College Deadline Checklist

Personal Finance: Pursuing scholarships is worth the college savings

When it comes to snagging college scholarship money, Connor Quinn gets a solid "A" for effort.

In the last year, the 18-year-old high school student applied for more than 80 individual scholarships, offered by everyone from Best Buy to a Buddhist foundation.

How'd he do? So far, Quinn has collected 22 awards totaling $22,700.

"The money's out there. You might as well try," says the Fair Oaks resident, who graduated from Bella Vista High School last week.

With college tuition rates increasing and financial aid tightening, finding scholarship money is even more pressing for many students and their families.

The average annual tuition and room/board for a four-year public school is $16,100 next year and $36,900 for a private university, according to CollegeBoard.org.

That's what makes scholarships so appealing. Unlike student loans or financial aid, scholarships are free money that doesn't have to be repaid.

According to various financial aid estimates, there are annually more than 1 million scholarships dangling more than $3 billion to worthy students.

But it takes some effort to land it. To get advice on how you or your student can pursue scholarship dollars, we spoke with Mark Kantrowitz, a national college financial aid expert and author of "Secrets to Winning a Scholarship." He's also the founder of two websites, FinAid.org (college financial aid tools) and FastWeb.com (a scholarship-matching service).

Overall, Kantrowitz has three words: Don't give up.

"You'll get far more rejections than you win. But the more you apply for, the more you rack up."

And it's never too late. There are scholarships for ninth-, tenth- and eleventh-graders, as well as for those already in college, he noted.

If you're in the hunt, here are more of his tips:

Don't skip the small stuff

Even it's only $100, apply. Students tend to scoff at small scholarships, but they can add up.

For every $100 you might win, that's $100 less you'll have to borrow, said Kantrowitz. On the average student loan, he said, you'll pay nearly $2 for every dollar borrowed.

Don't overlook small, local scholarships: Rotary, veterans groups, fraternal organizations, PTAs, community groups, local sororities.

Quinn followed that route himself. Of his 22 scholarships, 13 are local, including those from an African American sorority, a Jewish foundation, SAFE Credit Union and the Orangevale Rotary Club. They've ranged from $500 to $4,000.

The College Application Process - the retirement group

The Retirement Group blog helps corporate retirees with pre retirement questions and Fidelity questions free of charge. We are a source of financial information, retirement seminars and retirement workshops for AT&T & CWA, Verizon, NGC, Chevron, ExxonMobil, PG&E, Qwest, SDG&E and SCE employees transitioning from a corporate employee into retiree. www.theretirementgroup.com, 800-900-5867 For more information please visit Retirekit.com Like hot cocoa and apple pie, some things can be counted on to bring comfort every fall. Unfortunately, the college application process isn't one of them. In fact, for your child, it probably ranks right up there with going to a new school or wearing that first pair of eyeglasses. It's easy for your child to feel overwhelmed while trying to manage numerous applications, each with varying deadlines and requirements. Just imagine if you had to fill out multiple tax returns this year--and your future job depended on it! But filling out college applications properly is crucial. After all, you and your child put a lot of time and effort into choosing schools--now it's time to complete that process. Your child should allow plenty of time to work on the applications, and you'll want to make sure that you're available for help. Here are some things to keep in mind before your child gets started. The key is for your child to present all of this information in the best possible light. Though your child won't have any flexibility in the presentation of his or her personal information, grades, or SAT scores, he or she will have an opportunity to stand out from the pack with reference letters and the personal essay. Not surprisingly, then, these two items are very important. Your child should spend some time thinking about the teachers whom he or she wants to write the recommendation letters. Also, your child should allow plenty of time for the teacher to write the reference, and tell the teacher what to do when finished (i.e., send the letter directly to the college--in which case a prestamped, preaddressed envelope should be provided--or give it back for inclusion with the rest of the application). The personal essay is often the heart and soul of the application. It helps the admissions team distinguish your child from many other applicants and, in some cases, may be the deciding factor. To write a thoughtful, coherent essay, your child should choose a topic that is especially meaningful to him or her.

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