Scholarships (1 Viewer)

Bayouboy

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My son is a junior and he is pretty bright. He's scored a 26 on his ACT (last year) and he makes straight A's. I was wondering if any of you have advice for me about college scholarships. Things can change, but he will likely stay in state (Louisiana). Is there a website or websites that centrally located opportunities? Some advocate appliying for as many as possible. That's fine & dandy, but my kid won't write 100 essays!

I have not "googled" anything yet. I wanted to get real life experiences from you all....I'm sure some here have navigated these waters before.

From taking to friends, LSU is the least likely to provide any help. Someone I know that scored a 30 on his ACT received very little from the university, while other colleges in the state offered full rides. I'm the type of parent that will heavily influence him to take the full ride route, especially if I have skins in the game (my money). Any advice would be appreciated!
 
i think scoring 28-32 is where you get into full ride offers for educational scholarships. My younger BiL scored 33 ended up at Suwanee in Tenn on a full ride.

If he stays in state, look up TOPS.

I wonder if guido could shed some light - i think he is in education.
 
Math and science. He's talked about pre-med, pharmacy, and engineering.
 
Math and science. He's talked about pre-med, pharmacy, and engineering.
so he's gungho about all this? that's good
is he really wanting the college experience?
is he on board with you looking for most economic solutions?
(you said 'my money' - is this something y'all have talked about? presumably you've paid for him so far, have you discussed 'my money/our money?' gift v loans? performance expectations? him working? work/study?

now
all of his choices require grad school - -what's going to matter the most for them is GRE and his grades in his major classes (most likely) jr & sr years
one good way to handle costs is 2 years of jr college/community college to get done with pre-reqs - then he'll have a better idea about what he wants to pursue
downside is no or limited campus life and (potentially) less competition - also, those career choices are helped tremendously by summer internships - in a 4 yr college, he might already be picking an internship between soph/jr year

more specific to your questions, his counselor is (hopefully) going to be best resource - this transition from HS to college is morphing continually - -i haven't counselled/letter of req.ed kids in about 5 years, and i'm sure the information/approach has been adapted 3x already

good luck - -it's a crazy, anxious, exciting time
 
Listen to GMS, he’s dropping pearls.....
 
Both of my kids are in college right now. As far as scholarships, most high school offices will have lists of them and also websites to start looking at. It’s a good place to start, and as an end of the year junior coming up, it’s time to really start looking. Have him make an appointment with whatever your high school calls them and start making that connection. They have a huge amount of resources, and I cannot emphasis enough to have him go talk, get to know and get that personal relationship. That way when something goes across their desk, they can remember it for your son. As anyone who deals with kids we put the extra effort into those kinda kids. I’ll ask my daughter later for more specifics for you on where to look (she’s hyper organized like that, my son in that area is a flaming idiot). But, right now she is making carne asada, rice and beans for about 15 people because they want real Mexican food and the 5’3” blond from central Cali is the only person they know who can. She’s even making fresh tortillas.
 
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(you said 'my money' - is this something y'all have talked about? presumably you've paid for him so far, have you discussed 'my money/our money?' gift v loans? performance expectations? him working? work/study?

To elaborate, I told him that we planned on helping with college costs providing we have input into his location. I'm not looking to tell him what to go into or where to go, but if I'm gonna pony up my money, he will take full ride to La Tech over a partial something at LSU. If he wants LSU badly enough, he can make that call and subsequently pay for the excess himself. I also would rather him stay in-state due to TOPS (but that funding varies). There are a lot of things that have not been discussed or decided at this point.....but I do know that time is ticking here. It's time to get into gear. Seeing his school councilor is good advice.

My parents paid for my college costs when I grew up. I lived at home, so that helped keep costs down. It was a true blessing to come out with a degree and no student debt. I will try my best to provide that blessing to my two kids. Unfortunately, college costs have soared since I went back in the 90's. I will do what I can. Which is why I'm enquiring about scholarships.....the more he can garner "for free", the less I have to pay. My son his the only chance for a bunch of freebies as my younger daughter is not as blessed acedemically.
 
i think scoring 28-32 is where you get into full ride offers for educational scholarships. My younger BiL scored 33 ended up at Suwanee in Tenn on a full ride.

If he stays in state, look up TOPS.

I wonder if guido could shed some light - i think he is in education.
How did/does he like the university of the south? Had some famiky that went there and loved it.
 
To elaborate, I told him that we planned on helping with college costs providing we have input into his location. I'm not looking to tell him what to go into or where to go, but if I'm gonna pony up my money, he will take full ride to La Tech over a partial something at LSU. If he wants LSU badly enough, he can make that call and subsequently pay for the excess himself. I also would rather him stay in-state due to TOPS (but that funding varies). There are a lot of things that have not been discussed or decided at this point.....but I do know that time is ticking here. It's time to get into gear. Seeing his school councilor is good advice.

My parents paid for my college costs when I grew up. I lived at home, so that helped keep costs down. It was a true blessing to come out with a degree and no student debt. I will try my best to provide that blessing to my two kids. Unfortunately, college costs have soared since I went back in the 90's. I will do what I can. Which is why I'm enquiring about scholarships.....the more he can garner "for free", the less I have to pay. My son his the only chance for a bunch of freebies as my younger daughter is not as blessed acedemically.
yeah, it sucks that TOPS has become such a political football

reiterating what Goatman says, get in front of the counselor's face early and often
just know that most counselors will provide information, but will not do leg work
if your son is someone who responds to a challenge, encourage him to think about scholarship search as his 'job' - several hours a week looking for scholarships, contacting schools, pro/con lists, et al

and regarding your daughter, i know tons of kid who were 'basic' HS students and then really blossomed once they got to college
but also gap years can be very valuable to help prioritize next steps
 
No advice on scholarships other than what is already being provided. On ACT though, it's beneficial if he can take a course geared towards ACT prep. My daughter's high school offered one and she took it and ended up with a 31. I also recommend taking it as many times and as soon as you can since colleges take the highest score. So, even if his score drops from one to the next it doesn't hurt him. It also builds experience, time management & confidence taking the test. Individual scholarships are great, but your biggest splash will be if he can get that score into the 30's unless he can get an athletics scholarship.
 
just don’t blow tops like i did dropping out after 2 weeks because i was bored.
 
just don’t blow tops like i did dropping out after 2 weeks because i was bored.
i was going to make fun of this but it's an important thing to think about it
the first semester is a HUGE transition (in 1 undergrad and 2 grad schools i thought i made a gigantic mistake at the beginning of each of them)
parents can help prep their kids for that early rough patch
 
i was going to make fun of this but it's an important thing to think about it
the first semester is a HUGE transition (in 1 undergrad and 2 grad schools i thought i made a gigantic mistake at the beginning of each of them)
parents can help prep their kids for that early rough patch
That's actually brings up another good point. If your kid isn't really ready for the 4 year university thing then it isn't a bad idea to go the community college route. You can still get credit for classes that can transfer to a major university and with the scholarships you can actually make money to set aside for future tuition. We thought about doing this for my daughter before she settled on a major.
 

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