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Tech Scholarships for College/University?
Mirkon asks: "I'm a potential high school graduate, and have been accepted to a four-year school for furthering my rather biased educational interests. The problem is that while I'm cheap, the school (predictably) isn't. It's still getting itself off the ground, and thus only offers the legal minimum of scholarships - for racial minorities and those with intense financial need, neither of which I qualify for. Tedious searching for third-party scholarships has revealed that there are very, very few that cater to the interests of a technologically-inclined student, and even fewer that don't give a paltry one-time prize of $500 or less. While there's certainly no shortage of 'write an essay about us/you and we might give you a scholarship' offerings, I find it hard to swallow that there aren't more and more valuable scholarships to encourage growth in the tech sector. Are there?"
In addition to the many national and regional organizations out there, you might find that there are local financial charities in your area that have a surprisingly rich portfolio of grants and scholarships. Here in northern California we have the Humboldt Area Foundation which provides scholarships on behalf of members in the community who have setup over 100 memorial endowments totalling more than $50 million. When looking for financial aid, be sure to not to overlook your local resources.
Take a number junior. We work in the field and are unhappy there isn't growth in the tech sector.
<blockquote> and even fewer that don't give a paltry one-time prize of $500 or less.</blockquote>
Dude, that's the entire domestic IT budget for IBM. What do you expect?
Consider flat out deception - tell an executive at IBM, Hewlett-Packard, etc., that you have Indian connections, you'll be able to skip school and go straight into the Board Room.
The solution? Start a pyramid scheme. The way I did it was simple. There are tons of places online where people offering scholarships register. You can go there to find scholarships, then go to the scholarship's homepage and get information on how to submit. I never got any big scholarships, I just got several 500-2000 bucks hits, and it eventually added up.
I had some friends at Georgia Tech that used this route through school. Takes a little longer to make it through school, but you most likely have a job when you get out.
This is sort of off-topic but can anyone explain to me how this works in the US? In the UK students are poor as anything but theoretically can get enough (loaned) from the state to survive. Is it much worse in the US?
Obviously they do not include writing skills or grammar. And potential? What the hell does that mean?
Your rich uncle, Sam, has practically limitless amounts of cash to lend to students of higher education for piddly interest rates. Whether this is a good idea depends on whether you're going to school to party or as a stepping stone to a high paying career.
Don't waste your time in IT it sucks ass believe me. I should have become a doctor or lawyer
No one actually applies for most of the schoolarships out there... I have a nephew that has won a ton of money by virtue of being the only entrant.
Write a generic, flexible essay and, well, crap-flood it everywhere. You'll be amazed at the checks you'll be cashing at the end of the semester, after all of your tuition, housing, and books have been paid by other people...
Did you mean white, male student? Or are you outside the U.S.?
Hard to swallow? Apparently you haven't been keeping up with the news. All your jobs are belong to India. IT is a dying industry in the U.S. You might consider nursing, or something else that can't be outsourced as easily. Union NO!
No need for a scholarships. Just be a gigolo for a few years and you'll have the Masters degree AND a lot of sex.
I'm sure there's some 50 year old ladies living just outside the campus. They'll be happy to pay you, even if you look like a geek (and you probably do.)
I've worked for over 20 years in various tech roles, after getting advanced degrees in Physics from the biggest name skoolz in the US. The ability to solve problems quickly and efficiently is what matters, not how much acronymic crap you can pack into your resume. My general experience is that good people are those who can adapt, not ones who learned old-tech from profs in some academic environment. Direct academic training for entering the IT world is a total waste, and always has been so, even when the economy did not suck.
It is quite hard to get a full scholarship at the undergraduate level from 3rd party. Once you are in the graduate school, it scholarship comes in form of Research Assistant, Intership, Independent StudyGraduate Assistant, etc.
Consensus is good, but informed dictatorship is better
Have you thought about doing what most other people do, and get a job? Sure, you'll have to work your butt off, but if you do it this way, you'll certainly have more self esteem than had you paid for tuition and what-have-you with scholarships. Free money ain't, really. If you work for the cash, you'll know what it really cost you to get an education. You'll also realize that you're going to college to *work*, and not to screw around. I saw way too many people party away $1000s of scholarship dollars simply because it wasn't really their money.
Student loans are another way to go - there's nothing wrong with getting one either. I did it, and I paid it off too. Yes, it took a few years, but it was finally paid off.
It may even be the case that you'll have to put off going to college for a year or so until you have enough money. So be it.
Good luck!
If you are in a PhD program at a name university, everything is paid for whether you have financial need or not. You also get some extra spending money.
Sadly, this means there is little to be had by undergraduates.
so when your job ends up being in india you'll be able to talk to your boss in his own language. Although chances are they'll already speak english quite well. But finding a scholarship for "Indian (dot, not feather) studies" would be more productive realistically and pragmatically than looking for a scholarship for tech-based study.
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
Offtopic? Hardly.
i was a busboy/waiter all through high school and college and i can tell you that it teaches you valuable life skills like:
* how to manage your time and prioritize obligations
* how to make and save money; how to spend money wisely
* how to deal with work conditions, including low pay, long hours, bad bosses, evil customers, etc.
* eventually, how to appreciate a "better" job, having tasted first hand what some people have to do to earn a living
One way you might try to get money is to bargain with the school. Look at the other schools that you've been accepted to. Which ones have really good tech programs? Tell your school that you've been excepted to $TECH_SCHOOL and that you'd like an incentive to go to $YOUR_SCHOOL instead of $TECH_SCHOOL.
If you're me and couldn't get into any better schools, then you could consider simply begging them. My dad wrote them a letter saying that we were poor, and they have me $4k. Not much relative to the cost, but still a good sum.
If you really want to go there and can't get any money, you might consider sucking it up and paying full price while kicking your ass at academics. Then next year you can tell them that you're a good student and that they should give you more money.
After my freshman year, my resonably decent grades allowed the school to just throw money at me in things called "Institutional Scholarship" and other such things.
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It's OK to be social, just don't tell anyone about it.
Maybe you should work more on ensuring you actually are more than a potential graduate first. Upcoming graduate? Future graduate?
;-)
I was a potential graduate and the last few months of my senior year really really sucked.
I wouldn't expect big scholarships for a middle income young white male, which I suspect you are, simply on the basis of encouraging you to go into the technology sector. Try nursing, they need recruits, and males at that to offset the 90/10 balance. Programming for a company does not always allow one to seek one's true objective of quality -- leave it as a hobby for yourself so you don't burn out from nursing ;)
Though the current climate is a bit unusual in terms of action in the middle east, I recommend joining the Army, Navy, etc if you are inclined. After serving your country you can get about $8k a year (scholarship - ie not a loan that you have to pay back) towards a schoo of your choice. Granted you have to maintain a certain GPA, but it is still better than having $32k in debt after graduating.
PS Flamers: This is not for everyone, just a suggestion to those of us that don't want to pay an unreasonable amount for a college education.
...but STFW. Googling for "technology scholarship" returned 2.5 Million entries. The same search on acm.org returned over 500.
Xenon, where's my money? -Borno
Currently there really isn't much growth in the technical sector, since management has figured out that it can send jobs to countries that pay Bachelors' trained people half of what they make, or less, than in the U.S. Granted, there are new jobs that come up, but there are so many people looking to fill them that unless you're really lucky, you're not going to end up with that nice job with longevity and stability.
I started studying Computer Systems Engineering. After seeing what my code-monkey friends have been going through for the last two or three years, I decided not to go with that. I'm going to go back and finish college in something else. I'm not sure what, just yet, but I'll use my computer knowledge as an asset to help further myself in another career, not as a career in itself. You're either going to do computer service for a living, which can make money, but not a lot and is mindnumbingly boring, or you're going to be feast-or-famine as long as technology remains the commodity that it has shown to be. Learn how to do something else, that knowing computers benefits you in, and keep your skills to help you.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Undergrad Tech Scolarships were few and far between. At the time, I was working for the number three CS department in the Nation.
The real money is in Graduate Grants and Scolarships. For it's when you're in Grad School that you're working on the potentially groundbreaking technology. Not as an Undergrad.
See if you can find other types of money as there are so many non-tech scolarships available that are never used. Keep looking the scolarships you're looking for are out there.
Dolemite
___________
Save the World! Use a Quote!
We don't want no stinkin growth in the tech industry.
There aren't enough jobs to go around as it is.
Why don't you change your major to an industry that IS growing, like IP Law. Or Linguist for some obscure 3rd world country. Actually, you should try to find the poorest nation out there, and learn it's language. In 4 years, you'll be helping US firms hire them in droves.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Cooper Union, one of the best Engineering (and Art and Architecture) schools in the nation offers a full scholarship to any student admitted. The EE program is phenomenal. I might be a lowly Civil Engineering major, but the price can't be beat.
I find that quite hard to believe - I can believe that they offer some scholarships to certain applicants for various reasons, but not that they are "Legally Required" too
Can you point to a statute that would even hint at something like this so I can place any idiot that voted for this on my list of candidates I will never vote for in the future.
Realize that this isn't anti scholarships - just like I don't believe that being against forced volunteerism is anti-volunteer. People (and organizations) should be able to do what they need to with their money. The more the government gets involved the less efficient the society is
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
If this school doesn't offer many scholarships, look for another one that either offers good scholarships or is less expensive. Surely this isn't the only college you could get accepted into? If it is, you won't be worthy of any real scholarships anyway.
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There is inferior bacteria on the interior of your posterior.
Give us back East Prussia, you filthy Pole. Your ancestors fought like pussies and didn't earn it.
My first suggestion whatever you decide is not to portray yourself as a 'potential' high school graduate. You're much more likely to get a scholarship if you can at least appear confident that you'll graduate high school.
Cheers, Paul
DHS Scholarship
Yes, it means you work for the Department of Homeland Security. On the gripping hand, it pays $1000 a month. When you do your internship for them, they pay $500 a week. Damn good pay. And that's all after they pay all your tuition and fees. Too late for this year, but remember it for next year.
Just three weeks ago I graduated after 4 and a half years of getting my BS in CS (not that I need a degree to prove my level of BS). Also not qualifying for any free money and not attempting to earn any scholarships, I did what many before me have done... put my name on the dotted line and financed my college education.
Granted when I started the tech market was booming and I figured I'd have em all paid off quite fast with the money I'd be making hand over fist, that was of course not the most realistic plan.
You seem to already know that a solid education is required for the most part in order to get a good job, thus taking out loans for said education tends to be the best solution if you cannot find the free money.
Ultimately, the person benefiting from the education should pay for it, IE: You!
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
I graduated in May 2003 from Ramapo College of NJ (double major computer science & physics).
(http://www.ramapo.edu)
it has large number of merit based scholarships - from the presidential that covers tuition and board to smaller one (say $1000 - $2000 a year for physics students).
It is a very good, liberal arts school with (my personal opinion) very good program in computer science (I am in graduate school currently, but most of my friends who graduated in last 3 years found jobs in industry)...
hope it helps
I suggest a sex change and an appointment with Michael Jackson's skin therapist.
Due to the large number of students that drop out of engineering majors, most merit based engineering scholarships weren't offered until my sophmore and junior years of college. These scholarships are often accompanied by internship oppurtunities, and they were offered to my through my university.
In other words, get in, do _exceptionally_ well, and you will be rewarded later in your college career.
-n
Do you know how much ramen noodle, generic soda, off-brand bear and cheap pr0n $500 buys?
Surely you can't be a college student.
When it's all said and done, a "racial" minority is another word for an "ethnic" minority. Thus, the color of your skin doesn't necessarily matter, just your lineage.
Just before his third year of university, my brother discovered an obscure scholarship for people of at least partial Hungarian decent that no one had taken advantage of, nor had it been promoted. He applied for the scholarship and got his last two years of schooling paid in full, except books!
The lesson to be learned is that although it would be "cool" to get a scholarship based upon your academic preference, you need to play every angle out there.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Apply for financial aid. Even if you don't receive grants, it may open the door to guaranteed student loans, and a better choice of on campus jobs.
When I went to college, I selected one of the 10 most expensive in the country. They had scholarships for people from other areas of the country and other parts of the world, as well as people from the town the university is located in. Perhaps they had grants for lower income students. Most other students received loans and student jobs to pay the bills.
Where law ends, tyranny begins -- William Pitt
You want a major in which you can actually find work after graduation. Something useful like Comparative Literature or Philosophy.
"Hi I'm a wanker with poor grades and no
work ethic. I've never written a line
of GPL'd code in my life. But, if I pretend
that I'm going to get a CIS degree and
become a great linux kernel hacker will it
fool you morons who read slashdot into
giving me a bunch of money?"
It may seem grim at first, but there's plenty of scholarship money out there, particularly if you've prepared yourself. My daughter's business is to find scholarship money for students. She typically finds $200K to $300K in money for qualified students. (Obviously, this is because students apply to more than one school; they need to reject the money for schools they wind up not attending.) For my niece, she found $350K, which wound up a full ride at, in this case, Western Washington University. My daughter pays attention to grants versus loans, with emphasis on the former. I think she charges something like $600 for the entire service.
From what I've seen watching her with 'her' students, I don't think there is any reason at all for anyone to claim they "can't afford" school. These grants and scholarships don't just fall into your lap, and you're not 'entitled' to any of it. They aren't 'just' for certain classes of people. And they probably aren't for 'C' students who've done nothing notable during their high school careers. You have to be prepared and have done good work in high school, and then you have to work for it and be persistent.
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
Mirkon asks: "I'm a potential high school graduate, and have been accepted to a four-year school for furthering my rather biased educational interests. The problem is that while I'm cheap, the school (predictably) isn't. It's still getting itself off the ground, and thus only offers the legal minimum of scholarships" ad infinitum.
... So has anybody guessed what he's doing for a living yet?
:)
It qualifies as tech; it's `rather biased`; it's a new university that isn't established, accredited, etc (as it's getting itself off the ground, according to the above)
If he's applying to a videogame university, I'm not sure I wanna help.
Yes I think a "Dumbass" moderation would be more applicable.
The U.S. military offer full scholarships through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. More info here.
The military also has their respective academys, i.e., West Point, Anapolis and Colorado Springs. The men I've met who went to West Point spoke very highly of it in terms of the education they received.
There is a thing called work that many people do. It takes some time away from classes/study, and can suck, but can also provide money you need. Check it out. ;)
You think someone unaffiliated with an institution is going to throw real money at you with no strings attached because you're smart? Never going to happen, unless you somehow manage to to well in the Intel nee Westinghouse competition. Helps to have a mommy or a daddy who's got PhD connections.
Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
It's a nice trade off. I get to be legally discriminated against by the government. So in the future I won't feel as bad when I participate in some ethnic cleansing.
It issee gooode!!!
I noticed alot of classes I took, at least at the lower levels, were big enough that the teacher couldn't keep track of all the students. So just find out when those classes are, and show up. You get a college education without paying a cent!
"People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
I suppose you could write an essay to Uncle Darl letting him know how much you believe in him (selling your soul in the process) and maybe, just maybe, you can get your cut after SCO is done with their pump and dump, Boies gets his cut, and the lawsuit gets thrown out.
Then you'll have that unclean feeling of having sold yourself out, not being able to look fellow geeks in the eye, and then having that mark on your techie soul that says "I kissed Darl McBride's Ass and all I got was this guilty feeling"
Ok, so maybe it's not that drastic in reality and it may be what has to get done if you need the cashage from various scholarship sources. There's always going to a Junior College first (covering your general ed and other transferrable units/credits over) -- that way it'll be a bit less of a financial burden. Then you can hopefully save up enough to transfer to a 4-year by the time you're done.
...if so you may be interested in the NETS Scholarship. The info is here. Basically it is a scholarship where you promise to work in Pennsylvania for as long as you received the money. I had it for several years, and now have a grad school deferment. If you don't work here (and complete the required internship) it basically turns into a loan. You can get $3000 a year without too much hassle.
Jon
Maybe you should consider schools that have a history, rather than a very new school. An older school will have a reputation, and more access to funds via it's financial aid offices.
You should also be careful about picking a school based on (as you put it) your "rather biased educational interests". As a someone who hasn't graduated from high school yet, your interests are very likely to change over the next few years of your life, as you set out into the world and see things that are different from where you grew up. Don't shortchange yourself by picking a school that is tailored to your current interests, and won't be able to support your future ones.
Also, don't shortchange yourself by isolating your interests into the tech sector. Make sure you can explore the full range of academic subjects that are available at a good school. You'll never get a chance like this again.
There is one. It's called "Troll".
Dumbass.
You won't have the option of the GI bill when your ass gets DRAFTED next summer!!!
i droped out and make more money than anyone else i know. bleh, you learn more in the real world (except how to spell and capitalize.)
> Mirkon asks: "I'm a potential high school graduate...
Isn't a mirkon a fake pubic hair wig?
Google that. I really don't know if it's still active, but I recieved that $20k for the tech school I chose. However, that's $5k per year, IF you keep up the GPA requirements. I didn't, and I lost it after my freshman year (that's what Quake & Quake II did for me). Anyway, they only offer it if you enroll in a technical college, where in my case Ga. Tech qualified, as did Southern Polytechnic.
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
Instead of college, I'd suggest joining the military. They will beat that self-centered I-want-someone-else-to-pay-for-my-education attitude out of you, and you can apply for benefits via the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) and Army/Navy College Fund (ACF) after you serve.
I understand that you probably have your heart set on a technology career but I would strongly encourage you to look elsewhere for your life's work. the technology career in the United States is fading. There is significant age discrimination and it is effectively a ten to fifteen year career.
/.comments of "I'm over X, and I still have a job by being technically hot shit" because they are exceptions that prove the rule. For the most part, your typical your career will be over by the time you are 35-40.
Try some informational interviews at technology companies and just look around and see how the people in the technology staff and first couple levels of management are above the age of 45. If the companies say they have a "dual career ladder", ask how many directors they have on the managerial side. Then ask how many they have on the technical side. if they give you a nonzero number, ask to be introduced to some of them. Another question on the same line is to ask what does it take to become a director for managerial and then ask for the technical. You'll frequently find that the technical rungs have significantly higher hurdles than the managerial side.
Don't be fooled by the typical
A technology career is also bad for you physically and mentally. Most companies use subtle or not so subtle psychological pressure to encourage staff to work all sorts of hours, usually in the name of teambuilding. It will cost you sleep, health by being increasingly sedentary and obese, and even possibly repetitive motion damages which leaves you with lifelong pain.
The psychological pressure to work long hours will reduce your ability to take time off to take vacations.
The hyper focus mindset it takes to get work done in a cube environment also will impact your ability to form healthy relationships with a partner. Important time off together (see above) will be impaired and nibbled away at by the inability to leave work at work.
So, leave the technology career for others. The smart move into something where you can have a long career and make good money without putting your physical and mental health at risk. take care of yourself. Because not only will nobody else do it, everybody else wants to eat you alive and not in a good way.
I wouldn't look to the corperate sector for any sort of funds to pay for college. In this economy, why would IBM, Microsoft or any Fortune 500 company give you $100,000+ to get a college education and then come work for them when they can hire an out of work deveopler on the cheep.
I'm a little confused here. If there seem to be plenty of scholarships for which you actually have to do a little work, why aren't you applying for them? Surely you can't believe that you're entitled to free money, no strings attached. Your writing skills certainly seem up to par. There are a few things you could consider doing: 1. Apply to a good state university with a strong engineering program, like the University of Illinois or Penn State. State university tuition tends to be considerably lower than that of private schools, and the one I attended had a good honors program which offered scholarships to students who had achieved a certain grade point average and SAT scores in high school. Contrary to popular belief, your career won't be prematurely wrecked if you don't go to Harvard or whatever school is hot right now. 2. I don't know what your major is, but consider emphasizing the science, rather than the tech side of things. More money seems to be available to science majors, especially government funding. 3. Apply for a work-study technical support position. Yeah, you'll probably end up on the computer lab helpdesk resetting passwords for flaky sorority chicks, but it's still honest work. Some professors may also have funding available for undergraduate research assistants. Good luck. There's no free lunch.
I understand this is too little, too late for the one asking about scholarships, but this is advice for those with younger children who are thinking about the future...
My grandmother, when I was about 4 years old, put about $2000 in a government trust fund that accrued compound interest with no taxes. By the time I went to school when I was 18, it had grown to over $26,000. I thought she was so wise to think about the future that way. There were also options for me to use the money for either starting a business or purchasing a home, but I chose to go to school.
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I Hate \.
When I was first applying, among other schools, I applied to UCI, UCLA, and UC Berkeley. They all gave varying degrees of financial aid and scholarship opportunities. In fact, the degrees of aid varied so much that it taught me some schools want you more than others. Are you dead set on going to the school you want to attend? If so, why? Will a degree from the school you've chosen make a truly night-and-day difference in career opportunities for you?
I mean, if you want to attend MIT or Harvard, then you may, in fact, initially have more opportunities as a result of graduating from those schools. But my own experience has taught me that the cream rises to the top, regardless of the school you attend. Yes, as an MIT grad you might be given extra consideration for certain jobs in the future. But your co-workers will very quickly find out who you are, no matter where you've gotten your degree. I've worked with some brilliant people that came from some very modest schools, that have done extremely well for themselves. I've worked with some smart people, too, that have come from some amazing schools, that have done just so-so. A school's name might get you consideration, but it never guarantees success.
My advice? Just get your freakin' degree, and don't be so picky about where you go. If another school offers you better opportunities, go there. Remember, both Roy Fielding, the architect of HTTP and founder of the Apache HTTP Server Project, and Paul Mockapetris, author of the first implementation of Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and creator of the Domain Name System (DNS), graduated from UCI (Go Anteaters!). It's how good you are that matters. The rest will come to you after you demonstrate that you can do stuff.
As far as specific scholarships go, well, hit up companies, bud. Sun, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Novell, all those dudes, they're the ones with the need, the bucks, and the motivation, and I'll bet they all have some kind of academic assistance programs, including internships and scholarship opportunities. But they'll be merit-based, you can count on that, and the competition will be stiff, so start competing on TopCoder, join the ACM, and start competing with them, too, because you're going to need some serious chops.
Good Luck!
Chr0m0Dr0m!C
I'm looking for a graduate program relating to the impact of technology on politics, such as in the third world. Any thoughts?
College is about getting laid, silly! Make it your first priority. You will never be in this situation again, surrounded by hot young people. Take the classes that will give you access to the people you are interested in. If you like kinky complex girls, take sociology and women's studies. If you prefer the more conservative type, go with psych. If you are looking for the cheerleaders, go communications. If you are a girl (I'm guessing you are not but I could be wrong), you should have no problem doing the same sort of calculation for your needs. Don't miss college. Trust me, I know what I am talking about. If you are a tech savvy high school kid, you will have little problem in the job market. Just make sure you use condoms. In college, not in the job market.
From the description, OP is applying to one of the gaming schools. If that's true, he doesn't need to go to one of the gaming schools to get into the industry. And if OP is not applying to one of the gaming schools and some tech field, forget about it. If OP is not talented enough to get into a better school for free, try working for it.
There are some with minimum strings. Most are related to location, and emphasize on staying in state. I am an AEA scholar, I get a good scholarship and internship from the American Electronic Association for attending a school in my home state of Oregon. This scholarship applies to any student in Oregon for tech, and is related to some Intel Scholarships and internships. There is serious money from them in Oregon. But only if you stay in state. That is why I turned down going of state.
I'd say more, but my guild is raiding.
I got over 20 grand for school and was able to finish my first degree without any debt. All thanks to my uncle sam.
If getting blown up / shot worries you - I say go Navy or Air Force. Not to mention if you are smart and test well you could get into some very interesting technical work- say with UAVs or something else cool. There are other benefits as well- like being able to buy a house with no money down using a V.A. home loan. I had more out of pocket costs on my first car than I did on my first house.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
There aren't a ton of tech scholarships for two basic reasons... 1.) There aren't a ton of scholaships, period. Finding free money for college is, unsurprisingly, not easy. 2.) There isn't anything like a shortage of tech workers. A huge portion of the jobs available now are "Tech", but an even bigger portion of the workforce wants to work in that sector. You're competing with everyone, for a small amount of money.
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HIGH FIIIVE!!
I'm a senior electrical engineering student at the University of Colorado. Despite being Dean's list every semester and having a 3.71 GPA, I have had very poor luck getting scholarships. It's not for lack of trying. I've written numerous essays and whatnot, but still have to work 20-30 hours/week on top of school. I'm certainly learning a lot by being a student and a worker at the same time, but there are much fewer scholarships available than you'd think. As far as I can tell, I've been denied scholarships on a financial need basis. I pay my own way, as my parents do not have much to contribute, so I'm confused as to what "financial need" is. If I ever have the money, I would love to offer a scholarship for students in my position.
Beggars can't be choosers!
Ramen noodles.
How did I get my $5,000 in scholarships?
Answer: A lot of frigging work and little by little. You've got to use every single resource at your fingertips to find every scholarship at your disposal. FastWeb was an invaluable resource in finding scholarships, though like many search engines, it gave me lot's of false positives and left out a good few. Don't waste your time on the major scholarships like the Discover or Target ones that look for one amazing community service-person or something like that that you are not absolutely sure that you stand out in. I did my share of community service in high school, but I was surely no where near one of the top kids.
Make lists of ones you're elligible for and write them all down with due dates and things you need for each (letters of reccomendation and all). Prioritize them and all. On your essays, edit edit edit! Show your english teachers, your history teachers, EVERYONE! Remember, they went to college too, so every little bit of help you can get from them will help you.
Your high school should have a resource center or something that will help you find local scholarships. Do as many of those as possible. Because they are local, you'll be up against a lot fewer people. Talk to your resource person too, they have that job for a reason.
My biggest scholarship ($1,000) was from Sertoma Intnl. for my hearing impairment. That was a big one for me, so I worked especially hard on that one. Make your essay's relevant and interesting. The essay readers have to read hundreds of essay's, so the more interesting your essay is and the more it stands out and makes you unique, helps.
Other than that, you're on your own. Follow the instructions, dot your I's and perfect those applications to the T. They like clean scholarships. There's no way out of this but to work hard on them.
Speaking of such, scholarship season is coming up for me. Anyone wanna throw money at a Dean's List freshman? Pwetty pwease????
The short answer is that, yes, there are scholarships out there for the technologically-inclined. You can sign up for FastWeb, a free scholarship-search service that allows you to fill out your information and they notify you when a scholarship you qualify for comes up. There are other sources as well, most of which are online. I would suggest you go talk to your guidance counselor, who has more resources for you then they are probably openly offering. Keep in mind, however, that they are limited in what they can do and to find the real jackpot scholarships, you will have to do some searching on your own.
It would be helpful if you could provide more information to us.
1) What major are you considering?
2) Which school are you considering?
3) Are you parents alumni of that school?
4) Do you have any interesting quirks?
Such as, are you left-handed? You might be suprised to know that there are scholarships out there for even that. If your parents are members of unions, they work at large corporations, if you're the first to go to college, etc., then there is probably a scholarship out there for you.
5) How were your grades, and what within what percentage of your graduating class were you ranked? You don't have to answer this one, but believe me, external-based academic scholarships are out there.
6) Are you a member of any organizations?
7) What kind of "technologically-inclined" abilities do you have?
Feel free to contact me and I would be happy to help you through this oftentimes confusing and scary process. I will set up a temporary entry in my journal that you can post to. I just graduated from a private college (after 3.5 years), so it wasn't too long ago that I was in your shoes. Now, after having seen the admission process, I can give you an idea of what they are looking for, and exactly what you were told all along would count for something but really counts for jack squat.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"We are Linux. Resistance is measured in Ohms."
You wrote, "[i]t's still getting itself off the ground," and that worries me. First of all you want to attend a well established institution. This is not only because of the name recognition when you apply for employment after graduation. You want the school to be around long enough for you to be able to graduate and solvent enough to cover its expenses, or the staff and profs will leave. This is from personal experience. My wife's cousin attended a college that was just starting up, but I do not remember the name. He was studying music. A couple of years later the school declared bankruptcy and that was it. He lost all the tution he paid even for classes that he paid for but never took yet due to the bankruptcy. Later, since the school was a virtual unknown and there was no one there to contact, no other school offered him any credit for the work he did while there. In debt he had to get a job and only now, some years later, is he back in school at UIC and not studying music.
The $500 scholarships are worthless, do not bother. I won a handful and in two cases I never saw the money. Also, you have to list them when you apply for financial aid and each year the financial aid office calculate 54% (if I remember correctly) of that to reduce your award from the school. In the end I lost more money than I gained from that and I spent many weekends writing annoying essays about topics like the American Revolution and how I will make the world a better place after my college education.
Haha, I remember those days.....
What I really recommend that you do is fill out the FAFSA paperwork (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/) asap...that is the free app. for federal student aid, then sit down and work out a worst-reasonible-case budget, school expenses, travel, food, rent....everything you can think about. Take a hard look at what is available to you for financial aid from the school and your local community. Write those essays and go for those obscure scholarships, but whatever you do be very careful about student loans....DO NOT put your self in debt for more than you can reasonably expect to make for a yearly low-range starting salary (example:$35,000 starting salary, do not go over $35,000 debt by graduation). Stay away from private and non-subsidized student loans also.
Another fine option is to get an entry level job in the field you are interested in, and work a few years to save money. If you do it right you set yourself up financially, you might get a company to back you for your degree, and even better, when you have that piece of paper you already have experience. Personally, based on my experiences getting an engineering degree, I really regret not finding a decent job right out of high school to save money for college before I was in debt up to my eyeballs...The military is a good choice also for financial aid if you can stomach being government property for a few years....either way, I think the best course is to take a break from school for a while, work a day to day job to give you an appreciation of real life and then go to school when you are a bit older, a bit more mature (not intended to be insulting, just reality), and better set up financially.
1. When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend.
2. Do not eat iPod shuffle.
I don't know if they offer that kind of thing in the States, but you might want to do a little looking and asking around at the University that you are thinking of attending.
As has been said before, there is lots of money out there that no one even attempts to get. Two of the scholarships that I got that paid for some of this years tuition came along with a personalized letter stating that I was the only person/one of a handful that applied. They ended up giving more than the scholarship was quoted for becase so few people applied. I figure that the amoung of scholarship money that you get is directly proportional to the amount of time and effort you spend trying to get it.
Good luck with those scholarships, and with your studies.
I was astonished to find how few scholarships I could apply for as a White Male from a lower middle income family. There wasn't a prayer that my family could pay for all of my college (indeed, they didn't make it far into it). Of course, I got good grades in high school, but, to my surprise, it counted for $1000 for my first year of college. Of course, it helped, but I was pretty much stuck with student loans. Of course, I could not get any _good_ student loans, because my parents made plenty of money to put me through a state school and I was obviously being supported by them
In the end of it, I suppose it wasn't a too bad a deal, because I ran out of money about the time I was losing interested in the field that I was looking at (pharmacy, thanks for asking). So, I worked my share of crap jobs (fast food) and had my really hard times ($10 for a week, for my girlfriend and me for food, thank you friends and getting a job at fast food place and bringing home waste food). let me tell you, I won't forget that time ever
In the end, I moved in with the girlfriend's folks, got given a solid car (well, cheap payments) drove pizza and saved a lot of money. By this time I was old enough to be legally independant of my parents (freakin' 25!!!!! come on! I hadn't gotten a red cent from them in 4 years!) and was able to get the _good student loans, and had found my nitch (comp sci, emphasis in networking and security), I worked my ass off to get through in minimum time (summer work, and summer school).
In short, I made it, but I swore that I was going to make scholarships that were not based on income (with some limit, of course), were not based on race, were not based on sex, and were not based on sports.
Can you tell I'm _still_ mad?
-- Who is the bigger fool? The fool or the fool who follows him? --
You sound like you're in a precarious position: not being from a "rich" family, but not qualifying for any magic "poverty assistance" levels. Like a majority of people, college will be a real financial sacrifice for you and your family.
As people have already mentioned, the following "financial aids" exist:
1. Student Loans
2. "University-provided aid" scholarships, usually need-based
3. Outside scholarships that you have to find yourself
There are two things I haven't seen anybody warn about here yet, so I'll throw in my two cents.
First of all, the colleges I looked at (15 years ago) all claimed that the aid they might give me would be decreased by the same amount as any outside scholarships I might find. Hense, if I came up with a $10K scholarship, the school would decrease their aid package by $10K. I think that was stupid and discouraged anybody to find outside help.
I hope this has changed recently. Of course, if your desired school is NOT offering you any aid, at least you don't stand to get screwed by this behavior.
Second, schools are NOTORIOUS for giving you a "reasonable" financial aid package for your Freshman year and then cutting it to almost nothing your Sophmore year. This bait-and-switch tactic is great for hooking some students and then BLEEDING them and their families dry. Many of my high school friends had to leave their college of choice after the first year because of this. Talk about a dehumanizing experience!
But again, if your school is not offering you any aid up front, the independence you are forced to seek in the beginning (by applying to lots of smaller scholarships/grants) will be a blessing in disguise as you find yourself NOT blindsided by the nasty Sophmore-aid-cut-syndrome.
I agree with the other people who posted saying that there are lots of scholarships out there. You just have to learn how to research and find them. Enlist your high school guidence counselor's help and don't take "no" for an answer. Also don't assume that if you can't find it on a Google search that it doesn't exist. Find a nonprofit org like some already mentioned to find lists of scholarships out there. If you put in a serious continual 3 hours/week into a serious and comprehensive search, you can fund your college education, and that's a hell of a bargain.
Good Luck
Murray Todd Williams
Try getting a job with the university.
We're *always* in need of help from bright students -- many of our (IT division at a major Midwestern Uni) best people were once student employees.
It's been such a valuable resource that us former student/now full time employee's have started a scholarship for our student employee's.
Wow, aren't you just a big bad ball of self-confidence?
I went through five years of school without any scholarships, and paid my own way.
If you're already technically inclinded, get a job. If you have even rudimentary programming skills, you should be able to work for at least $20 an hour.
Compare that to the usual philosophy major pulling in a whopping $5.35 an hour at the local grocery store.
If you are already planning on attending scholarship, and you don't have financial need, why exactly do you need one? Don't you think the money should go to those students who are financially in need? I'm not saying I would turn down a scholarship given to me, even if I didn't necessarily financially need one, but is it really worth an Ask Slashdot?
If you're going to pay for College, then get your money's worth and take classes you don't already know about or can't pickup the details of by reading a book for a week. CLEP or test out of the rest.
In other words, investigate and take as many CLEP tests as you possibly can. It's cheaper than tuition and you won't have to sit through a semester of English 101 (or even 201 in most cases).
Even if you have to study a textbook to refresh your memory of biology, it's cheaper and easier (not to mention much less time wasting) to take the CLEP test.
Along the same lines, if there isn't a relevent CLEP test for you to take or you just need to pad out your number of units, most schools will let you register for a class, then arrange to take the final on the first day of class and be done with the class without attending all semester.
Taking a "spreadsheet" class this way can seriously help out your GPA if you need it and it's an excellent method for taking care of prereq's when you already know all or most of the material.
In summary, if you are going to sit in class, do it in an interesting or fun class and skip out of the others.
The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
So you figure just maybe you got one less person to compete for that tech job, eh?
-Libertarian secular transhumanist
For someone who was a noted military aviator, Bush sure is abusing the fuck out of the military and the reserves. \scathing sarcasm
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Never Look Back.
1) Check into co-operative education: work a semester, go to school a semester, then repeat. Many great companies have programs, all good schools do. Pay your way, get years of actual research/work experience on some great projects. When you're done, you hire in at Master's level.
2) Find a good prof/instructor, and hook up in a lab job. Start looking your FIRST DAY of school. Vow to TEACH that SUBJECT before you graduate. Hit your/that department for a Teaching Assistantship/Research Assistantship your last year there. Better than wasting your first year of grad school (if/when that happens ) teaching, when that time is better spent on your actual advanced work.
3) Find other technical work related to your hobbies/skills/interests and find employment there (radio stations? local businesses, govs?) Get involved in your local community that way, and paychecks to boot. Might even lead to geeklove.
4) Knock on every door which indicates anything which interests you even might happen in that room at your school. Chances are, something or someone will have some odd little project which needs done, and they'll arrange their budget to get it done if they find YOU, semi-skilled enough and willing to work pretty cheap. EVERYbody in higher education has a little-known extra job: finding students to do more advanced work in that field. You hit their door, you've saved them some of that trouble, and it could be worth their while to groom you, and get that pesky undone work back on schedule. This is how you get an actual job, BTW.
Most of all NEVER EVER give up, and NEVER EVER allow the words "can't be done" or "you must be nuts" even to so much as enter your ears, much more slow down--
Good luck!
At my alma mater www.stevens.edu,
there is an optional (~30% of kids do it) co-op program that can pay for a lot of your education. You basically alternate school-work-school-work, etc for the middle couple of years. winds up being 5 years. No summer vacations though.
They also offer some decent academic scholarships, or did when i went there.
Its got some nice science & engineering programs. As well as close proximity to some great bars in hoboken and manhattan.
Always an option, but then - you also might come back in a body bag, or with strange medical conditions that don't show up until years later - thanks to some military experimentation on their recruits?
Ok, so I'm only being half-serious here.... But still, I'm not all that impressed with the military. I have a few good friends who went that route right after high-school, and they all felt they got "screwed over" by the whole thing. (Typically, the recruiter makes a lot of big promises and feeds you exactly what you want to hear, but once you sign on the dotted line, your ass belongs to them - and not much is anything like what you were told. The "Oh sure, we can make sure you get to work in technology and computers!" promise translates to "Here soldier, mop up these hallways to our computer lab so they SHINE!"
HERE HERE :P
Yes this is very true. $500 is nothing to laugh at. It will usually pay for your books for 2 semesters (depending on major and place of purchace).
$500 will usually pay for a 1 to 2 credit course (depending on your college, at mine it would pay for a 1.2 credit course, not that they offered one).
So don't just go complaining that it is some small amount. EVERY BIT COUNTS!!!
You might also just want to think about applying to other colleges (ones that offer more financial support). I don't believe that the deadline has been reached yet, so you should still have some time to do that as well.
There is no rule out there that says you are forced to go to only that college. I went to the one that offered me the most money. Grant it, it was in my top 5 list that I had narrowed it down to, but it wasn't the number 1 choice until they gave me $25,000 more then the other schools.
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
If you are very talented in computers, you could find a job at a tech company who reimburses related educational expenses - i.e. college degree courses in a computer field. It works for me.
Join one of the armed services. They have a multitude of college options. The Army has a "College First" program where they pay for to go get a degree, in exchange for you serving in the army for two years or something like this. Believe it or not, there are many geek jobs in the military (especially in the Navy). Wearing a uniform to work for a few years is a small price to pay for a completely free college education at the university of your choice.
Think about it.
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
I find that when some people get out of high school they get this idea in their heads that if they don't go to this super snooty college than they will never be able to get a job and all of their hopes and dreams will be crushed. Another unusual thing I find is that high school students often times think that state schools are only cool if they in other states. This is ironic because although you may not think that colleges in your state are cool many people from other states probably do think they are cool. Now I am not going to tell you that there is NO difference between going to a super expensive school and going to a cheap school. However I have had some experience in this matter (undergrad at a cheap state school grad at a super expensive private school that you all have heard of) and I can tell you that the difference in education is very small. All schools use more or less the same text books and they have to meet certain standards in order to be able to keep giving out diplomas.
My point is that if you can't afford some super expensive school maybe you should think about going to a cheaper state school (one that is in YOUR state.) I think that you will find that when you get out the people who went to the cheap schools will for the most part being working at the same jobs and making the same amount of $$ as those who went for the expensive schools. The cost of state schools are going up much faster than inflation but I think most of the time you can still afford basic tuition by working in the summer and at part time jobs. For room and board I guess you will have to live off mommy and daddy or get student loans. My advice: try to stay for longer than 4 years (compared to college the real world sucks!! who graduates in 4 years anymore anyway?) and try to take as few student loans as possible; if you are lucky the mommy and daddy bank will pay for much of it -- even if that means you have to live in your parent's basement.
You should really consider a state school which in general have much lower tuition. I went to a state school for undergrad and have taught at an Ivy League university where I went for grad school (this makes me perhaps biased but also informed). The curriculum for CS was not that different at the undergrad level or even masters level. What you pay for at a better school is being around more motivated people. The bar starts out higher for everyone and most people work a little harder (and/or grade grub more) at a top level school. If you're motivated and are inclined to be friends with other motivated people can get just-as-good an education for a fraction of the price.
There are also often state-funded scholarships which are available to anyone going to a state school who meets some minimum requirements. In Florida, for example, you can qualify for a scholarship to a state school with 1100 SAT/3.5 GPA. It will cover tuition and some books but not much else. You may have to take out some small loans but nothing like the 60K of debt many people come out of private universities with.
One caveat. If you want to go to grad school, then name recognition and faculty recommendations from people other faculty know of are really important. Not having had a chance to meet these people is a potential downside of going to a state school if you later want to go to a more prestigious grad school. Most people don't take this route and its not an insurmountable transition (I did it) so I think it's worth the lack of debt. In grad school (specifically in PhD work) being on scholarship is the norm, so there are more funding opportunities once you get there. Good luck.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice, in practice there is.
Even when I was in my down and out college years, I never skimped on buying quality bears. One can only cut so many corners.
Step one is to stop referring to yourself as a 'potential' high school graduate.
- The Amazina Llama
laughed my ass off lol
"Tuition discounting differs from need-based financial aid in that it is based on factors other than a student's ability to pay."
ARTICLE ON TUITION DISCOUNTING
When I went there, they had a large number of BIG merit scholarships.
CWRU Freshman Scholarships
For example
- the 22K Trustee's scholarship.
- the 17K President's scholarship.
- the 12K Provost's scholarship.
All merit based.I agree completely.
...and I'm getting some of my money back to do it with. www.fafsa.ed.gov Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Pell grant. It does not have to be repaid, it's a grant.
To keep this from being an AOLien "me,too!" post, I'll just say that after having worked for 25 years, I'm going back to college...
(To be modded informative, make your own damn clicky-thing)
There's an insidious trap to student loans, and it's easy to fall into it.
If you were to get a regular loan from a bank, to start a business let's say, there would be certain criteria to meet before the bank would let you go into debt: ie, get a loan. None of these criteria is considered when it comes to student loans. Basically, the banks will lend to anybody -- and believe me, danger lurks here for the student borrower.
A student loan is basically a business loan. You're investing in your productive capacity, the same way you might invest in buying new computers or machinery for a business. Bear with me now though, because here is where the similarities stop.
Normally, a bank makes a loan taking into account the borrower's credit worthiness: meaning, has the borrower a demonstrated track record for being able to invest borrowed funds in such a way that he is likely to be able to profit and pay them off. In other words, has he demonstrated business savvy in the past. If he has, he's a better risk now: he's more likely to be able to pay.
Is the business for which the loan is to be used in a growing or shrinking industry? If it's conventional wisdom that there's room for more tanning salons, or whatever, a bank is far more likely to feel that the loan is a good risk. If businesses fail regularly in a particular market (restaurants for instance), a bank may be a bit more leery -- they may require collateral to guarantee the loan.
See, banks worry the borrower may make a bad investment, be unable to pay the loan, and ultimately declare bankruptcy. A bankrupt is discharged of any legal obligation to repay a loan. Banks realize that this is their ultimate risk (when they don't have a guarantee), and so it limits to whom they are willing to lend money. If it turns out that a bank has rejected you, you'll think think that sucks. According to the odds, however, they likely did you a favor.
Now, student loans are completely different! With student loans, the banks have their guarantee: namely, the government's committment to chase you to the ends of the earth (or at least the borders of the U.S.) for the rest of your life to get that money back. The banks no longer worry about bankruptcy; and so they no longer about making bad loans. From their perspective, there are no bad loans. From the perspective of the student borrower, however, there certainly are.
There is no doing you a favor here.
What happens if you educate yourself using student loans for an industry that basically dies (moves off-shore or whatever)? What if you're encouraged by a booming economy to take on debt, only the economy goes bust by the time you get out of school? With a normal loan, a bank would share that risk with you; with a student loan, it's all you, pal.
The parent poster made a very good point about going to medical school or law school instead. Basically, don't go throwing yourself headlong into inescapable hock for some mecurial industry like I.T. You'll spend a fortune, and you might find out that $8 an hour is the going rate for recent grads in bad times.
If you can't get by using small loans as a supplement, join the army, or go to community college and join every developer-user group in the area. Start your networking early. It's cheaper and more effective than college anyway. Or, go to work for a company that will reimburse your tuition, partly or fully. (You could become a bank teller, for instance. When you're done with school, the bank or another bank may hire you for their in-house programming department.)
There are tons of non-traditional ways to become college educated -- they just take longer to accomplish and don't make as good conversation for the family come the holidays. In the long run, you'll be better off.
quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.
The tech sector is dead. Pursuing a technical career anywhere other than in India and China is nothing short of professional suicide. I tell as many students as I can to run far, wide, and fast away from technical "careers." In 15 years, hardware and software design will likely pay less than flipping burgers at McDonalds...
GA residents can utilize the Hope scholarship. Free books and tuition for any college anywhere, so long as...
A) They are a Georgia resident.
and
B) They maintain a B average.
Huh? You're telling me that every school in the US is reauied to offer some scholarships to minorites and that's it????
You don't mention your gender, but if you're a white male without recognized financial hardships you'll find that you'll probably only be eligable for merit based scholorships and those will be rather competitive. Some other people have mentioned strategies for getting more scholorship money and they seem to know about that than I do, so I'll address some other aspects.
Student loans aren't that bad. The interest rates are insanely low. In fact you can usually make a better return by investing a sum of money than the student loan interest rate would cost you for the same sum. Therefor there isn't really a reason to pay off student loans any faster than you have to anyways.
Coops have been mentioned. I cooped through school and it helped cover my living expenses, although not completely.
After a couple year hiatus I went back to school and managed to scrape by working half time (at my former full time job) as a programmer (about 25 hours a week) and going to school full-time.
Some people can work and fulltime job and do school full-time (and then some!). Personally I think they're all psycho and I know I wouldn't handle it well, but it's possible, it's been done countless times.
One more thing to consider is going to a community college for 2 years. Honestly there isn't that much difference other than the size of tuition that you'll get out of liberal arts classes between two schools. Here in rochester the excellent as far as community colleges go MCC has programs with RIT to do exactly this and ease your worries about getting into the bachelors programs after your 2 years at CC are up. You could save $20k this way.
I Urdu the first time.
(Lighten up, can't you take a punjab?)
While there's certainly no shortage of 'write an essay about us/you and we might give you a scholarship' offerings, I find it hard to swallow that there aren't more and more valuable scholarships to encourage growth in the tech sector. Are there?"
Those are often very valuable. I wrote at least a half dozen essays for ones like those. I was selected by one of them and awarded a $1000 grant each semester for 4 years. That equates to $8000.
And yes there are plenty for technology focused majors. I am going to Georgia Tech, one of the best Technology schools in the south.
-You may license this sig for only $6.99.
The National Science Foundation runs a scholarship for service program for IT Security focused students. Basically, you get a scholarship to major in an IT Security discipline, then you owe a certain number of years work to a government agency such as the NSA or the DHS. You can find more info at this site.
Note: this is not an endorsement, I have no direct knowledge of, nor experience with, this government program. It might suck ass. It might be great. I don't know. I'm just suggesting that you look into it.
I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know you just increased the competition for any scholarship that might get mentioned by about 10X.
It Is the Nature of Information to Transgress Artificial Boundaries
Not sure.
Sucks that your parents didn't take advantage of an education IRA or some such.
My folks put away about $1K a year from when I was 0 through 8. It paid for all my college and grad school and there was about $50K left over at the end.
It's a shame people are so short-sighted in this regard.
My parents paid for everything when I went to school. Having no loan payment and not writing any essays begging for money is definitly the only way to go.
They are available, but in my case all the rich and politically connected kids got 'em. They are not advertised for that reason. Not much changes. Lots of Luck.
Unfortunately, most tech scholarships are awarded by the universities themselves, so a school getting itself off the ground won't have much to work with yet.
The reason is that engineering/CS are notorious for their high attrition rates, and money given to entering students often goes to future business and psychology majors. Corporations do give quite a bit of merit money, but it goes straight to the engineering/CS schools who are typically quite experienced at identifying who are good candidates and who are not.
It's important to talk to the specific programs that you are interested, not to the larger campus since the scholarships are often tied to specific programs or to engineering as a whole. These scholarships are often offers, rather than applications, but you can certainly get your name in there.
Don't overlook working through school, tech majors often have access to some pretty well paying jobs - look at on-campus student tech support positions and off-campus internships and co-ops. You probably won't be able to work as must as some non-tech students because of your study load, but college loans are a very worthwhile investment and are readily available.
At the start of your career, the name on your diploma matters as too does the school. Several factors here. First, some schools are going to be a bigger draws for on campus recruiting. Getting interviews with intresting and/or established company handed to you on a silver platter REALLY matter. This leads to great coops and summer internships while your in schools to build up your skils and a change to be in the running for some really great jobs when your graduate. Many really great jobs and jobs in devolpment programs almost ONLY come from on capus recruiting. Name brand schools have a huge advantage when it comes to this, and the "new" school bit here gives me the willies. I myself picked the university of houston over harvard/georgetown because it was free vs 100k+. Second, learning a lot outside of your specific technological field will help you a lot in the long run. I myself have used my soc, psyc, biology, history and other non core subjects in a lot of diffrent places. I'm a finance guy, and blew the socks off the founder of a biotech firm by asking a detailed question based on my basic bio class info. Your "new" university may be quite weak in these areas. Also do they have a good reference libary? The internet can't yet match a good reference libary for many things. Third, programing ect. can be learned outside of school. For me, high level finance requires intense programing and math skills to solve problems. I could have been a smoking CS major but I learned it on my own and picked up another field where having just SOME CS knowledge was incredibly usefull. My point is, while you LIKE technology you may not want to get a degree in it or you may want a degree in tech and something else. A finance/cs guy makes a lot of money and is in great demand.
Why on earth would anyone offer a sizable tech scholarship to a white middle-class male "potential" high school graduate? Unless you are a wicked smaht Doogie Howser, there are obviously a lot more students who need aid a lot more than you do.
I don't know what your talking saying that college loans have "ridiculous interest and the fact that it takes years and years and years to pay it off."
I have taken out two loans totaling $10,000. The interest rate for both these loans are under 3%.
The reasone I got these loans was because I lost a scholarship. I didn't get these loans for being a minority or anything else. In fact I'm a white American citizen whose family makes over $100,000 a year. And obviously my G.P.A. isn't that high since I lost my only scholarship.
Point being, these loans are avaliable for any one.
I beleive they are stafford loans and another commenter has mentioned these. For 3% one would do good to borrow the money and invest it in mutal funds.
If you consider 3% interest high then I suggest you stop being so jewish.
I agree about working and going to college, I always work during the summer and christmas break. Last semester (I'm a senior) was the first semester I got a job, and it's a joke of a job. I can't imagine having a real job (stocking, waiting tables) and then having to do school also.
Speaking as someone who actually awards an annual scholarship, I would NEVER consider awarding it to a student who was only interested in tech stuff (see subject). Why would we want to "encourage growth in the tech sector"? There's too many techies out there as it is. You need to be a well-rounded student if you want to have any hope of getting a scholarship.
Will you marry me?
The University Student Panhandling Advisor
Seriously, a lot of schools will have staff whose sole professional purpose is to keep track of scholarships which students of that institution could compete for. Makes sense, the U doesn't care who pays the bills, just so long as they get paid, so helping economically disadvantaged students to find funding is a win-win.
My personal experience was that there were literally hundreds of scholarships available to me, once I stopped focusing on $DISCIPLINE.
So stop worrying about tech scholarships, start worrying about scholarships, period. If that youth-tap-dance-zealot scholarship pays the bills, put on those shoes baby, just put on those shoes...
"Talk minus action equals nothing" - Joey Shithead, D.O.A.
"Talk minus action equals
I agree with parent. Note to all current/future high school grads: become English majors. Even better: major in English(composition, not lit.), minor in a History.
here here. Credit Debt == Bad- pay it off NOW.
Student debt- given that the rates are at an all time low, it doesn't even make sense to pay it off now when you have other debts!
And great point about concurrently paying off the interest- my wife did that through law school, keeping her loans out of the 6 digit range.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
A "good" college is one that has a reputation; it's all a huge system for keeping money in the hands of the wealthy and putting the poor on the streets where they belong. The classes that you take at X Community College will be no worse than those at Princeton.
If you can live at home for free, take some time to read books about society and culture (James Baldwin, W.E.B DuBois, A. Hacker, P.J. Palmer, J. Spring) to understand the world you are participating in.
Then, live at home and find the cheapest local college, take as many classes as you can, and then transfer to the next cheapest one that has the coursework you need.
Get a job.
Die.
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
Society should try to exterminate nerds (or nerd syndrome) not nurture it. I would disagree with the ethics of such a scholarship, and I highly doubt many such exist.
I just graduated from Penn State and wish I hadn't missed out on this opportunity. The state of Pennsylvania will give you up to $3000 a year in a scholarship/loan if you are in a certain major. Then once you graduate as long as you don't leave the state you owe nothing. However if you do infact leave the state for a job or some other reason, the money turns into a loan, that you have to pay back with a fair interest rate. This works for each year you take the loan (i.e. two years $6000). Does any other state have this program?
I'm in a very similar situation myself. I've been accepted to a top-tier school and I really have no way of paying for it, my family has zero savings to pay for it. They make a fair share of money a year so my university given aid is low, but I happen to live in a household of half a dozen and money is always tight. I'll be the first in my entire extended family to go to college, so I figure why not make it to the top tech school that's not in Boston?
That's a damn good sob story, eh? Think I could make a website out of it and beg for money, a dollar or two on paypal, to send me to school? Would you pay for it?
when I find myself you'll be the first to know.
I second the small scholarship route. My girlfriend got a check every quarter from a local scholarship group. Check both local to your high school and local to the college you are attending.
Other options for funding:
1. As I recall, there is also the FAFSA (federal application for student aid, or something like that). When you get accepted into school in the US, the school may require you to fill one out. Basically, in the "white guy with average parents" scenario, you don't qualify for squat in grants. However, subsidized loans are better than bank loans.
2. If you want to plan better, look forward to year 2 at school. Start by getting a part time job and having your parents NOT claim you as a dependent on their taxes (this is easier if you are already 18). Once you become independent, your qualifications for government grants go way up (since you don't have your parents' income keeping you above the poverty line). The grants you can qualify more than make up for the tax credit. You can live like a king your freshman and sophmore years for less than 15K (total) income per year in California (note: a King in the freshman year of college has roommates and eats Ramen... royalty lives better outside of California). Of course, that assumes in state tuition. Tell your parents you will pay them back the tax credit for this year when you graduate. Hopefully they will support that idea as a zero interest loan or as a grant from Bank of Family.
3. Take every AP test you can, even if your school doesn't offer the corresponding course. If you pass 10 AP tests, there are a number of free scholarships you can get just by applying. It's quite possible too... if you are good at standardized tests.
4. Academic Scholarships: if you don't qualify for your freshman year, work your ass off and try for your sophmore year. 4.0 GPA = free money.
5. Psychology department: every school that has graduate students has a signup sheet for psych experiments which will pay 5-10 bucks. Except for my irrational fear of chalk, there's no downside to this. Basically, you get paid to breath for an hour.
6. Tutoring: this generally pays better than psych experiments (minimum wage pays better than psych experiments). Only slightly more work.
7. Parking Services, Library Security, Rec Center Front Desk: These are basically jobs where you get paid to study. DO NOT DO FOOD SERVICES!!!
8. If you aren't going to an in state school, try to get an apartment near your school to live. Then apply for residency your next year. That will lower your costs substantially. For some reason, the school will tell this to every graduate student but not to a single undergraduate. Again, this one sort of requires the part time job and financial (tax) independence.
Network Security: It always comes down to a big guy with a gun.
if you want "No More Hiroshimas" then I say "You First. No More Pearl Harbors."
I would mod you down if I could find something incorrect with that... :(
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
You didn't say what you're planning to study. If it's IT - before you spend $XX,XXX dollars, you should first read any of the dozens of Slashdot threads on outsourcing and offshoring.
[Insert pithy quote here]
While there's certainly no shortage of 'write an essay about us/you and we might give you a scholarship' offerings, I find it hard to swallow
Many people have found success by overcoming the gag reflex, and thus swallowing with ease. Maybe worth a try?
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
This may not help you, but it was great for me. Find an employer that provides tuition reimbursment, get a job there, and exploit that benefit all you can. I'm on my second go round going this route. It isn't quick, but you can't beat the price.
I took a job a number of years ago that provided full tuition reimbursment and used it to finish a BS in CS. I had about three years of undergrad credit from past lives, so it wasn't like starting from scratch, but I needed 15 courses at about $1,200 a pop, so it saved me over $15,000. I'm currently pursuing an MS at a school where the classes are $2000 a pop. My current employer will reimburse $10K per year, but after about $5,500 it becomes taxable. Still cheaper than paying it all yourself. Unfortunately, not all employers are so generous, and I've even read of some who are withdrawing this benefit in these lean times.
One other thing to pursue would be CLEP credit. This is credit you can receive for simply taking and passing a test. During my full post-secondary career (>20 years) I've tested out of well over a year's worth of class credit. With the tests running about $100 per attempt, you'd be foolish not take at least a few.
Another angle might be to get a job at the school itself. Many colleges allow employees and their family to enroll in courses at little or no cost. My sister works at an exclusive college on the east coast and she says some of the staff employees continue to work there for that reason alone. A $30,000 a year job provides not only that wage, but gives their children an education that would cost nearly as much for free.
The real killer cost of college is not tuition, but living expenses while you're in school. Public universities all over the US cost nearly the same, but living expenses across the country vary *incredibly*. For example, you probably can't live on less than $2k a month in the Bay Area or Boston. But you could live very comfortably on less than half that while going to Virginia Tech. UC Berkeley and VA Tech cost about the same, tuition wise, but the latter is much, much cheaper when living expenses are considered.
Of course, that's for in-state tuition. Out of state rates are about three times as much. So it could really pay to establish residency beforehand.
Cost of living is one of the main reasons American families are sending their kids to school in Canada. Exchange rates being what they are, it's cheaper to live in Vancouver, the most expensive city in Canada, than most cities in the US. Tuition for excellent Canadian universities is lower too, but it's the cost of living that makes the big difference.
You may feel like you're missing out if you don't go to a top notch tech school, or in a noted tech area like Silicon Valley or Boston. But if you're truly talented enough to benefit from this, the money will find you anyway. If you're not the next Bill Joy, then you really ought to think twice about running up those bills -- especially in the face of an uncertain future for the average American tech worker.
Not only do the little scholarships add up, but they also fill out your academic credibility. When you have a handful of small scholarships, you look like a much better candidate for a more substantial scholarship. When you get the more substantial scholarship, you appear more worthy for something big, say, from your university your sophomore year. Merit is a recursive thing.
A lot of the work in the tech sector seems to be going overseas where labor is less expensive. Unless you have a passionate interest in a particular niche area (read: not programming), you may find yourself out of a job before you can graduate. It's one of the unfortunate facets of business that any type of work that can be broken down to a sequential series of steps (such as manufacturing, programming, etc.) will eventually be moved to where labor is the least expensive. If you are interested in a niche specialty, you might start looking at the organizations associated with that specialty to see what academic scholarships are available. Otherwise, plan on getting a part- or full-time job and working your way through college (like many of us in the IT field did). You won't have time for the "party" life associated with college, but you'll more likely come out with a better education.
I applied for about 75 scholarships my senior year. They didn't have to be related to my major. There are lots of them.
At the end I was practically a machine at fillilng them out. Emphasize your community and school involvement, not just grades.
All said and done I got $11,000 in various scholarships and a full ride to the school of my choice. -Just fill them out-
-It writes, rates, creates, even telecommunicates. Costs less, does more the Commodore 64. Compute's Gazette
If you live in the United States visit http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ The Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Everything you need to know on how to get cash from the Federal Government is there.
Might I suggest my alma mater, UTD?
It was a great tech school, it prepared me well in the fundamentals of CS (my EE friends also agree that their fundamentals were good).
Most importantly, UTD has excellent scholarships and is reasonably priced. During my time there, my fees were typically around $1500 per semester, although I obtained a scholarship the first year and because of my GPA (I was a 4-pointer), I had it upgraded to full tuition plus a living stipend by the end of my freshman year.
I currently have no clever signature witicism to add here.
Ok, just a bit of miscommunication
Come to the Southern Institute of Technology - home of the Zero Fees scheme. :p
How do you get to wear glasses if you are still in the womb?
That $500 would take you far in Bangladesh.
What is most interesting about this is how many programs actually call home about various things. There was a bit of a scandal as a few programs were rewriting the Little Snitch rules, allowing net access without the user knowing. It reportedly has new features to prevent this. I hope Microsoft adds that in as well otherwise trojan horses or the like may just "disable" this feature so you don't know what they are doing.
Common people, why are you modding up all these unhelpful, crackpot responses? There are a couple helpful ones up top, but down below there are only a couple of classes of comments, all more bent on criticizing the kid who wrote in than actually being helpful. I would like to quickly respond to each class of comments here:
1. Get a job you stupid kid! Scholarships are the easy way out. Why when I went to Bedrock U, blah blah blah...
Aside to being off topic, most posters in this vein are dating themselves. It is simply no longer possible to pay ones way though a 4 or more year institution in this country. Even at a state school, books, tuition, and room and board come to 15,000-20,000 a year. Know of any part time minimum wage jobs that pay that much? Now, what if the student is applying to a top notch university like MIT?
2. Change majors or intended professions because CS is hard and/or Indians are going to take all our jobs.
Again, off topic and unhelpful. If someone wants to work with computers, it might be because they actually have some kind of interest in the subject matter. People who are really passionate and really good at something (and in CS at last passion usually leads to skill) will always be able to find a job in that field.
I would also like to point out that in general there is way too much wining on Slashdot lately about how India/China where ever is taking all the IT jobs away. At one point all of the worlds high tech engineering and support needs were being supplied by a small number of industrialized countries, primarily the US and Japan. That plus the all the money being invested into Dot Coms allowed just about anyone who could code/test/fix hardware to get a high paying job in computer science. A lot of people who weren't that bright and many more who weren't even that passionate about computers (yes, that is the more important requirement) had jobs in IT. Now they don't. The people who survived for the most part are getting paid the *same* or *more* than before.
3. Tech makes you work too hard for your paycheck. Get something less stressful.
Any job that pays as well as IT does is going to be stressful. Just be glad we don't have it bad as doctors.
I also am a high school student, to graduate in a 2005. I'm interested in majoring in Electrical Engineering/Comp.Sci. or any other engineering/comp. fields. However, how the economy is going I don't really want to end up with a useless degree. Any suggestions as to what majors I should consider?And would doing some intern jobs for tech companies help with scholarships? (No med please :))
Thanks.
Move to (or just study in) Canada. Those $500 scholarships are half a semesters' tuition, and there's less competition to boot. UBC (not my alma mater) has a good CS/IT department, just for an example.
As far as I know, what you are describing is unavailable at the undergraduate level. However, graduate level education (eg producing PhD's in computer science) is mostly funded through government money. For example, I spent 7.5 years getting a CS PhD at a top private university. I got free tuition (~$20k/year) and a small salary (~$15k/year) that was funded by DARPA research grants and an NSF Fellowship. This funding was all merit based and is extremely competitive.
Skilled labor has value because of the experence of the worker. If you want to work in a tech field, start working. Learn by doing. If you love learning, go to college. If you want to make the world a better place, get a job.
As a recipient of a full academic scholarship - $50k to Univ. of Arkansas - I can tell you first hand that this isn't the best way for everyone. The sheer pressure of a scholarship community and the knowledge that if you screw up, you lose all that money was enough to nearly give me a nervous breakdown. I ended up losing it my first year, and now i'm doing well by taking small loans and working for my living expenses. With luck finding a decent job over summer, i can pay off the previous year's tuition loands over summer. As previous posters have said - its not just the academics that are important, its the gorwth as a person. I have learned to deal with a lot of stress, and I'm glad I learned it when still in college, as opposed to cracking under the pressure working on a multi-million dollar project somewhere.
Learn about Photography Basics.
There is (or was, they may be gone now...) an odd scholarship on offer:
;-)
;-)
:-)
:-)
;-)
Au $ 11,500 to study for 18 months
at Adelaide Institute of TAFE
But the money "doesn't last" in case you need/choose to study there past end of 2004
(even if you haven't taken all the courses).
It's a pretty weird scheme, really, paying only for the 10 courses from Carnegie Technology Education (mostly Java based, with a touch of C & C++ and a taste of VB).
It's really hard to get any sort of course
record that matches the course you've taken,
since - apparently to justify charging more than the State's current annual fee-ceiling of Au $1,200 (for 12 months of TAFE study), the Institute
mapped each of the 10 CTE courses into -several- of their own, existing courses, eg Algebra (!!!)
So, taking an intro to computer systems (in the CTE system) at Adelaide Institute of TAFE means you get a transcript showing that you took 2 "Algebra" courses there... That should -really- impress would be employers...
(The course catalog -says- one of them should be labelled "Algebra for IT" but the transcript document we saw leaves out "for IT")
Of course, these so-called "Premier's Scholarships" (from State gov't) have some chains attached...
You have to work & live in IT in the state of SA - 1 month for each month of study paid for by the Scholarship. (Is it that hard to get IT talent to live here?!?)
This boils down to a modern form of "indentured servitude" IMO, that's been rejected by medical students' organisations as unduly restrictive.
I guess IT people don't seem to have the pull here that medico's do, eh?
Unlike the Federal gov't sponsored Adelaide University, Adelaide Inst of TAFE's CTE courses seems to have no waivers of pre-requisites, even
if one has programmed professionally in a course's language (eg C), you don't get to take the course
when you might like or need to, ie unless/until you've completed all of its pre-requisites.
(At Adelaide Uni, pre-requisites seem to be a thing of the past, at least for those creating their own IT program.)
Imagine libraries or book shops restricted you to accessing -books- unless/until you've read pre-requisite books...
Anyway, the scholarships are/were primarily for South Australian residents.
I'd say give them a big miss, unless you like a High-School-like lack of freedom...
(At least there's no "uniform" like local High Schools have!)
WARNING: One instructor / course coordinator has told his class[es], that "the money [from those
students' scholarships] is gone"
This may explain the time-limitation on the validity of the scholarship vis a vis using it to pay for CTE courses.
PS Now where I went to school, a scholarship was much more open-ended... You could get a scholarship to a university and use it for any course of study offered there; if you did well, you could renew it each year until you finished.
You could even change your major along
the way, as long as you progressed and
did well in your courses, it was valid
& paid the course fees.
In SA, we're told that it feels like
"being a horse wearing blinkers"
Is that a spin-off from the State's
big horse-racing inductry into IT-
education? 'could be...
In Europe the model seems to be to subsidize universities directly and so tie their growth to the growth in the education budget; this has kept tuitions down and made them almost universally affordable, but also limited the competitiveness of schools in that there is no way to grow departments/programs beyond what a naturally stingy government is willing to pay for. Not a slam against them, just an aknowledgement of the inherent trade-offs in these things.
Here is the opening paragraph of the article:
Finding awards you're qualified for is hard... so is it any wonder that some people have made good websites for the purpose?
The only one I've still got bookmarked is Studentawards.comwhich was pretty good for me as a Canadian student. I don't know how good the US portion is. It doesn't have all the little scholarships that I know are available at my school, but it did help with finding out about external ones I might not know about otherwise. I liked that one because it emailed me as new things were available, so I didn't have to remember to check it regularly.
There are probably many other good sites for your area if you look and ask around. Have you asked people at your potential university? Phone up a secretary, an undergrad advisor, the people in the scholarships & awards dept, etc. Often times people will have useful tips that simply never make it to a school's website.
And as others have said -- "little" scholarships of several hundred dollars aren't something you should ignore. It's still money you didn't have! Think of it as a free textbook or hard drive upgrade or something if it helps you make it seem worth the effort.
Funding is much nicer at the graduate level (I make a full-time salary as a graduate student) but undergraduate funding is available if you've got marks, need, or willingness to go around writing those essays, filling out forms and asking.
I'm almost done with my 4 year computer systems eng. degree, and I've been living with no more than CAN $10k a year, including tuition fees (though I'm in Quebec, where college education is somewhat cheaper than elsewhere, thanks to provincial government regulation.) Try doing that in the USA. No matter what neo-cons say, state-financed college eduaction really gives an equal chance to everyone.
I'm lucky enough to be going to a state school with my parents paying (not to say I don't work...I've got my office in the high energy physics lab, making $8 an hour).
However, windfalls happen. I didn't take this offer, since I'm going to grad school, and in physics that means a full ride, but it's intrigueing. The Navy and Army sent me ROTC brosures after my first year. Nice offer, but I wasn't going to take it since I already had enough on my plate. In the middle of my second year, they offered me a place as a student in the nuke school in South Carolina after I graduated. At the end of my second year, they offered me an instructor's position at their nuke school after I graduated (leading to some really harsh comments by Navy ROTC folks I was in class with who were applying for places in the nuke school). In addition they were going to put me through my masters at a nearby college, compress my military training and service into two weeks, and thenceforce I would be an officer on paper alone, and give me a five year contract. That one took some thought before passing up, and I still have second thoughts.
Serendipity is a fine thing. Even if you go in slaving or partially supported, placing yourself in the way of fortune can yield surprising results. The fellow in the next office from mine is about half supporting himself on his pay from the lab. He couldn't quite manage it, so he asked our advisor for a raise (which he was promptly given...Hussein's a valuable student). If you're productive and useful, people will try to help you.
Your customers are all losers who deserve to be taken advantage of
It is very profitable to take risks. By taking the right risks you can make much more money than you could through than so-called "honest work"
Laws and government regulations are a joke. If you are caught breaking the law the proper response is to cry that you are being politically targetted.
Only wimps resort to the legal system to resolve business disputes - real men just hire someone to break your opponent's kneecaps
I know that most people arent going to admit this but if your family is poor you have a better chance of going to college. Being on welfare, (no matter your race), you get a nice break on scholarships through the U.S. government. If your family is say (well off) your screwed for this route. Try your social services office. They will point you toward low income scholarships, even some banks can help you with this. I wish i had gone to college while still living with my parents on welfare. I wouldn't be paying out the nose now, now that I'm on my own and making a sub medium wage. (btw, the military isnt a bad choice either)
and what does that mean? Potential? That you may fail? No one ever does that anymore do they ? That you may quit?
Not too positive are we?
If you can avoid it, don't even consider working a low-wage job that has nothing to do with your major. It's incredibly shortsighted to sell your time to Walmart or someone for a zero-skill-building low-wage job. Take the loan and pay for college after your earning power has increased exponentially, instead of before.
Instead of wasting time waiting tables or stocking shelves, you could be studying or building useful skills that will lead to a CAREER, not just a job. Tons of people fall into the trap of sacrificing their time and energy for $8/hour now, rather than actually doing what they came to college to do, so they can get out and make $50 - $100/hour.
What I'm curious about (no this is not a flame, I'm serious) is if the situation in the majority of scholarships being for minority only has changed or gotten worse?
When I was in high school they told us that every year over $10 million in scholarships went unclaimed because nobody applied. Well I did research. Virtually all of it was for minority. The counselor at school and the college both told me I was a white male and that was the only group that did not fit in some sort of "minority". All I got was the guaranteed student loan of $500/semester for 2 yrs. Well it paid my books anyway. The rest went on credit cards & from part time jobs.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one the bus load of girls just went down.
Anyways, I have supported myself for the past 2 years through research jobs at school . I like what I do (currently I am working a nasa's version of maglev train) and I get paid well along with tuition. I just graduated (3.5 years, no summer school) and might have a job offer soon from a Fortune 500 co. through my advisor's network. I also got to publish a paper at a prestigeous conference which will help when I go to grad school.
See if you can find something similar in your school. Keep an eye out for who's getting funding, stay around them (take classes, volunteer, etc.) and eventually he will ask you to work for him.
Good luck.
The technology sector, and therefore the legions of CS departments that feed workers into the sector, are dying as we know it. The inherent problem with IT in the business environment is that the number of solutions drastically outweighs the number of problems, and a sort of stagnation sets in. I suppose there's still tepid demand for a fundamental CS degree, as it's far harder to teach someone the principles of effective design than it is to hand them an O'reilly(tm) book. My advice (I was one of the idiots who road the tech bubble to a CS degree) is to pursue another avenue, and pick up smatterings of CS-related courses that are relevant to your degree. Case in point: I'm midway to my MS in Microbiology. I already have that (at the moment) useless CS degree. However, an emerging field that combines both Biology and CS is called Bioinformatics, and if I weren't already jaded about the job market, I'd call it the next big thing. Seriously, consider a more traditional, "grounded" field. If you're still hard up for that CS degree then dear God, DOUBLE MAJOR.
1) hide your parents' income in advance. (it's not tax evasion, it's tax avoidance).
2) that college fund your parents started will all be taken. it's really rather useless unless you have ALL of the needed money in there ahead of time.
3) a lot of uni's don't want to give scholarships to incoming students because high school is an aweful indication of how well you will do in college and life (i lived with a guy who got straight As in HS, but just couldn't hack college)
4) even if you *do* get a scholarship, say, 2nd year, you will almost surely never see a cent of it. i got a $16k scholarship, and, you guessed it, i didn't see a cent of it (just had to write thank you notes).
scholarships are nice, but most people are delusional about where most of them go. ironically, the better school, the less the chance of scholarships (and top schools won't give merit scholarships at all). the only chance for a *real* scholarship is one which you got from a private donor and can hide from the school somehow. in other words: GOOD LUCK!
BSD is for people who love UNIX. Linux is for those who hate Microsoft.
My favorite line here is:
Either this is a neo-nazi push for establishment of the Catholic church as the national religion or a call for genocide.
I'm always stunned by people who can write a laundry list of conclusions, without once asking themselves why things are that way. Dude, enjoy your life. Some people don't have the opportunity to eat or get healthcare for cancer. You on the other hand can't form an all white club with public-monies. It looks like we've all been dealt a very difficult hand...
Look into Community College/Associate degree school for the first two years. They are way cheaper, perhaps live at home. They associate with local "expensive" schools so credits directly transfer. Also in our area, anyone (ANYONE!) in the top 10% of their high school class gets their entire education FREE (gotta pay for books etc..).
Ok that gets you 2 years, the last two you can transfer to the high priced spread but you are a seasoned upper class-man and can perhaps snag a coop job.
While not free this can cut the cost in half. Also going in to the 4 year school gives you a slightly greater chance at a scholarship since you are a better risk, much less likely to fail than Freshman.
Get the courses not related to your chosen field of study out of the way at a local community college or state school. Get an Associates degree, and transfer the credits.
Anyway... my undergrad was at an unknown state school, so I guarantee you I paid a whole lot less that most of the other folks. I started my entry-level job with friends who went to school in the same town as me, the only difference being they had a whole lot more debt than I did.
But I also have "name brand" masters. Cost to me? $0. How? Night school, tuition reimbursement. Not all companies have it but, but the two jobs I had both I have do (one, a huge multinational defense contractor with untold thousands of people, and two, a small ISV with about about 30 people).
I have a friend who got a full scholarship from the company we worked for, to go to school full-time to get his master's. They gave him part of his salary and he didn't have to go to work for 2 years. Part of the deal was you'd work for X more years for the company, or repay the value. But, a place hired him away and paid it off for him (yeah, late 90s, that kind of stuff happened).
There are tax implications, too. If you take classes to improve or maintain skills in your current profession, and even if you don't get reimbursed, it's all tax deductible. Why do you think employers offer it? You need to have a "current profession", obviously, in order to qualify for this.
So: go to a state school. Get a job. Go to a "name school" on your employer's dime. To be extra miserly, start at community college and transfer to the state school.
Of course, it helps to get kick-ass grades. Fumble a course in grad school and you'll find you're stuck with a whopping bill - your employer doesn't pay for lousy grades. How's that for motivation?
I can explanate how to administrate your network. You must configurate and segmentate it, so it can computate.
The problem is that there is really no need for more technical people in the market place. Most graduates are not finding work and end up staying with their parents or working in fast food. I know there will be plenty of people who say that this is untrue. I hear all of the time from friends who recently graduated that more than 80% of the graduates are working in low paying non-technical jobs. You would do better to try out something else and just uses computers for a hobby or something. Anyway some accounts I know became LAN administrator, so go get a regular busines degree.
One sure fire way to get a free education is to ship off to Australia, aside from the cost of actualy immigrating there a University education is basicaly free. The government will give you a HECS debt which is essentialy a loan that you pay off when you pay taxes. So stick around for your education and ship back off to America once your done, you never pay taxes to Australia and consequently you have just got a free education. Hazaa
Over a hundred years ago in the US we collectively decided that to be able to compete in the technological world our children needed 12 years of public education. One hundred years later and we still only grudgingly offer 12 years of public education. I believe that we to compete in today's world need to up that ante to at least 16 years of publicly funded education.
Nah, the rest of us need to make him richer. How many times have our public shools had to shell out $250,000 at a time for "stealing" Microsoft Word? Keep paying suckers. Don't forget to "standardize" on windoze in your shcool system or business today! While forgein companies steal the same software and use the savings to undercut you with cheap US trained technical tallent, remember to register your software.
Thanks, Bill, you've really made the world a better place by advocating non-free software. Your band-aid generosity does not begin to cover the damage you have done to the US economy. Greed is not good and software hoarders can't even claim the satisftion of money any more.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Thats a good point. If you can hold off for a couple years, move to where you want to go to school and get residency. Granted the jobs aren't as good, but you can live in a cheap roach infested flat, and save your money. I recomend you travel a little. (Europe is nice. I hear great things about Alaska, New Zealand, Chilie, and Thiland from those who have been to the respective places) It is often a good idea to take a year off after high school anyway to figgure out what you really want out of your life. Use that time to your advantage.
If you do move to establish residency, make sure you move to the right state. Wisconson residents got better tuition at the University of Minnesota than Minnesota residents (when I when there).
What is there in the tech sector that needs encouragement? There's already too many geeks for the number of jobs out there, and even then, they are being replaced (outsourced) by cheaper geeks on another continent.
With massive loans to pay off once you have finished your degree, you are going to need a big salary to pay off what's essentially like a mortgage on top of your rent/existing mortgage and other living expenses. That makes you expensive.
China for instance getting a degree is based on academic qualifications and not an ability to pay, the students don't even have to pay for accomodation, the tuition fees are paid by the government. This means when they have completed their chosen education they don't have a huge loan to pay off.
In India also, tuition fees are negligible compared to the US (e.g. $140 per annum) even when you take the difference in graduate salary into account.
There is some irony in the fact that in both China and India they are looking to try to adopt a more US styled education system which I suspect will eventually reduce the cost differences between US and Indian/Chinese graduates.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
* Consider a top school in a foreign country. Most universities outside of the USA are heavily subsidized by their nation's taxpayers. Take advantage of their generosity. This is not that easy to do though, especially if you aren't going to an International Baccalaureate accredited high school.
* Go to a school that allows employees to take classes for free. I know a few people who turned their freshman-year work-study jobs into full-time ones as sysadmins or research programmers. The pay is low by industry standards (but the industry wouldn't hire you with so little experience), but it's a great deal considering you save tuition. I know one person who only had to pay for his freshman year before going full-time. Three years later he graduated and had three years of full-time experience, giving him a huge leg up on his fellow job-seeking graduates. Downside risk is that you become complacent in your cushy academic job and t->infinity to graduate. I know more than a few people like this, the pay may be low but they still live far better than typical poor undergrads.
* Don't be afraid to get loans. It's an opportunity to invest in yourself. You'll never have another investment where you'll be able (legally) to take advantage of unlimited inside information. No one knows you better than you should know yourself.
Those piddly $500 scholarships won't do you a lick of good if you go to one of those snooty top-notch "need-blind" schools like I did. They figure out how much you can afford to beg and borrow (their formula) and then give you a grant for the difference between that and the list price. Any scholarships merely reduce the size of the grant they will give you. A middle-class student going to an Ivy League-type school would need dozens of these $500-$1000 every year to get to the point where it actually reduces the amount he or she would pay.
Why only concentrate on tech scholarships? Is something wrong with writing essays?
... White Single Male Atheist Computer Science students!.
You can get scholarships for being a minority - but we're not one of those
You can get scholarships for being married - but we're not that
You can get scholarships for being female - but we're not that
You can get scholarships for being RELIGIOUS! - but we're not that
Even engineering has more scholarships than computer science!
Basically I get totally screwed over because I'm not a member of a "minority" (true minority or 'social minority'), and I'm not a member of a religious organization that would hand me money just for being another irrationalite.
Scholarship awards should be based upon NEED pure and simple - ignore skin color, which genitalia you have, your religion. Infact technically i am a member of a minority - ATHEISTS, but it's about the only minority that doesn't get scholarships because this country is run by a bunch of theologues (*Cough*bush*cough*asscroft*cough*)
If you cannot keep politics out of your moderation remove yourself from the Mod Lottery.. NOW!
You're a better man than I am Gunga Din. Three years of school and 10 years of experience is only enough to land me a job answering telco help desk calls. I wish you luck but I'd think twice about choosing IT as a career. Cheers.
"paltry $500" --- ok then don't bother to take the $500 even though it would buy books for well over a semester....
Maybe there are few deep pockets for supporting "technology" degrees because the deep pockets realize that general skills in science or business are worth a whole hell of a lot more than one-trick ponies being turned out by CS departments. Also, don't forget, it's only a few years ago that programmers were worse than opera prima donnas --- gimme this, gimme that, double my salary or I'll walk. It's a whole lot easier to teach someone with classical analytic skills to write code than vice versa.
Dear poster I suggest you look long an hard in the mirror before deciding you want to be a small in an outsourcable machine.
Let me start by saying that I put myself through school. I didn't recieve a Mum and Dad grant.
I found that during my first year I was able to land a reasonably paid job programming web pages. As the years progressed I found better paying jobs whos hourly earnings eclipsed the rates the other non-technical degree students were making.
I also took out loans. As a technical student, student loans are a realtivly safe way to make up the difference because you will make 50 to 100% more than your non-technical counter parts after you graduate. A good rule of thumb is: For every 10,000 you take out you will incure a $100 minimum payment per month when the loan payments start. Another good way to manage school loan debt is to pay the interest on non-subsidized loans while you're in school. Good luck and remember to fill out that FAFSA!
Here's my #1 advice for any highschooler entering any college. "School is always available, but the industry of your choice will not."
When I graduated the market was flooded with computer jobs, and I have a tech degree. I think I got lucky making the right anticipation at the time. Though I shouldn't have listened to my parents, staying in school.
I should have dropped out early and get more years of corporate work experience plus stock options and go back to school in this shitty economy. I have experienced many jobs, periods of unemployment and the market is volatile as ever.
Timing is everything. I see stupid people make a fortune, and smart people losing jobs. Even sewing majors can be millionaires if you know when the industry of your choice will show up.
There have been many good suggestions posted so far, but doing a careful balance of all of them is your best bet. Scholarships are wonderful, but you shouldn't be afraid to look for other sources of money, especially if your grades aren't so hot. I graduated from high school with a good enough GPA to get a $3000 university scholarship, with extra money every semester that I kept a 3.5 GPA. I only had the scholarship for one year because I wasn't able to maintain my performance for that long. One of the problems you're going to run into with scholarships is that you're going to be expected to perform. If you aren't absolutely confident in your ability to put up the grades, don't place your better on riding through college on scholarhip money, because a lot of the scholarships out there will expect you to put on a show all the way through school. Don't balk at loans either. A few people have expressed negative opinions of loans, but if you need the money, you don't have much choice. Besides, if you have a good head on your shoulders (and/or some luck), you'll land a job out of school and be on the road to repaying them. Don't expect to live in the fast lane right out of school. Whatever you do, DON'T let anyone discourage you from getting a job. For one, having a job will let you earn money, and it will adjust you to working under a tight schedule. If you can avoid it, don't work off campus. Campus jobs are very flexible (in my experience) with respect to your classes. If your lucky like me, you can get a job working in some computing department on campus. I started working my second semester on a network tech support team, now I'm an applications programmer in the same office. I take stuff from the classroom right into the office. You'll have to be careful not to work too much and get in the way of your studies, but on the other hand it's a good way to gain some "real-world" experience. I hope that helps. The simplest advice I can give is if you work your ass off, you can expect to reap some benefits.
Your Guidance Counsellor should be able to provide solid information on this subject. My children's high school has a deal with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute under which a student selected by the Science Department recieves a $10,000 a year 4 year scholarship to RPI. Your milage may vary, ask your guidance counsellor.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
College search sites:l arship_Programs/
2 6/ref=br_dp__4/103-2804404-6979063
http://www.scholarships.com
http://www.fastweb.com
http://www.collegescholarships.com/
http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Financial_Aid/Scho
Scholarship search Books:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/698
Other resources:
Americorps
Westinghouse Competition
Duracell Competition
Science Fairs (I got about $6k this way)
National Merit Scholar Search
Contact your high school counselor
Contact the financial aid offices at the school(s) to which you're applying
Consider getting in touch with a private college counselor who will assist with the application process to the colleges and for the scholarships. (check the Web and the yellow pages for these)
Have your parents check to see if there are scholarships available for the kids in their industry, church, temple, other affiliations (I got two this way)
Additional Advice
- Don't turn down any amount, no matter how small. Apply for everything for which you're eligible, and be thrilled with any awards you receive, no matter how big or small.
- You don't get anything without lots of hard work. This will be your first experience with this. People don't give handouts. You don't get recognized for just existing. Get involved in activities like science fair, forensics (debate), a Westinghouse project, a Duracell project. These will take a lot of your time to do right so that you can win. If you're already a senior it's too late for a lot of this. I started the summer before my sophomore year on my science fair/Westinghouse project and October of my senior year on my Duracell project.
- Watch out for scholarship search scams. Don't give anyone money for identifying scholarships for which you're eligible, unless it's a legit private counselor. - Scour the Web. There's a ton of advice about everything on the Web. Google like mad. Check out about.com. Look at Google Goups archives. See what's at Yahoo. You're going to have to get good at research for college. Might as well get started now.
- Check out the magazine reports on the best value colleges. I forgot what magazine puts out this report. I'm sure it's at your library and in your counselor's office.
- Like others have said, don't be stuck on private schools. I was sure I would go to an ivy league school. I thought it would make a difference on my resume. It really doesn't. Go to a state school. If you still think it matters for your resume, get into the honors program at your state school. At the University of Texas, a degree from the Plan II honors program is thought of as highly as many of the top name private schools.
- Consider attending a state school for a couple of years and then transferring into a private school. Your degree will still be from the hoity-toity school, but you'll have saved two years' worth of tuition.
- Take the SAT several times. Your score will most likely go up, and no one notices the number of times you take the test. Invest in some SAT preparation as well. There are lots of books to help with this.
good luck
The NC state colleges offer a deal of 18 hours work a week gets you a room,tuition, books, etc.. Wish they had this in the " damn ,,, gopher is cool" days.
Some ppl have mentioned joining the Armed Forces. For the less combat-inclined, there's a nice government program from the NSA. The summary:
*Apply and agree to work four summers and, I think, 6 years full-time afterward (at a safe desk with thousands of the world's best mathematicians and technicians)
*Major in CS, Math, Language, something they can use
*NSA foots the bill for your entire tuition and you get a federal paycheck.
*If you bail, you only pay back the amount that you haven't earned (that is, if you work 3 years instead of 6, you only pay back 2 years of tuition - not all 4).
I suspect it's selective, but it's at least worth looking into if you're willing to make the sacrifice.
Er, actually, it may be the CIA. I forget. But for some reason the NSA rings a bell.
My sis in law gradded Sweetbriar an went in the peace corps. Give them a year or two and get a doctorate. Her big pampered *ss made it two weeks in Africa but I thought it was a sweet deal.
I however don't think it's fine that preferential treatment be given to any one because of their ethnicity, as is being done. It's also wrong that anyone who questions such a system (a system that is discrimination by definition) is accused of being hateful and racist. Don't think it happens? I attended a Prop 209 protest march (another time, another place). I know it happens.
I also don't think it's fine that any time a white person tries to obtain any kind of cultural identity, they are denounced and villified (as you have done, by suggesting that wanting such makes one insensitive to others plights). For a recent example, see This Story from the San Francisco Chronicle about a girl who, attending a school where only 8% of the students were white, attempted to start a Caucasian Club, and was subject to so much hostility and hatred for her efforts, ended up dropping out. It is a common attitude, even amongst whites, that any white person who attempts to find racial identity is a racist, and that needs to change. Especially as whites continue to become a smaller percentage of the population.
And I know that someone will think me a racist for saying all this, though nothing could be further from the truth. Funny how people who question discrimination are now labeled the racists.
I can attest to this, I received a full scholarship for computer science (and I am one of 2 for computer science, out of 23 in this program for the university). Not the pay for part, except for most of the books.
You should outsource your scholarship writing.
Good luck, but the big guns (Intel, etc) are not hiring anymore in the US. Rather, they use the terminology "Low cost geographies". You might try going to India or China, school would probably be cheaper.
Good luck kid. You'll soon be unemployed like many in the industry.
For Oregon, you can apply to several local scholarships using a single application from the OSAC (Oregon Student Assistance Commision, a state agency).
p 0405.pdf . There are dozens of scholarships available on the form; some are statewide, but most are specific to certain companies, counties, high schools, etc.
I was awarded a scholarship this way, and it paid 90% of "unmet" need.
The actual application is at http://www.getcollegefunds.org/pdf/scholarship_ap
http://www.reg.uci.edu/registrar/soc/fees.html
That's $2k a quarter, $6k a year. And this is only since the 30% increase last summer -- it was only $4k before that.
It might cost you $25k/year total to attend school in CA, but most of that is cost of living, which was my original point.
This is going to be an off topic rant here... and one that probably doesn't make much sense to those that don't understand the Canadian post secondary system.
I once ranted at how the IT field is no longer the domain of us geeks and nerds and is becoming the replacement for the blue collar jobs.
Every freaking kid who's not sales and marketing oriented that might be technically inclined or not wants to go after the big money of the 90s in IT.
Today's rant....
In Canada (and likely elsewhere), universities were once places of higher learning that broadened the mind in many disciplines to produce a worldly thinker. Colleges were places that teach a particular skill.
I get the impression stateside that the difference is best approximated between state colleges and ivy league colleges.
Back here, universities cost an arm and a leg to go to while colleges are far less expensive.
So what happened that universities sold their souls to become automaton monkey incubators for this latest incarnation of Henry Ford's assembly line (IT/CS)?
From following a few old high school buddies, it would appear that the ones who went to university took on giant debt loads. They became Dilberts. The college grads ended up doing alot of hands-on work which has taken them to interesting places with far more fullfilling lives.
For the original poster, if computers and programming is your passion, don't put your eggs in the university basket.
Go look for problems in the world and solve them. I'd bet the majority of the contributors to many of the OS projects aren't IT grads! The world will find you as you make a name for yourself.
They don't give you a loan -- they make an investment in you, and expect to make a profit on the return, by taking a percentage of your earnings later on. It's an interesting concept, well worth checking out.
Moderators, please do not mod this as troll or offtopic! There are many transracial persons in the United States, indeed the world, and it is both insenstive and racist in the extreme to deny that these individuals exist.
Consider the following possibility...
You could be transracial.
Who are transracial persons you ask? The easiest way to explain this is to compare the transracial person to the transgendered person. In simplist terms, a transgendered person is a male stuck in a female body or vice-versa. Similiarly, a transracial person may be a African-American person imprisoned in a caucasian body, an Asian-American trapped in a caucasian body, a Caucasian-American person stuck inside an African-American body, or any combination thereof.
Transracial persons are common in our society. One need look no further than our entertainment media to see this. Consider for a moment the pop stars Micheal Jackson and Eminem. These are the two clearest examples of transracial individuals in our society. Micheal Jacson identified so closely with caucasian culture that he dyed his skin to become white. Eminem identifies so much with African-American culture that it can be argued the he is in fact African-American.
What I am saying is simply this: don't rule out the possibility that you don't qualify for minority scholorships simply because your skin is white. I would suggest you do some heart-felt soul searching. You may be surprised at what you discover. You may discover that you are a transracial person of color. If you determine that you are a transracial person of color, proudly indicate your newfound ethnic heritage as you fill out those scholarship forms!
Posted anonymously for obvious reasons...
seriously looking at pursuing four-year degrees for either Radiology or Accounting, or both. Neither are easily out-sourcable. Actually, I like taking care of people, and while Radiology certainly has its risks, you are not in physical contact with patients to the degree that, say for example nurses, are.
real geeks hate soap operas.
You might want to research scholarships fron the "Association of Information Technology Professionals" http://www.aitp.org and "Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association" http://www.afcea.org. I know my employer actively supports two groups which raise funds for scholarships.
...just go to http://www.usmc.mil and ask for information. :)
Semper Fi.
There are many countries where education is free, some of them even speaking English. For instance in France, the better a school is, the cheaper. On the other hand, obviously, there are difficult examinations to pass to go to the best school. The few best schools/universities *PAY YOU* about $1200 a month; most of other good ones cost about $500 a year including health insurance. The very most expensives can reach $5000 a year for techs, $10000 for business. If you don't know nor want to learn foreign languages, consider Scotland, where education is almost free as well. The rest of UK is way cheaper than USA. Beware, the required level in mathematics is usually higher in Europe than in the USA. Anyway, maths inclination is a must for a good techy.
It's pretty damned difficult to get freebie financial assistance as an incomming Freshman.
:
To misquote "Better Off Dead",
I've been going to this school for 12 years. I'm no dummy.
The best thing that you can do is KICK academic ASS as a freshman and softmore. I realize that that might not help you ATM, but if you do well, it may give you massive financial assistance for JR/SR years.
And as for grad-school... I was accepted into all of the Top-10 schools (and #16) except for MIT (rank #1) in Elec Eng for my Master's. Grad school was EASY to not only get into, but to get $$$ aid for. - Be in the top couple % of your graduating class, and you'll get nice offers from many places.
Because I went to my school as an undergrad, did well, and am a U.S. national, I was able to... ermm... haggle, for a better offer. Research Assistant stipend + free tuition + $3500 = I'll stay. Mind you, my research funding died on 9/11 and I'm living on Ramen noodles again.
Point here being: HS grades + SAT = tiny assistance. The longer you stay at an academic institution, and the better you do there, the greater the aid you'll be getting. Suck it up, they'll try to weed you out as a freshman, both academically and scholastically. Progress, and the school may end up paying you to attend!
Good Luck in all your studies! =)
Well obviously (Here's my brother AC, and my other brother AC)I'm not the AC in question. However while tech skills are important. Experience is even more important, and you're not going to walk out of very many schools with the required amount. I'm an EE and ME (debt ouch), in a state that has lost a lot of it's manufacturing base (Chip manufacturing falls under that) and the competition for the remaining (not much remaining because everyone wants to hang onto their job) is fierce. Moving sounds nice but that's one were the words are easier than the action. The only bright spot is a telecommuting job that would fit perfectly (cross fingers).
100% of my college is paid for through academic scholarship. That just leaves room and board, which scholarship covers part of. So I work, something like 15 hours a week at Sears. Not only does it make me focus more on my studies, but it keeps me motivated, because I know that my free time goes toward paying for my education, and also prevents me from just giving up. I might try writting a generic essay and just flooding every scholarship you see with it. It'll be very very simple to do and could let you reap huge rewards. I'd try writting one and submitting it for a couple hours a day for a few days and see how things turn out :) Best of luck!
And have them prove your not.
Since thanks to all left wing nuts theres no legal definiton of race that will be completely impossible for them.
8% is quite low...in my school of 500 or so there were only 4 or so blacks as I remember the rest of the student body was white with a few hispanics -- was a private school
Fill out your fafsa NOW!! For the last 2 years I have received two $5000 grants, and my wife has gotten about $6500 total in grants. If you (or your parents) make too much money to qualify, you don't need a scholarship or grant ;-).
Are you insane? I appreciate the fact that your interests are in technology.... perhaps biology, chemistry. If you are thinking of getting a *computer* related sort of post secondary education.... are you insane? 50 billion unemployed tech workers on this side of the planet alone and you want to be one more? There is a better chance of getting a job on Mars fixing spirited opportunistic beagles than there is of getting a tech job on earth. Sorry to be blunt, but it's better to find out now...
Holy shit. What hole did you crawl out of?
Your grandmother. That's right, I'm your daddy! Now bite me.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
I'm a computer sience student at the EPFL in Switzerland. It's rated under the top ten universities for computer sience. The school fees are about $300 per semester. You need some more cash to life though.
My experience is that both of you are right: It is true that there are not millions of unawarded scholarship dollars annually. They're awarded, all right--usually to the first warm body that shows up at the last minute, by an awarding body/committee that would otherwise be embarassed that they couldn't give their money away. This is because most scholarship programs are a just a sideline of the sponsoring organization, and often don't get the attention and publicity they need. As has already been noted, the golden area to mine for scholarships is the local area: Check the employers, unions, church groups, social organizations, technical groups/clubs, etc. of all family members for scholarship plans; many of them are limited to relatives of their members--which keeps the applicant pool down.
I went to school in the pre-web days, and supported myself via scholarships. I found most of my scholarships by avid bulletin-board surfing: For example, I got a two-year, $5000/yr. scholarship (in 1977 dollars) by replying to a 3 x 5 card tacked on a bulletin board outside the department office. It was supported by the foundation of a guy who started the Florida frozen orange juice industry (go figure); they had three scholarships to give away, and had four applicants in total--the 3 x 5 card being the limit of the scholarship publicity. I had several similar examples.
Speaking now to the original poster, and related to the above, exert your geek-inhibited personal relations skills to the utmost, and get on good terms with the school staff. Show your face regularly around the department and financial aid offices, say hello to the secretaries and, when both you and they can spare the time, engage in (dare I say it) small talk. Let the word out that you'd be interested in any scholarships or fellowships that happen to come down the pike. A good relationship with the university staff can give you insight into applicant selection procedures, early awareness of future opportunities, and the ability to avoid bureaucratic pitfalls. Schools often receive notice of obscure scholarships; the staff is often under no particular motivation to publicize them (ergo the 3 x 5 card above).
Another factor to keep in mind with scholarships is that it pays to keep your grades and test scores up. Not only does this improve your scholarship application itself, but it earns you friends among the University faculty. Once you've started at school, and do well (even a semester or two), you're in a position to put the word out to a professor or two that their prized student may have to drop out if the financial situation doesn't improve. While you have less leverage as an undergraduate than you would as a graduate student, you still have some; most instructors would at least make inquiries for a student showing an effort and doing well. Note that the professor could offer you help in the form of work in his lab; this is can be characterized anywhere in the range from "all that's missing is the salt mine," to "preferable to handing out french fries," to "fascinating--so that's where this technology is going." YMMV.
A final question I have is about your comment that the school is "still getting itself off the ground." What is the school's accreditation status? If you're looking to attend a four-year institution, be sure that the school is accredited in your field. Nothing's worse than doing all that work and ending up with a diploma no one accepts.
This post does raise some interesting points and is actually, very interesting. The whole "own kind" thing creeped me out a little, but affirmative action is 3V1L. And not in a cute l4m3R sP34k sort of way, but in a spawn of satan sort of way. By the way, blacks are not poor, in most places it's about even. Micheal Jordan ring a bell?
Oh and this is increasingly off topic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Zaxser
"Am I a butterfly dreaming I am a man? Or a bowling ball dreaming I am a plate of sashimi?"    
There is no recourse or investigative system set up to see if you really are the Australian Aboriginal Jewish Female you say you may be.
If your high school grades are not sufficient to get an academic scholarship, go to a community college first for a year or two. I had a friend in the same situation. She went to CC, worked hard and earned a 4.0, and because of that obtained a full ride to a major university for her remaining two years. It may not be as fun, but CC is cheap, and there are some decent ones out there.
they work a lot less and make almost as much...
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
Have you talked to your guidance counselor? Mine was quite useful in telling me about scholarships no one (or at least me) had heard of. I didn't get any big ones (just missed out on national merit, bastards), but I got a few smaller scholarships that really helped for the first 2 years of school.
Also your parents' employers may offer scholarships to children of employees and certain organizations have scholarships for members (Society of Women Engineers comes to mind).
Bottom line: stop focusing on "tech sector" scholarships; this is about college money. Get it where ever you can.
On unusual methods of funding education: I used to date a woman whose medical degree was paid for by the state ("Northern Exposure" style!) on the condition that she spend a certain number of years working in hospitals serving low-income neighborhoods. It worked out really well for her. Has anyone else ever encountered this?
Full scholarship in exchange for employment
and good grades.
I work (in the IT department) for a healthcare org and Radiology (the real brain work) is being outsourced at an astounding rate; much faster than IT. The only outsourcing-protected jobs in that field are the (realitively) low paying technician jobs.
Nursing, however is where the demand is. I have repeatedly told students that have asekd, "How would you suggest I get into IT?" to forget IT and be a nurse. I have personally seen higher recruitment bonuses for nurses than have ever been offeres for IT positions.
And this is the situation many places..... That's why none of my nursing friends down south want to move back :(
___ I don't respond to Anonymous Cowards, and I Never Mod them UP.
Quality bears? I'm a poor tech college student too, but I've never bought bears... *grins* -Shadowkat
Many companies will re-imberse you for your education. A smaller company will probably be more flexible in their hours. Ive heard of work experience counting toward college credit but Ive never seen it happen. Its worth a try if you get a tech job out of high school. Go for lots of small scholarships, they will add up. If that still doesnt fit the bill still, try a community college then transfer over. It will save loads of money in the end and give you more time to find more scholarships.
Yes, you said it right. Do you understand that the underprivileged deserve a financial break before the better off people don't you? If someone is born 3 financial grades below you they do not have a fair shake at a good education or in life for that matter. Those minorities with positive attitudes end up trying harder to excel given a break like this and don't take this type of advantage for granted. You excercised pure ignorance and poor taste when you refered to common scholarship recipients. Just because some of us prefer to spend our money on computer parts, video games, porn, or whatever else why do we think we deserve a free education? I agree that technical education is VERY expensive and that there aren't many obvious scholarshps available. I hope that changes, but only for the truly gifted people (no matter their racial background).
Hopefully your college of choice offers a Merit
Scholorship. While this won't pay your entire tuition it will help. Also don't lock yourself into just one college. My son for example had a high enough SAT and GPA to get into M.I.T, but that's to
get in... At the college of his choice, he had enough to get in and earn a merit scholorship, this merit scholorship will give hime 32,000 over four years. So this helps. It pays for a little over one year.
Here's an idea. You can call the large tech companies in your area to see if they want to
sponsor you. In return you offer to work at a reduced rate for a set amount of time.
Move out from under mom and dad for a while (usually a yr.) and then go for grants also. Pell
grants paid for my books, tuition, and one helluva
party each sem. State/national grants are avail.
too.
Ever considered going to school in Canada. We have some great CS programs here (Waterloo, esp.) and very competitive tuition rates.
If the school in question grants an acredited four year degree and you really don't want to accumulate any student loans, there may be another federal option.
The ROTC (US Army), NROTC (US Navy), and AFROTC (US Air Force) programs frequently have "cross-town" arrangements allowing participants to attend smaller colleges that are reasonably close to campuses hosting a unit. The Marine Corps has a similar program that does not rely on campus participation. In all cases, there are several weeks of mandatory summer training each year and a commitment to serve a few years as an officer after graduation. Also, don't plan on screwing around; you get four years to complete your degree and (in the ROTC programs) will be taking additional Military Science courses. Finally, if your grades drop, you get into legal problems or fail a drug test, the scholarship can be yanked.
If you are serious about your education/college-graduation, don't want to incur a huge financial debt, and are interested in military service it's a good deal.
I really think that getting rid of skin-color bias is a great goal. But caucasian is not really a specific cultural group, so that point is simply ridiculous. If the did Russian folkdancing then perhaps it was legitimate, otherwise no.
I was in German Club in high school. No one questions that as being racist. I performed in German Folkdancing competatively, and that was not considered racist. I know the same thing was true for students at my school studying French. So the problem is not that you cannot have a club to celebrate some of the great cultural legacies of white people. The problem is that you cannot have a club to celebrate the fact that you are white people.
If you really believe this statement:
then I hope you will consider getting a minimum wage job, and turn down any promotions. Then you will be sure that you are not getting preferential treatment because of your race. Until then you're only whining that other people are getting preferential treatment, with blinders to your own treatment. My guess is that if you're living in the bay area, you probably make quite a bit more money than the average American and that you may have in fact profited from racial bias at some point in your past. When you get on the subway does everyone in the car look at you suspiciously?
The thing that worries me the most is that we all are racist. Every last one of us. There are too many people who feel a twinge of racism, and rather than realize that it is racist and try to rework their brain to stop thinking that way, embrace it as perhaps some hidden truth. This is all simply a slippery sloap. There is always going to be racial bias. The ultimate truths is that the reason why Universities have racial quotas is that they need some sort of indicator that they're not going to end up with an entire university made up of the readerbase of slashdot (which I'm guessing is an almost ridiculously homogenouse population). Ultimately that sort of campus would be great for learning something like math. Which would be fine if the only point of an institution was to teach factoids, but ultimately the goal is to teach people to think in new ways. And so we'd end up with lots of people who'd memorized lots of math facts, but no one who was coming up with new advancements in the field. Part of ensuring that there is new knowledge being created requires getting people with different cultural backgrounds to interact with each other. That's why universities have foreign students, and why they have racial quotas. If you can come up with a better way to get a mixture of people from diverse backgrounds, I'm sure that the president of every major university in this country will have a meeting with you. But make no mistake, if you are white and truly think that you have not benefited from your race on a level equal to, or better than African-American students, you are most certainly wrong.
but i dont see anything wrong with them, and they should be official and not hidden in vague terminology of addmisions procedures.
shhhh! but they dont REALLY have "quotas" right??
haha
you know there are internal quotas and if they arent met they do everything they possibly can to get there.
I actually dont mind addmission quotas all that much, its the financial aid based on race that makes no sense! its not racial aide its financial aid! and should only be based on your financial status.
Financial aide = grants, loans, scholarships, work study, anything else i mean anything. It should all be based on money nothing else.
The goal of the world is to bring people out of financial trouble by helping them get an education, not trying to get people out of racial trouble whther it exists or not. The free market makes race a non issue, a resteraunt not allowing blacks to eat just lost 15-35% of its revenue. Markets work.
The reason a quota system wouldnt be terrible is this
If all state schools had to enrol a within 5% of their respective states' racial, gender, and/or religous statistics. Then if you couldnt enroll in your first choice school because of quotas, eventually you would find a school that you could enroll in.
Atleast you would be enrolled, now you have to find the money to pay for your schooling and room and board. This would be easy under a financial based financial aid system.
Even with quotas you can find a school to accept you no matter what your catagory, and under my system the money dispersment would be given to those than need it. Not those that get it because they are belonging to a certain category. And they should only get as much as they NEED. not a penny more.
quotas stop some peopel from getitng into their college of choice or the "best college" but eventually when that hurts enough people, the other colleges will quickly become "better" because of more qualified students. so the system of quotas would even out education quality among unversities way faster than affirmative action will ever be able to truly raise the educational quality given to "minorities" and has an even better goal.
Im white/m/Texas/Catholic/60k a year parents(total)/ 1 of 3 kids...
Did i forget to disclaim anything?
why is this shit modded up? the dumbass isn't even in ROTC and obviously doesn't know shit.
is for pussies.
How about you use the same fucking career to compare being in the military or not? Sure you can visit Hawaii in the Peace Corp but they won't give you 20k for college, you dumb fuck.
Paulgrant, you are a dumb fucking pussy ass motherfucker. Mandatory vaccinations? You have to get them to attend most educational institutions in the United States from elementary school onto college.
Lack of control over moral choices? Fuck man, I guess everything you've ever done has been a benefit to your fellow man, the environment and every living being on planet Earth?!? Holy fucking shit.
You can sue. Any good lawyer could win such an easy case.
Do what you love. If you are entering a field only because of the money, you need to first find out kinds of tasks you love doing, and have talent for. If you really love code, design, analysis, or some other aspect of the computer field, then do the major you want. Majoring in computer science won't hurt your career, even if you find that conditions change and you can't make a career in the field because of international competition or any other reason.
You'll suffer the ravages of adult competition soon enough. You'll also survive them by caring about what you do and just moving on no matter what happens. Remember, if you are an American, you have the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness; This is our national creed, and the pursuit of property is nothing more than a means to this far more valuable end.
Make sure you publicise your case (on the internet and off). I'd like to hear what happens...
GrimRC