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Olivia
Student
Mexico, New York
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What should I be doing to prepare for college financially, as someone who plans to attend undergraduate studies next fall?
I plan to attend a university to obtain a nursing degree, and currently have applied to colleges and now scholarships. I am curious about resources for financial aid opportunities as someone with a lesser FASFA value.
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1 answer
Gurpreet Lally
CareerVillage.org TeamSr. Community Manager at CareerVillage
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Austin, Texas
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Gurpreet’s Answer, CareerVillage.org Team
Hey Olivia,
Here are my general tips on financial aid:
1. Find LOCAL scholarships (scholarships hosted by the college you plan on attending, your high school, local businesses, etc). Why local? There is usually a smaller application pool for these as you're only competing against your community. For instance, in my hometown, there was a small concrete mixing company that hosted scholarships specifically for seniors who went to my high school. Because I was only competing with a maximum of 800 students, I was able to secure a scholarship! That's not to say you shouldn't apply to bigger scholarships but be mindful of how many people are also submitting applications (sometimes websites will tell you this information).
2. Talk to the financial aid department of the school you are attending or want to attend to hear more about opportunities that are available.
3. When looking for scholarships, try to be as specific as possible. For example, instead of searching for "scholarships for high school students", try "scholarships for XYZ residents" or "scholarships for nursing majors". This will help you quickly identify scholarships that are a good fit for you.
4. Look into student loan forgiveness programs! Nursing is one of the few careers that offer this incentive.
5. While it's not for everyone, I would recommend looking into part-time work. While in college, I was able to tutor as a nearby tutoring center that offered flexible hours. I normally picked my classes so that I would be in school two days of the week (normally Mondays and Wednesdays) which left me the other days to work and complete school assignments. Other flexible jobs might be nannying or finding an on campus job.
Here are my general tips on financial aid:
1. Find LOCAL scholarships (scholarships hosted by the college you plan on attending, your high school, local businesses, etc). Why local? There is usually a smaller application pool for these as you're only competing against your community. For instance, in my hometown, there was a small concrete mixing company that hosted scholarships specifically for seniors who went to my high school. Because I was only competing with a maximum of 800 students, I was able to secure a scholarship! That's not to say you shouldn't apply to bigger scholarships but be mindful of how many people are also submitting applications (sometimes websites will tell you this information).
2. Talk to the financial aid department of the school you are attending or want to attend to hear more about opportunities that are available.
3. When looking for scholarships, try to be as specific as possible. For example, instead of searching for "scholarships for high school students", try "scholarships for XYZ residents" or "scholarships for nursing majors". This will help you quickly identify scholarships that are a good fit for you.
4. Look into student loan forgiveness programs! Nursing is one of the few careers that offer this incentive.
5. While it's not for everyone, I would recommend looking into part-time work. While in college, I was able to tutor as a nearby tutoring center that offered flexible hours. I normally picked my classes so that I would be in school two days of the week (normally Mondays and Wednesdays) which left me the other days to work and complete school assignments. Other flexible jobs might be nannying or finding an on campus job.