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Frequently Asked
Questions
Listed here are some of our most frequently asked
questions. Don’t see what you’re looking for? E-mail us your questions to
CustomerService@CollegeScholarshipPlan.com.
When should I start to look for
scholarships?
While it is true that the full merit scholarships
are only available to high school seniors, there are many scholarships for which a student can
compete as early as 7th grade.
These pre-senior scholarships are usually one-time
awards given by foundations or civic groups. To compete for these scholarships, which range from
$250-$20,000, the student typically enters an essay, video or other creative submission for
competition.
Won’t my college placement counselor decide
which scholarships I should pursue?
It is true that some scholarships require that
applicants have their school’s nomination but there are thousands of opportunities a student can
pursue independently. The best starting point in a scholarship search is the internet. There are
many websites that allow a student as young as 14 to complete a free profile which is then matched
against a database of scholarships. The search results will list the amount of the awards,
deadlines and links to the primary website. Scholarships.com and Fastweb.com are two of the most
popular and dependable sites for free scholarship searching.
*Be
careful. Some sites run scams that
guarantee scholarship awards if you pay them a fee. Stick with
the tried and true sites. Do not give out a social security number in any of the search
profiles
Aren't scholarships just for those who have
financial need?
Absolutely not! Today's scholarships, especially
the full merit scholarships, are about much more. In addition to covering the costs of tuition and
room/board, they also often include opportunities for educational travel, networking with
accomplished and influential people, unique internships and fellowships and even provide the
recipient with a laptop computer.
Today's scholarships can give the recipient access
to opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach. tuition and room/board, they also often
include opportunities for educational travel, networking with accomplished and influential people,
unique internships and fellowships and even provide the recipient with a laptop
computer.
Today's scholarships can give the recipient access
to opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach.
I'd like to go to an Ivy League school but I
know there's no way we can afford it. What do you suggest?
You are in luck! Because of recent pressure from
Congress to pay out a certain percentage of their endowments, schools such as Harvard, Yale, Brown
and Princeton (among others) have announced new "no loan initiatives" that are now being emulated
in smaller elite private institutions.
At these schools, you first make application for
admission with no discussion regarding your financial need. (This is called a "need blind"
admission policy.)
If you are admitted, then the school will look at
your family income to determine the level of support to provide. At most of these schools, if your
family income is less than $150,000 or so (it varies between schools), then your tuition is free
for all four years. If your family income is less than $60,000, you will also be provided with free
room and board. Most schools have a sliding scale for incomes in between those brackets. Visit each
school's website to get the details unique to that school.
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