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Conference turris::womannotes-v2

Title:ARCHIVE-- Topics of Interest to Women, Volume 2 --ARCHIVE
Notice:V2 is closed. TURRIS::WOMANNOTES-V5 is open.
Moderator:REGENT::BROOMHEAD
Created:Thu Jan 30 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 30 1995
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1105
Total number of notes:36379

404.0. "Scholarships for Children of Single Parents?" by GEMVAX::BUEHLER () Wed Jan 18 1989 16:56

    Hi,
    
    I'm a single parent and have raised my daughter alone for the past
    15 years.  She is now 18 and a senior in high school.  Her
    greatest wish (besides having a car!) is to go to college--
    she's a smart kid, has been in honors classes all through school,
    averaging A, B, and C's.  She took SATs and Achievement tests,
    and scored in the top 5% in mathematics (has a 91% in Calculus
    this year--so much for math anxiety); top 20% in English.
    
    Her goal is to work with disabled children as a child care
    specialist.  This is a fairly new job description which she
    found out about when she worked as a candy striper at UMASS
    Medical.  I believe a child care specialist is somewhat like
    a psychologist, working with sick children but taking care of
    their emotional needs while in the hospital.  My daughter
    has prepared herself for this profession by taking special
    child education course in high school, and works after school
    as a helper in a disabled children classroom environment.
    
    Our problem is *money*.  I don't have any money for her
    college education.  Does anyone know of any special scholarships
    available to women, or single parent households, or to just
    plain, nice women who want to get somewhere in life :-) ?
    
    Any information is greatly appreciated.
    Maria
    
    
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404.1Free money....HARRY::HIGGINSCitizen of AtlantisWed Jan 18 1989 20:3610
    
    
    Get thee to the library!
    
    Many, many scholarship dollars and grants go uncollected every year.
    Qualifiers range from GPA's to ethnicity to eye color.  There are
    also scholarship "catalogues" available to garner information on
    where and how to apply for the $$$$$$$$$$$$.
    
  
404.3It's there,but you have to look for it!BPOV02::MACKINNONThu Jan 19 1989 11:0248
    
    Re.O
    
    I was a child of a single-parent household who also wanted to go
    to college.  I was in the top 3% of my class and went into
    engineering at Northeastern.  There are many scholarships that
    are awarded soley on the basis of economics.  As long as you
    claim her as a dependant on your tax form she is eligible for
    most of them.  I recieved quite a few scholarships to Nu both
    based on financial need and some based on just scholastic achievement.
    Have her send in a FAF form before February 15.  This will give
    her an indication of the aid that is available to her.  She will
    also need this to apply for financial aid as well as outside
    scholarships.  The FAF(financial aid form) can be picked up in
    her high school guidance counselor's office.
    
    I recieved quite a bit of money from the Mass State Scholarship
    program.  As well as scholarships from the company my Mom used
    to work for, the band parents association, a couple of high school
    related scholarships and also scholarships from NU.  Have her send
    away to the colleges she is interested in and request financial
    aid information.  They will usually include a list of scholarships
    available at their schools.  Also have her look into schools with
    co-operative education.  She can work and earn money for school
    and gain valuable work experience which will ultimately give her
    the edge when it comes to get a "real job".
    
    There are quite a few resources she can check into to get more info.
    I would not suggest sending any money to these ripoff schemes that
    claim they can get you scholarship money.  I know of several folks
    who did that and all they got was the same info you can get from
    the financial aid offices at colleges, but they had to pay for it.
    Have her go to the library.  There are quite a few books with
    references in them and instructions on applying for scholarships.
    I got one just because my last name happened to be Mackinnon.  So
    really there is alot of money out there you just have to be willing
    to do the leg work to get it.
    
    There are also guarenteed student loans,  university loans and
    Digital has a program where the parent can take out a loan for
    the childs education.  The first two don't have to be paid off
    until 6 months after graduation.  The Dec one I am not sure about.
    Give your psa a call and she/he may be able to direct you to
    money avaiable within Digital also.
    
    Good Luck
    
    Michele
404.4my .02 cents....PSYCHE::RYANSome days you eat the bearThu Jan 19 1989 12:068
    I was advised by my guidence councilor in High School to apply 
    for EVERY scholarship that I could find. (which I did and got 2)
    
    I don't know where you live, but in Concord Ma, the guidence office
    had millions of books and pamplets on the subject. I tell your
    daughter to start at her guidence office.
    
    Dee                                           
404.5CADSE::GLIDEWELLWow! It's The Abyss!Tue Jan 24 1989 20:4211
Has anyone had experience with "College Try"?

I've heard that this group (not sure if profit or non-profit)
maintains a large data base of available scholarships,
including the little known ones such as "for any child with
red hair" or "anyone named MacKinnon."   [  :) congrats!]

Last I heard, the charge for a scholarship search was
$35.  Has anyone every used one of these database search
outfits?  
                 Meigs