The Quest For Scholarships

I do want to mention that the title and the tone of this blog was partially inspired by the fact that I was watching Angry Video Game Nerd while working on it, so I just want to suggest don't do that. This is going to be a horrible blog entry, but it's one that needs to be said. Scholarships are an urban myth. I learned that fact in high school when I was in high school and almost all the scholarships were for kids in the top 10% of the class that weren't in the top 5%. Yeah, if you need money for college, you'll be penalized for being too smart, but not smart enough to be valedictorian. Your parents better be rich. That's another problem: Parents. Parents think they're done with their kids once they turn 18 and many don't save for their kid's college for that reason. But guess what, government says you need to pitch in for your kid's college education until they're 23, unless they're married or something. Colleges can't cover all the costs of supporting the students financially, either, but need based aid is never enough, and somehow some people who need aid still don't get it.

Anyway, back to scholarships. They will tell you every year that there's a ton of unclaimed scholarships because people don't apply for them. I looked into those. It's because people don't qualify for them. This is why I say scholarships are an urban myth...they are designed so that nobody can get them.

Well, some people can. Engineers and business majors will never find a shortage of scholarship opportunities to them. Kids still in high school have a better chance than everyone else, since I guess most people who run these scholarships think if you're already in college, you must have money somewhere, even if that's not true. But outside of high school, if you're not an engineer or business major, you're screwed.

Never take a hiatus from college unless that hiatus was because you had a kid. It may be need based... Your parents didn't save anything for college but they make too much for you to receive aid, and you have to wait until you're 23 to claim yourself for college. I'm telling you, don't do it. In the rare instance you do find a scholarship in your major that you'd otherwise qualify for, there's an age limit on it.

If you spent your childhood being a child, there's no money for you. Anything you might find pretty much dictates you either had to have had a hardship childhood or that you've been volunteering in soup kitchens since you were 3, or you were President of the Student Council since birth. If you do find something, it's usually the only one, so it's the most competitive thing ever, you'd have a better chance of buying lotto to support your college education.

I have compiled a list of people who need scholarship money but just can't seem to find it. Now, before I show this list, I do want to point out I have had a Fastweb account since I was sixteen and I have never won a scholarship, even back when my parents were forcing me to be a teacher. It's been nine years. Anyway, that list:

-The top 5% of a high school's graduating class, except the valedictorian
-Anyone who's major isn't business or engineering
-Females older than 24 who aren't single mothers or a victim of crime
-Males older than 24 who aren't a hardship

So now I have some suggestions that while aren't as sweet nice as getting free money for college, is worth considering:

-Try to save even $10 a month. $120 can still buy you all the basic school supplies you would need in a year, even if you get other need based aid. Of course, if you can save a little more, do it. More money, more helpful. The school is expecting you to put *something* into your own education after all.
-Get a UPromise account. I have one, but I really have only a few dollars in it since I don't buy that much online. But I still am saving up money in it through one of their partners by answering surveys online. If you do buy things online through partners, a percentage is kicked back into an account for a college education. Do that and answer some surveys once in awhile...you should save up money for college without having to do any of your own actual saving.
-Save your pennies. I mentioned this already in my blog about trying to fund a year abroad, but you don't have to be as militant as I am. I stopped spending change altogether. Even if you do spend change in your normal purchases, how about at the end of the day, whatever change is still in your wallet, you kick into a piggy bank. Even if you average fifty cents a day, that's $15 a month.

If you have any other suggestions, or know of other scholarship search engines besides Fastweb, or even know of scholarships out there, please share them. As always, I love collaboration.

How to Fund a Year Abroad in Japan?

I really do want to study for a year in Japan, and I've started planning before this school year has even started. The estimated cost of the program as of right now is $21,233. That's just for the program, of course. I'm estimating another $2792 for costs the program doesn't consider, such as cell phones and storage costs for things that stay stateside. So, I'm estimating that a year abroad would cost me $24,025.

Upperclassmen can borrow $12,500 for student loans, so that's $11,525 I would need to come up with. Well, this year I don't have a job. While it's a bad thing, it might equate to a good thing. I have less money, so my need for aid would probably increase. Also, there are scholarships for students who study abroad. I'm not going to assume I will get much, though. But who knows?

One thing I've been doing is saving my pennies--and dimes, nickels, and quarters. I have stopped using change altogether and putting it all into a piggy bank. I have been doing this for about three weeks and have $47.65 saved as of today. I usually end up with $2-$3 in change a day, since I don't spend any change at all once I get it. If I can keep it up, I can save about $830 in a year.

So now what I need are some ideas for coming up with the other $10,695. Obviously, I could ask for cash for my birthday and Christmas and save it, but that would be another $200 at best. Do people really sell copies of the notes they take in class? I'm a really good note taker; I've gotten an A in many a class without ever opening a book. If that's a real thing, I could make a good chunk of change.

I want the funding of my year abroad in Japan to be a collaboration of ideas so they can be shared with others who are in a similar situation as myself. Plus, groups think of ideas that individuals do not. Plus, I love collaborating. It really brings out people's creative side. Any ideas at all would be appreciated.