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Scholarship Secrets Every Parent Should Know, Part 1

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In the world of scholarships and every parent’s struggle to pay for college, there is a dizzying array of choices and options marketed to juniors and seniors. This post reveals some of the most valuable secrets that every parent and student should know in order to maximize their scholarship offers.

Scholarship Preparation Begins Before High School. In way too many schools and homes, administrators, teachers, parents and students start talking about scholarships about halfway through high school. By then it is too late. Grade point average (GPA), extracurricular activities, and service and volunteer opportunities demonstrate what you’ve accomplished through high school and are extremely important to scholarship selection committees. The best time to begin preparing for scholarships is in middle school or junior high. The second best time is now.

Make Sure That You Know The Deadlines. Colleges have strict deadlines for priority scholarship consideration, usually December 1 of your child’s senior year. Plus, if your school requires the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) then there is a separate deadline to have that paperwork submitted. Be sure that all applications and paperwork have been submitted prior to the stated deadlines.

Some Scholarships Are Automatic. We tend to think of scholarships as awards which have many applicants with only one recipient. Almost every college has merit scholarships for incoming freshmen, which are awarded based on academic achievement. To qualify, you must generally meet a GPA and entrance exam score combination. Know what those limits are by checking the scholarship information on each school’s web site.

You Must Enter To Win. This is a mistake that I made during my high school years. In order to receive a scholarship offer from a given school, you must be accepted as a student at that university. Schools don’t just send out scholarship offers to all students who qualify; you must go through the application for admission process in order to be considered. This means that you must complete the application for admission, pay the required application fees, and submit your high school transcript and entrance exam scores for each school that you’re interested in. Don’t overlook this very important step.

Bigger Is Not Always Better. It is easy to look at the monetary value of all scholarship awards and take the one with the highest value. That’s not necessarily the best approach. A better way to look at it is to figure out the total cost of attendance at each school and determine how much will not be covered after all scholarships and financial aid has been applied. The “right” choice from a financial standpoint is the one with the smallest deficit.

In the next post, I will reveal four more secrets that parents and students need to know. By equipping yourself with this knowledge and paying attention to all of the deadlines, you will find yourself miles ahead of the pack and in a position to maximize your scholarship opportunities.

Application Question – Have you begun to research scholarship opportunities? Are you facing upcoming deadlines for your high school senior? Do you talk with your child about rounding out their resume as they approach scholarship time?

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October to-dos

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October can be a pretty important month for those wishing to become an Affluent Student.  For everyone in elementary, middle, and high school, this is generally when the first official progress reports come out.  For college students, many of you will get your mid-term grades this month.  Hopefully the progress reports or midterm grades won’t be a surprise to anyone, but inevitably those official reports are the first time that many parents and students become aware of a performance issue.  I can assure you parents that your children know exactly how poorly they are doing.  Even if they can’t tell you their exact average in each class, they know if they’ve been doing the work and how well they’ve done on tests.  Now is an opportunity to make any necessary adjustments.  For those of you who are caught offguard, have those important conversations with your student and their teachers.  Make an appointment to see the teacher or talk to them on the phone; email really doesn’t give you the opportunity to capture the whole picture.  Sometimes just caring enough to reach out to the teacher will send the message to your child that their education is important to you.  Meet with the teachers during their work hours and don’t ask them to call you nights or weekends; the teacher has done their job so you need to meet them on their terms.  Whatever you learn about your student’s performance, go the extra mile to help them improve – don’t just cop out and ground them and tell them to do better.  It takes intentional parenting to make a positive difference in a child’s life.

For college-bound students, the ACT will be offered this month and the PSAT/NMSQT (used to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program) is offered in October.  For all sophomores and juniors, I highly recommend taking the PSAT/NMSQT.  This exam is a great practice run for the SAT, but it is only offered in October of every year.  For juniors, everyone who takes the exam is entered into the National Merit Scholarship competition.  Based on the student’s selection as a National Merit semifinalist, finalist, or winner, most colleges have additional scholarship opportunities which are automatically awarded to incoming students that achieve this standing.

One last topic for high school seniors – the priority scholarship deadline for 99% of colleges is December 1.  In ordered to be considered for scholarships at any school, the student must be admitted to the university.  Be completing your applications so that this date doesn’t sneak up on you.

In short, October is one of the most beautiful months of the year and a host of activities and distractions can take parents and students away from their educational goals.  Be sure to stay connected and pay attention to these and other important educational priorities.

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How to apply for scholarships

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One of the most important things that a parent can know in order to help their student is how to apply for scholarships.  The earlier a parent knows about this process, the more prepared they will be when the time comes for their child.  Even parents of middle school children will benefit from knowing this process and going through several dry runs.  There are both competitive and non-competitive scholarships based on all kinds of qualifications.  There are scholarships offered by the college, also called institutional or internal scholarships, and those offered by numerous external organizations, which we’ll call external scholarships.  Let’s take a look at the application process for both types of scholarships.

For internal scholarships at 99% of all colleges, the priority scholarship application deadline is December 1 of your child’s senior year.  Specific scholarships may have different deadlines.  Also, in order to be considered for any internal scholarship, you must be admitted to the college. The general scholarship application process is as follows; some schools might not require some of these steps:

  1. Apply for admission to the college.
  2. Submit any required fees, transcripts, and test scores to the college.
  3. Visit the school’s scholarship website.
  4. Research the specific scholarship application requirements.  Some schools have one general application, others have separate applications for various scholarships.
  5. Complete the general scholarship application (if any).
  6. Submit any required essays, resumes, or other materials required to support the general scholarship application.
  7. Identify any special internal scholarships that have different application requirements.
  8. Complete the specific scholarship application for each scholarship in this category.
  9. Submit any required essays, resumes, or other materials required to support each of your specific scholarship applications.
  10. Follow up on any requests for additional information or scheduled interviews.

For external scholarships, the application process can vary widely.  In general, though, the process will be the same as specific internal scholarships, as follows:

  1. Contact the committee or individual responsible for the scholarship application process.
  2. Ask for specific directions and procedures to complete the scholarship application.
  3. Complete the scholarship application form.
  4. Submit any required essays, resumes, or other materials required to support the scholarship application.
  5. Follow up on any requests for additional information or scheduled interviews.

More to come in subsequent posts about interviews, resumes, essays, and other supporting scholarship application materials.  The most important thing is to understand the process, pay attention to deadlines, and submit all required materials as dictated by the college or organization.

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