College Tips Gone Mad!
By Dave Goldberg, M. Ed.
IRHS Counselor
Did you hear? There's a rumble tonight. Bring sticks, chains and some knuckles. Think West Side Story.
Oh, it's not that type of rumble; it's not a battle for turf or love. Rather, it's a battle royale for scholarships. You can bring a wet noodle to this one. In the spirit of scholarship season, which is NOW, Guidance & Counseling wants to spill the beans and let you all go to it.
Some of the following programs are college invitations to visit, some are scholarships and some are programmatic offerings. Feast your eyes and wits upon the cornucopia of offerings to date:
Unidas, September 9 deadline: http://www.womengiving.org/impact/unidas/
Latinos on Fast Track: http://hispanicheritage.org/loft.php
2014 Prudential Spirit of Community Award, November 5 deadline: http://spirit.prudential.com/view/page/soc
Overnight Program, October 15 deadline: http://admissions.tufts.edu/voices
Washington University biggie, October 15 deadline: danforthscholars@wustl.edu
Integrity, determination and courage: www.horatioalger.org/scholarships
High School Oratorical Scholarship Program, January 1 deadline: http://www.legion.org/scholarships
Top students from low-income households, late September deadline: www.questbridge.org
Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn, Stanford, Oct. 1: www.exploringcollegeoptions.org
Career and leadership programs: http://www.envisionexperience.com/
Scholarship clearinghouse: http://www.scholarsite.com/index.php?lang=en-US
Out of state options with reduced tuition programs: http://wiche.edu/wue
Alongside these early contenders to offer your child money or opportunities for college, we have launched our Facebook page, IRHS Scholarships and More
Actually, this is a re-launch and reincarnation of our Community Page. The initial start up is still in a beta mode but you may "like" it and see how it fits your needs.
We'd like to keep other schools' students and counselors off the page. This is our baby, built for us. IRHS parents and their students currently enrolled in IRHS should be on this page. The IRHS Twitter account will be linked shortly. Maybe Pinterest will be next. Who knows.
Here is the best pointer regarding scholarship acquisition: Guidance could never put all the scholarships available on our page or in a bulletin. Thousands of scholarships exist. Putting one's nose to the grindstone, however painful that may become, is the best way to acquire scholarships. Scholarshipping is a gigantic world of carnival barkers, valid situations, data-mining sites, spammers and others. Searching for the proper situation for each of our 450 +/- seniors would take a month Sundays. You will have to partner with us in this endeavor.
Usually, private donor and merit aid scholarships that are affiliated with a university carry zero risk. On the other hand, www.scholarsite.com (above) may be a little dodgy if they are seeking more information than you are comfortable sharing. You need not play the game so forcefully. Sometimes a bit of touch goes a long way, i.e., use their information they display publically but you don't necessarily need to have an account with them.
That technique was called "dropping in" in the 60's, and many a "student" found access to college at Cal-Berkeley, for example by, well, just dropping in to classes without going through the, you know, icky admissions process. ( Dropping in is frowned upon, BTW.)
For parents of juniors, as with most businesses, for instance, the PSAT results will generate a wealth of mailers to your mailbox and in box. Many schools are competing for your children. Your challenge will be sort the wheat from the chaff. Beware the bait and switch. Beware the overbearing salesperson. Caveat emptor.
For every senior and a good number of juniors, the college season is upon us. Back East, students just started school, Tuesday. You all have a good jump on scholarships over these competitors. Let's go get 'em, Tiger. The goal should be at least one scholarship or program application per week for nearly every senior at IRHS.
And that's how it's done successfully.
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