Julian Said:

High school years were a disaster, currently a high school senior, any tips?

We Answered:

Anti, I relate to your question because I, too, blew off high school - never appreciating the permanence of a GPA. Unlike you, I was not disadvantaged, a was just seriously immature.

You have many good things going for you. Your chances for a brilliant academic future are quite strong. First off, you made excellent grades in your last two years of school: proof that you are capable of actually comprehending the material and disciplined enough to do the work. Next, EVERY upper tier college pays SERIOUS ATTENTION to that personal essay you must submit with your application. This essay will be larely autobiographical; the poverty and honplessness in you culture and the fact that you did not speak English until you were 12- all of this speaks well about your dreams and ambitions to elevate yourself.

If you find that your GPA is not high enough, I recommend going to a two-year cololege and complete the courses with outstanding grades. (Once you're in college you no longer have to take the SAT to transfer to a four-year school. In fact, your high school grades no longer receive the weight of your college GPA.) I know what I'm speaking of because I had a "C" average in high school. I went to work, grew up, and returned to school at the local community college. I was able to transfer to a prestigious university and graduated with Honors.

I say all this because I know you can achieve your dreams. Your life has no fatal errors in it. Make a plan. Work diligently. You will be the kind of success you want to be. I wish you the best.

Nicole Said:

Good scholarship opportunities for a senior?

We Answered:

You and I are in very similar situations (seniors with single parents and wanting to go to a good school with little money). Both my high school and some colleges have refered me to www.fastweb.com which is a website which you register for free and then search for scholarships based on a series of questions that they ask you. Some are for thousands of dollars and some are for a hundred dollars.

Another good site is www.collegeboard.com (the same website for the SAT) if you go into the student's section you will find a scholarship search engine that helps you find scholarships similar to fastweb, but from using both sites I would sugguest fastweb since the scholarships found on the collegeboard website seem to be more involved than the fastweb ones.

Something else you should definately concider is asking a guidence councler or some other advisor about local scholarhips. Believe it or not millions of dollars go unclaimed every year because students don't apply for the scholarships. If your local Elks Lodge gives away $250 each year and only two people apply, you have a pretty good change, see what I mean? Local scholarships don't always come with high amounts of money, but they are often more accessible and every little bit helps, right?

Also check out http://www.ed.gov/finaid/landing.jhtml?s… it is very helpful to find out about possible financial aid and other free money available. It also talks about the FAFSA form many colleges use.

Please remember that there are many companies and people who will suposedly guarnatee you money (scholarhips or aid) if you pay them a fee. This is a scam! No one can guarnatee you a scholarhips often they use the same databases like fastweb or college board to print out a list of "matched" scholarhips to you. This is a very time consuming process but you will likely get some money if you work at it. Believe me I know it's tough, I'm going through it too! Scholarships are like the lottery "You've gotta be in it to win it!" So keep filling out applications!

I understand your situation and have aquired all of this information in the last couple of years by talking to many counclers, college admissions people, and friends who have used these resources successfully.

Good Luck!

Marian Said:

High school senior study abroad scholarships/funds?

We Answered:

I have been looking for exactly the same thing! I would love to travel this summer, but cannot afford it, either. I know a few websites that might help you, one is www.yfu-usa.org, which has a bunch of scholarships that you might qualify for. It also has programs in a bunch of different countries. Another website is www.usexperiment.org, thier programs look great and they have financial aid, but the downside is that you have to pay a 400 dollar application fee before you find out about your aid award, and you have to apply fairly early in order to receive a good amount.

Good luck! I hope you get to go somewhere!

:-)

Pedro Said:

Scholarships for female high school seniors?

We Answered:

You will have the best luck going to a couple of your prospective colleges fin aid websites and see what they have. Often times people search too narrow (example: female only). Since you have such a great GPA, you will have the best luck just going to a couple of schools you are intersted in and getting the info right from their website. Other times students just don't know the jargon. For example another word for scholarships on some schools websites (when you click on the link) is called "Merit Based Aid" as in the example here: http://www.admissions.unc.edu/Aid_and_Sc…

I'm sure with just looking at 2 decent schools, you'll find 20 that you can apply for just because of your awesome GPA. Also don't forget about any state programs your state might offer. SOme states fund kids college if they meet certain requirements upon hs graduation.

Example: the state of Texas gives a 1,000 scholarship to r every high school valedictorian upon graduation. They do the same with those who graduate early.

Benjamin Said:

Scholarship opportunities? ?

We Answered:

All of those things you mentioned will help get a scholarship.
You shold check out some of the scholarship sites that match scholarships with your experiences, abilities, achievements etc. Some of them are
www.scholarships.com
www.schoolsoup.com
www.fastweb.com
www.petersons.com

Another good resource for scholarship information is your high school's guidance center where counselors should have information on local, state, and national scholarships. High school usually have a boat load of scholarship information. If the guidance center doesn't have it try the career center or ask around.
You can also call the financial aid of local colleges or the college you want to attend. Most college financial aid offices have lists of scholarships and neccessary information on them. A lot of school's are now posting scholarship information and resources online now on their financial aid webpages. So hunt around and maybe do a google search too.

Good luck, and keep up the good work in studies and community service.