this would be obvious proof of playing the race card.

say you are black when you want enterance preference and grants

Yes, and he received Affirmative Action admissions. It’s in his first book.

I’m a US citizen looking to study in Ireland. Its going to cost me about €8k a year. Unfortunately I can’t get any aid through the US government because the school I want to attend is not eligible. Does anyone know of any scholarship programs or grants out there for US students attending foreign colleges? Or of a bank in Ireland that will give me a loan?

May be this site can help you

http://www.thetechnology.net

100% of the income my parents received last year was social security. My dad is disabled and neither work.

Last year they were not required to file their taxes.

Right now I’m trying to apply for financial aid.

It says I need copies of their Federal Income Tax forms, W-2 forms, ect.

Which documents are they supposed to have? Do they have either of these? I called my mom and she says she doesn’t have either since they didn’t have to file. Is she wrong?

She’s right. If they did not get enough in Social Security to file taxes then they won’t have a tax return. A W2 form is something people get from their employer when they work at a job. If neither of them worked for the entire 2008 year, then they won’t have a W2 form either.

If your parents have any investmentsa and assets then these things are to be reported as well.

Investments include real estate (do not include the family home), trust funds, UGMA and UTMA accounts, money market funds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, stocks, stock options, bonds, other securities, Coverdell savings accounts, 529 college savings plans, the refund value of 529 prepaid tuition plans, installment and land sale contracts (including mortgages held), commodities, etc. For more information about reporting educational savings plans call 1-800-4-FED-AID. Investment value means the current balance or market value of these investments as of today. Investment debt means only those debts that are related to the investments. • Do not include the value of life insurance, retirement plans (401[k] plans, pension funds, annuities, noneducation IRAs, Keogh plans, etc.) or cash, savings and checking accounts already reported in questions 41 and 91. • Business and/or investment farm value includes the market value of land, buildings, machinery, equipment, inventory, etc. Business and/or investment farm debt means only those debts for which the business or investment farm was used as collateral.

My parents got a letter from college financial aid advisory. It asks for personal information and 59 dollars. Is it true or something else?

These financial aid advisory firms will fill out your FAFSA for you. You can fill it out yourself and save the $59 http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

These places are a scam there is no "magic financial aid" or mystical way to fill out your FAFSA.

Im in college. and its my first year. i was wondering if i can apply for scholarships while im already in college? if so, do you guys know any web sites?

You can always apply for scholarships. To find the ones you have the best chances of receiving speak to your school. (Financial Aid Office) They will have a list of all the scholarships offered to you. Also, speak to your professors… schools have "merit based" scholarships which are awarded through teacher recommendation.

In regards to scholarships given out by any given school, do you apply for them at the time of applying to the school or after you are accepted? Is it just part of the application you send in?

It’s part of your application. There are, however, scholarships given by organizations that are not schools. It is your responsibility to find and to apply for those.

There are some scholarships out there that noone knows about. I have applied to a few scholarships on fastweb.com, but I am looking for a site that might be less popular. My grades were decent in college, but not great (3.3 gpa). I am a great writer though and would love to find obscure essay writing scholarships that attract fewer applicants. I will be a grad student in a physical therapy program. Any suggestions?

I’m in the Kiwanis. I have been doing research on scholarship for about 2 years so we can give info to the kids in our youth programs so they can apply.

1. Go to www.ysa.org and sign up for their free newsletter. From time to time, major corporations use them to announce their scholarships.

2. Several corporations offer scholarships in the $1,500 to $10,000 range.

2.A An example of this is Best Buy ($1,500 from each store, and then national winners get $10,000). Its a 1 page application form and a 1 page essay on what you have learned by doing community service. Go to their website at: www.bestbuy.com – then click on: about us

2.B Go to www.kohls.com Same type of scholarship. If they have a store in your state, then you can apply if you have not graduated from high school. And you can start applying at age 6 (that is not a typo – age 6).

2.C Check with the McDonalds’ stores in your area. Sometimes each locality (say county) association of store owners offer a scholarship. And sometimes the local Ronald McDonald House does also.

2.D Check with your local cable company. For example, Comcast offer an intership and scholarship for people interested in mass communications. Hmmm, a job and a scholarship which probably leads to a job offer with the company. Not bad.

There are a lot more.

HERE IS HOW I CAME UP WITH THESE – AND A LOT MORE:

1. Do a spreadsheet so you can track which company’s websites you visit.

2. Come up with a company’s name. Say CVS Pharmacy.

3. Go to www.quicken.com and find out what companies compete in that market segment with CVS (Rite Aid, Elkerd, Drug Fair, Krogers).

4. Then go to the website of each company. On the homepage, look for something like:
about us
corp info

5. Go there and then look for something like:
community
community involvement
social responsibility
giving back

This is where you will find out the details.

Many corporations prefer to give scholarships to students where they have stores located. This way, they are seen as "good neighbors". Its a good selling point to the local residents and politicians.

Also be sure to check each utility company in your state. In Virginia, there is 1 electric company with headquarters in the state – but they grant scholarships in counties where they do not sell electricity (Why? Cause each county has representatives in the state’s General Assembly where their elected representatives vote on bills impacting the utility company. What is a few thousand dollars in scholarships to a multi-bilion dollar company?)

There are some scholarships out there that noone knows about. I have applied to a few scholarships on fastweb.com, but I am looking for a site that might be less popular. My grades were decent in college, but not great (3.3 gpa). I am a great writer though and would love to find obscure essay writing scholarships that attract fewer applicants. I will be a grad student in a physical therapy program. Any suggestions?

I’m in the Kiwanis. I have been doing research on scholarship for about 2 years so we can give info to the kids in our youth programs so they can apply.

1. Go to www.ysa.org and sign up for their free newsletter. From time to time, major corporations use them to announce their scholarships.

2. Several corporations offer scholarships in the $1,500 to $10,000 range.

2.A An example of this is Best Buy ($1,500 from each store, and then national winners get $10,000). Its a 1 page application form and a 1 page essay on what you have learned by doing community service. Go to their website at: www.bestbuy.com – then click on: about us

2.B Go to www.kohls.com Same type of scholarship. If they have a store in your state, then you can apply if you have not graduated from high school. And you can start applying at age 6 (that is not a typo – age 6).

2.C Check with the McDonalds’ stores in your area. Sometimes each locality (say county) association of store owners offer a scholarship. And sometimes the local Ronald McDonald House does also.

2.D Check with your local cable company. For example, Comcast offer an intership and scholarship for people interested in mass communications. Hmmm, a job and a scholarship which probably leads to a job offer with the company. Not bad.

There are a lot more.

HERE IS HOW I CAME UP WITH THESE – AND A LOT MORE:

1. Do a spreadsheet so you can track which company’s websites you visit.

2. Come up with a company’s name. Say CVS Pharmacy.

3. Go to www.quicken.com and find out what companies compete in that market segment with CVS (Rite Aid, Elkerd, Drug Fair, Krogers).

4. Then go to the website of each company. On the homepage, look for something like:
about us
corp info

5. Go there and then look for something like:
community
community involvement
social responsibility
giving back

This is where you will find out the details.

Many corporations prefer to give scholarships to students where they have stores located. This way, they are seen as "good neighbors". Its a good selling point to the local residents and politicians.

Also be sure to check each utility company in your state. In Virginia, there is 1 electric company with headquarters in the state – but they grant scholarships in counties where they do not sell electricity (Why? Cause each county has representatives in the state’s General Assembly where their elected representatives vote on bills impacting the utility company. What is a few thousand dollars in scholarships to a multi-bilion dollar company?)

any good sites or tips?
& how does all this grants ex. work?

T:

The US Department of Education has an excellent publication called "Funding Education Beyond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid". This is really where you should start, because the booklet explains all of the different forms of aid – things like loans, grants, scholarships, and work-study. They explain how to apply for all of these things, and they give you some insight into the criteria that are used to award them.

One of your previous respondents told you that your school will fix you up with some nice "free money" in the form of Pell Grants. That could be true, but one thing you’ll find out by reading this booklet is that you have to demonstrate "exceptional need" in order to qualify for a Pell Grant. Only about 1/3 of all applicants are eligible to receive a Pell Grant.

Check out this booklet – you can read it online by clicking the link below, or if you’d rather not read it here, you can request a copy from any college financial aid office or from the guidance office at just about any high school. You might want to recommend it to your parents, too, because it also covers information for parents about the sources of assistance that are available to them, if they choose to help you pay for your college education.

Good luck to you – I hope this booklet helps.

I was told on Monday that the money was released and send Direct deposit into the account I set it up for. Today is Thursday and the money is still not showing up in my account. How long should I wait before I get worried?

That depends on how you set up the account, if you did everything right, and how quick your school is to process transfers.

1.) Although it is too late to make sure that your money is direct deposited into your account this semester, check all of the information you provided to initiate the deposit. Make sure the bank account and routing numbers are correct, and make sure that the name and address your school has on file are the same as the name and address your bank has on file.

2.) When the school notified you that your funds were on the way, it is possible that they simply generated a mass e-mail to notify everyone who is entitled to a refund. That does not mean that their cashiers department has actually processed the transfer. Expect the school to take up to 2-5 business days just to process the transfer from the time you received your notice.

3.) Once the bank receives your transfer, the bank will have to check to make sure that the money is deposited into the correct account. This is why it is so important that the school have the current name and address to match the information your bank has on file. It will make the authentication process much more efficient. The bank will take as much as 72 hours to process this (weekends and holidays not included).

To allay your worries, contact your financial aid or cashiers department, and ask for verification that the funds have indeed been transferred, and also ask for verification to find out where they were sent. Your school should be able to give you a wire number, or transaction number, and the school’s routing number.

With this wire/transaction number, go to your bank, and tell them that you are missing funds that were wired to you on X date. Ask them to research the funds. It may take your bank a bit of time to research this, I expect four to six hours if the bank branch is busy, but it is better if you go in person, and then call for updates, because you will be more likely to get to the correct person the first time, instead of spending time playing phone tag with the responsible party.

If your bank cannot find the wire, the school sent the funds to the wrong account number, or other difficulties arise, and you do not have your funds within 7 to 10 business days, Ask the school to recall the wire and give you a check instead. The school will have to cancel the transaction, and process a check which then has to be mailed to you. This will take another 7 to 10 business days, but it may be the only way for you to get your funds if something went wrong.