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You Don't Have to Strip for Playboy or Playgirl to Pay for CollegeOct 11 '06 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Use the resources out there. People are looking for students to give their money to so don't be shy about asking. Well they will but these activities might come back to haunt you some day. They aren't ones I recommend. There are other ways. Unless you get a full scholarship you will have to pay for your college education. This essay will address some ideas of how to find money. I will give you my own personal examples as well as factual material. The first thing you will have to do is figure out how much money you need. We started by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You can use the online form at www.fafsa.com. This determines if the federal government based on your household income will give you money. Questions such as your household income, how much money you have in the bank and what other kinds of assets you have will be asked. Foundations and Grants: It was about twenty years ago. I was a single parent. I wanted to go to graduate school and needed to finance it. You will find most (maybe even all) colleges (and even high school guidance offices) have a book or books on where to find money. There are people out there who want to give their money away for others to go to college. I am Jewish but interject whatever religion you are. If you don’t have a religion you’ll get the idea anyway. I went to one of the schools I was applying to and found a foundation in Boston that was giving money to single women over the age of 30 in a 50 mile range of Boston. I got money. It was only $500 but those $500 checks add up. I also found out that this school so perhaps others (Boston University) took $2000 right off the tuition per year because I was a single parent. One lesson here is that unless you ask you won’t know. There is more money out there if you are the child of a veteran, firefighter, police office, military person or person of color. It won’t come to you though so you do have to go to it. Utilize your guidance counselor for ideas. That’s what they are paid to do. My oldest daughter took a shot at the Rotary Club in our area. One night she got a call. She had been awarded $2,000 from this Club. You may also want to try the Kiwanis Club. You will also find many corporations who give scholarships. These are hard to come by but there is no harm in trying to nudge Bill Gates or the President of Coca Cola. Although this was post–graduate I want to pass along another way my younger daughter found money. As a medical school student she discovered that the American Medical Association in various towns gives away money. She applied from our town which is smaller than where she was going to school so she thought she might have a chance. In fact she may have been the only medical school student in our town so if you have a relative living in a small town and you are living in a city apply to the small town’s group. She was awarded $1500. In these cases essays had to be written telling the donors why we are worthy candidates. It is possible to utilize some of the material in the college essays you had to write for this essay. Remember than in many cases a lot of students are vying for this money. Why should you be the one to get it? This isn't the time to be modes. (No pun intended regarding the title.) Be honest - by all means never make anything up about yourself - and creative. Where are you applying? I tell parents all the time who can't pay the full tuition or any of it; whose child doesn’t want to come out with huge amounts of loans; and is going to a private college to try this method. A school who wants you is much more apt to give you a merit scholarship (as opposed to a financial aid scholarship). Why is this? Simple – they want their SAT scores to be as high as they can be. By accepting a student who could get into a better school and giving them money it increases the school's average SAT scores as well as what percent of students were in the top 10% of their class for example. This is our story. Both my daughters were given $15,000 a year. One was accepted at Brandeis University and one was accepted at the University of Pennsylvania. They declined both offers which to some was ludicrous but in the case of the Ivy League school I’ll mention that later and in the case of B.U. that was the daughter who wanted to go to medical school. We wanted her to go to the best school she got into. Remember one reason B.U. gave her that money was because they knew she would get into a higher ranked school. In her case they didn’t succeed but this is definitely a super way to go to get financial aid. In a sentence – apply to a couple of schools whose average SAT scores are lower than yours. Family: My aunt graciously gave both my children money. I guess she figured that it was better spent now than when she died and it was. She’s still alive at 90 and my children really don’t need the money now so she made the right decision. Perhaps you can ask a relative (not a long lost aunt but a grandparent or someone with whom you are close) for a low interest loan. Perhaps they will accept a payback with lower interest than anyone else will give you. They are helping you out and though maybe losing money on the interest it might not mean as much to them as it does to you. We were very lucky. My dad was still alive and working. My girls were his only grandchildren. He preferred to help pay for the Ivy League college (If only to be able to be really proud of her and tell his friends in Florida!) than have her go to a really excellent school but not an Ivy League school. Another route: You can consider the much less two-year community college or four-year public college. After two years you can transfer to a four-year college and graduate from the latter. There are many excellent public universities around the country that will cost you 1/4 of the yearly tuition as a private college. Final Thoughts: So there is no need to take off your clothes to get to college. Just remember there are deadlines for all the above. Don’t get involved with any scholarship service that charges a fee. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Good luck and thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave your own ideas. I may have others running around my brain so just leave me a question or comment and I’ll try to answer it. What to know about care packages ~ An Interview with a Professor: How to Ask and Get References ~ What you should know about medical school: Part I ~ You're a Medical Student. Important information on the match and ranking process: Part II ~ Care Packages: Wrap a Gift to Go ~ My Guide to Choosing a College ~ The Myth of the Party School ~ They're Off to College ~ My Guide to Acing a College Interview ~ What Should I Do if My Student is Unhappy? ~ What Should I Bring to School? ~ Emory University ~ Bentley College ~ University of Massachusetts Medical School ~ University of Pennsylvania  |
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