Education & Opportunity

In my newspaper column for Nov. 8, I discussed scholarships for younger students--including kids age 14 and under. For all of the specific scholarship programs mentioned in the column, I wanted to pass along the program website links:

* Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards: Students in grades K-12 form two- to four-person teams, develop a 20-year vision of a current technological innovation and compete for U.S. savings bonds worth $5,000 and $10,000. Click here to visit the program website.

I've already been getting a lot of questions about my Feb. 15 newspaper column on how to ace a college admission, scholarship, or job interview. In particular, a lot of folks have been asking for sample questions that might help students better prepare. So here's a list of practice interview questions to get you started:

General Questions

How would you describe yourself?
Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
What is your favorite book, and why do you like it?
Who is someone you admire, and why?
How would you like to be remembered?
What has been your greatest accomplishment?
What was an occasion when you overcame adversity?
What is your family like?
How might you contribute to society in the future?

In my Jan. 25 newspaper column, I used the story of a kid named "Froggy" to discuss the importance of having persistence in the college scholarship game. Froggy, it turned out, was a true rejection artiste—a master of rejecting rejection. The kid practically asked out every girl he knew on a date and wouldn't rest until he had achieved ultimate success. And in this way, applying for scholarships is kind of like dating: Rejection is a part of the process and those who can shrug it off, move on, and stay focused on the ultimate goal have a big advantage.

In my column, I recommend applying for at least a dozen scholarships, but hopefully several dozen. How can you start to find such awards? You can start by utilizing a variety of free Internet search databases. These services ask for information such as your age, extracurricular activities, and career interests, and then provide you with a list of scholarships that match your profile. Visit my www.ScholarshipCoach.com website for links and more tips on how to optimize your online search.

There's a big vote this week in the U.S. House of Representatives that has the potential to impact student loan interest rates. The proposal from Democrats would reduce the rate on subsidized Stafford loans--loans that are qualified for on the basis of financial need--from 6.8 to 3.4 percent.

Unsubsidized Stafford loans (non-need-based loans) and PLUS loans (loans taken out by parents) would not be reduced by the proposal despite past campaign promises to reduce those rates as well.

If passed, the rate cut for subsidized student loans would be phased in over 5 years.

In my Jan. 11 newspaper column, I discuss three key strategies for getting great recommendation letters.

Mary, a reader from Beaverton, Oregon, asks if there are any advantages to first obtaining recommendation letters for scholarship applications and then recycling them for later use on your college applications.

The answer: Absolutely!

Developing a menu of scholarship recommendation letters becomes a big advantage for students who have not yet applied to college. Unlike submission guidelines for most scholarship recommendation letters (in which recommendations are generally submitted with the rest of the application materials), many college applications specify that recommendation letters be mailed separately by the recommendation writers. This decreases your chances of being able to read them before they are sent off.

I was thrilled to receive word this past week that my book, How to Go to College Almost for Free, was chosen by the Washington Post as its January selection for "The Color of Money Book Club." The book club focuses on titles that empower readers to financial success.

Here's a few excerpts from the review of my book that was published in the Washington Post:

• "Kaplan's book is probably just what you need to motivate your child to apply for and get the scholarships it will take to make a college education affordable. His personal story is a testament to the tenacity it takes to win money for school."

• "He kept filling out more scholarship applications and writing more essays. It's this step-by-step strategy that Kaplan teaches in his book. In addition, he interviewed dozens of scholarship winners, judges and scholarship program administrators to find out what works best."
• "In fact, I love the section of Kaplan's book that dispels many myths about merit aid. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard, 'Only low-income families get help paying for college,' or, 'Most scholarships are for athletes or minority students,' I could fund a good portion of a year's tuition for one of my children at our state university."
• "The book is chock-full of useful features, such as the Q&A boxes with real questions Kaplan has received while lecturing on this topic.  Now 29, Kaplan has taken on the moniker "America's Scholarship Coach." It's an appropriate title given that his book reads like a high-energy pep talk."
• "Listen to the Scholarship Coach."

I should mention that I totally agree with all of this!  (I'm totally kidding...)

Some students seek out only scholarship opportunities that have very broad eligibility criteria--in other words, scholarships that a wide range of people can apply for. Conversely, other students look for nothing but scholarships that are open only to students with a unique personal characteristic, such as a particular disability, hobby, or ethnic background. Which approach should you follow?

Well, my best advice is that you should do both. Those who search only for broad, generic scholarship programs miss out on awards that may be designed specifically for someone with their unique characteristics... programs that are often less competitive because very few people can apply for them.

Yes, celebrities can win scholarships, too. In fact, a number of well-known personalities won college scholarships before they were famous. Can you match up each celebrity listed below (and on the next page) with the specific scholarship they won?

CELEBRITIES

1. Madonna

2. Bill Clinton

3. Cindy Crawford

4. Diane Sawyer

5. Carson Daly

6. Garth Brooks

SCHOLARSHIPS WON

A. Received an academic scholarship to study chemical engineering at Northwestern University.

B. Received a golf scholarship to Loyola Marymount University.

Here's a eye-opening fact I recently discovered: 20 percent of families receiving need-based scholarship assistance from Harvard have incomes above $130,000.

This is yet another example of why you should always apply for financial aid. A great many families I've interviewed over the years qualified for substantial financial aid dollars when they thought they wouldn't get any (especially at expensive private schools).

Here's one more reason to apply: Some schools award "merit" scholarships only to students who actually fill out and submit the need-based financial aid forms. As a result, even if you don't qualify for financial aid, the act of applying for aid could put you in the running for a merit scholarship that you wouldn't otherwise get.

One reader of my newspaper column asks this week about whether college scholarships are, in fact, taxed by the government. The good news is that scholarship money spent on tuition, books, school fees, and other course-related expenses is usually not taxable.

As long as you don't spend the money on such things as room and board, clothing, or transportation (expenses that generally cause scholarship money to become taxable), the government shouldn't take a bite out of your winnings.

This is another big benefit of winning scholarships: For you or your parents to contribute $1,000 to your education, your family would need to earn significantly more than $1,000--because of all the state and federal (and maybe even local) income taxes that must first be paid on their earnings.