people are only remembered when something negative happens. Letting them know that you recognize and appreciate the jobs they’re
performing, for the benefit of your child, will make it easier for your student.
Favors and kindnesses are always returned. Find out when those birthdays and anniversaries happen and remember them with a card, note or even cookies. And, in those few short years, when college scholarship time rolls around, people
will be happy to write glowing testimonials for your student.
Remember this: everything in life is a decision, make the right ones today for your college scholarship success.