My son is going to be a junior in high school, what´s the best way to get grants or scholarships for college?

Answer 1

The main thing is to encourage him to do well with his classes and study for both the SAT/ACT and the classes. There are merrit based scholarships offered by the individual colleges. However, there are several other sources for locating scholarships out there along with financial aid, and these places do not cost money to access.

First, the FAFSA form should be completed the in January or early February of his senior year of high school. This will tap into need based financial aid from the federal and state governments along with the college itself. It can provide both grants and student loans along with the work study program dependent upon a formula. This is based on the family income and financial resources.

Second, the high school guidance office has a list of local scholarships offered from local organizations and companies.

Third, the public library has a scholarship list book. It lists some scholarships that can't be located on the web.

Finally, join several free membership scholarship websites. Most are updated on a regular basis. Most offer a customized search based on the information entered into an online form.

Good luck!

Answer 2

When it's time fill out the FAFSA. The colleges can offer some too and they'll help point you in the right direction.

Grades will be a factor there unless he's quite the athlete, still most scholarships are academic.

GPA adn need are the biggest factors. Do not a pay a service, they are mostly rip-offs!

Answer 3

Aside from encouraging him to pursue extra curricular activities including sports and maintaining excellent grades, you can also start researching about your options.

Check out Federal Student Aid Web Site or FAFSA http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ I suggest you explore all federal funding and grant options at the Federal Student Aid website http://federalstudentaid.ed.gov/

You may also want to read the Handbook of the Pell Grant -- this is an 86 page document that contains everything about the grant
http://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/attachments/0203Vo3MasterFile.pdf

Or you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center http://www.ed.gov/programs/fpg/gtepfpg.pdf at 1-800-433-3243 and ask them if there are any programs for women of your age

Aside from FAFSA http://www.fafsa.ed.gov and Pell Grant http://www.ed.gov/programs/fpg/index.html , you may want to explore private foundation grants

For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center's Foundation Grants for Individuals Online http://gtionline.fdncenter.org . It's a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) and their opening blurb says that the database is ideal for "students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices." You may be able to find grants from private foundations.

Also check out Fastweb http://www.fastweb.com/

You can also visit the library and start looking at books on college grants and scholarships. Some books you can check out:

Scholarship Handbook 2006 (College Board Scholarship Handbook) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0874477522/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid
The College Board Scholarship Handbook 2007: All-new 10th Edition (College Board Scholarship Handbook) by The College Board (Paperback - Jul 11, 2006) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0874477670/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid

Answer 4

Get him involved in extracurricular activities. Many, many, many scholarships are awarded to individuals who made a contribution to their community. Get him volunteering at an old folks' home, get him shovelling the neighbor's sidewalks in the winter and washing their windows in the spring.

Also, I understand that in the States, there are numerous awards/scholarships available for athletes, so if he's sports-minded, encourage him to join a team.

However, do not let his grades drop. Poor grades = no money.

Answer 5

maximum scholarships do no longer settle for applicants till Junior twelve months on the earliest. interior the advise time, tell him to maintain his grades up, and besides to enjoying soccer, set up community provider hours and become in touch in another extra-curricular events, church,and so on. I easily have a son going off to a private college next week and he won various scholarships, a number of them small, yet all of them upload up. we could desire to pay $2000 of our very own earnings keeping with semester, down from $29000 in keeping with twelve months. He won $10000 for grades and act score from the faculty, 2 music scholarships - a million from the faculty and a million from the highschool, a state furnish, a scholarship for community provider events, Kiwanis scholarship, and so on. He did no longer get those till Senior twelve months, yet they have been in keeping with each and each of the stuff he did throughout the time of intense college. And a small one from our church denomination, yet he had to be an energetic and familiar participant to quailfy for that.

Answer 6

Help him find ones that he qualifies for, and have him apply. You can't do it for him. If he wants to be more eligible, encourage him to get involved in his school and/or community. Colleges like to see students who are involved in activities outside of academics. Don't have him sign up for a dozen, just find one or two that interest him that he would like to explore further. Also, many scholarships require an essay. Maybe have him sign up for a course that will help him work on his writing skills. But above all, don't push him. He needs to do it on his own. You don't want to be a nag.

Good luck!

Answer 7

If you register your son at these websites,they can help him to find a scholarship..

www.MyFloridaEducation.com/brfuture
or
www.fastweb.com

good luck

Answer 8

Sports and good grades.