Question by Alex (Hombre del Canada): Besides getting a job, how can I raise substantial money for college?
I am trying to get a part time job now.

I am looking at colleges that cost 10-30K per year, including room and board.

I am now a junior, and I do not have enough time to get that much money at a job paying minimum wage. I “probably do not” (their statement) qualify for FAFSa due to my family’s income. However, FAFSA determines that my parents will give me ,000 per year, even though they have 4 kids. When all 4 are in college, that’s basically their entire income.

So, besides a job, how can I get money?

My GPA is about 3.5, and i’m IB. What scholarships can I get? How much?

My SAT (out of 1600) is 1400, my ACT is 31.

Best answer:

Answer by Andrea
3.5 GPA is not competitive enough for most top-tier schools’ scholarship programs. Apply anyway, as a backup, but don’t expect money to start falling from the sky.

You should probably set your sights on other, more realistic colleges. You have pretty good ACT and SAT scores, so that’s something in your favor. Shop around locally and regionally for a college that fits your family’s true financial situation, not the imaginary amount of money that FAFSA says your parents are going to give you. I really hate the FAFSA calculations and find them to be incredibly unfair.

You could live at home to save room-and-board money, and those funds could go toward private college tuition, or you could live on-campus at a state school. Don’t overlook state schools. The tuition is cheaper, and you have a much better chance of getting scholarships because your scores and grades will be competitive.

You might have to save your Syracuse dreams for grad school. By then, you’ll be independent, and it’s easier to get money for school. Wherever you choose to go, remember to work hard and get the best grades you can. After you complete your grad/post grad work, no one will care where you went for undergrad anyway.

One more thing: do a cost/benefit analysis when you are looking at private schools. College is an investment. If you plan to be a teacher or some other low-paying profession when you graduate, does it really make sense to spend 100-200k or more for your eduction, only to land a job that pays 40k? NO WAY. If you are going to enter a high-earning profession, then it might make sense to attend a specific private school, but in reality, the most important thing is getting the degree, not where you earned it.

For other scholarship opportunities, investigate your parents’ employers, local community groups, churches, ethnic organizations and fraternal orders (like NAACP or VFW), etc. Some schools you’d consider out of reach, such as Yale or Harvard, actually have amazing endowments, and they are able to fund full-tuition for financially needy, academically gifted students.

I wish you the best of luck.

***UPDATE***

I accidentally responded to the wrong question. I thought I was answering a question from someone who wanted to get into Syracuse University. I ended up combining the facts from the two questions. My apologies.

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