College Scholarships: the biggest source of scholarship money

• These are the largest sources of scholarship money available to students. Colleges will decide based on your GPA and/or SAT scores whether or not you qualify for a scholarship. Many times this is done without a separate application, although there may be a separate application. Check the college website for information and application procedures.

National Scholarships

• These are scholarships through state and national organizations and companies such as Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, etc.. Some of these require high schools to select one candidate. A scholarship committee reviews the applications and makes a decision. We have found that many of these scholarship opportunities require a large amount of work on the part of the student. In our experience most of these scholarships are not granted to our students. The pool of applicants is so large in national competitions that many times it is not worth the effort on the part of the student. Consult with Mrs. Griffin or Mrs. Gaffney if you have a question about one of these opportunities.

State and Local Scholarships

• There are sources of state and local money available to our students. Some of these include scholarships from credit unions, firefighter associations, unions, veteran groups, NYS Lottery, etc. In addition there are school-based scholarships which consider a variety of criteria. The scholarship committee decides the school-based scholarships and some local scholarships. Mr. Cunningham and the committee will be asking you to complete a packet in the spring of your senior year to give them more information about you and your interests.

FINAL NOTES

• Many times students will find scholarship opportunities on their own. We caution families not to pay for a company to find scholarships for your student. This information is available to families simply by using the Internet or researching options through your place of employment. Our experience has been that when you have to pay for a scholarship opportunity, it usually is not worth your while.
• Scholarship money is available for some people. However, it may not be as easy to obtain or as much as you had expected. Generally strong academic performance, high SAT scores or special talents or strengths will earn students scholarships.
• Scholarship money is generally subtracted from the college's contribution, not the family's contribution to the cost of attendance. You do not automatically deduct the scholarship amount from what you will pay.
• See our "TOW Scholarships" page too! We list all scholarships (requirements and deadlines) that come to our office on it.