I teach at our local homeschool co-op, and for the past 3 years one of the high school girls has taken at least one of my classes (this year she is taking 2). She is a quick learner and has always achieved As and received a 26 on her ACT. Here's the problem. She really wants to go to college, but her parents aren't going to help her AT ALL financially. She has a job at a grocery store - the only place her mom will take her to, but she earns so little each week and spends most of it paying her mom for gas, paying her cell phone bill and other necessities. I have been trying to figure out ways for her to make money online, but as she is not yet 18, her options are limited. What she has been doing though, is making Squidoo lenses. Squidoo allows one to make sort-of specialized web pages and you earn money (not a lot) depending on how popular your lens is, and you also earn a percentage of sales made from your lenses for items on Amazon, eBay, Cafe Press etc. She has made 16 or 17 lenses so far on a variety of topics, but is not having a lot of success selling anything. One of her lenses is http://www.squidoo.com/gifts-for-teen-girls. The favor that I am asking is that a) if you have teen girls to buy gifts for - you look at her ideas and b) even if you don't have any teen girls to buy for, if you are going to buy on Amazon, you go to her lens, click on any Amazon product she is promoting - and then just go and find and purchase what you are actually looking for. She will get credited for any sales on Amazon (or eBay) that take place within 24 hours of you clicking through one of her links. And Squidoo is cool - if you decide you want to try it out - please sign up from one of her lenses ... that also has the potential of earning her a small bit of money. And I am helping her look for scholarships and she is doing every contest she can, but any other ideas will be appreciated. Thanks Meryl
Thanks for the question - I forgot to mention she is a senior. She is struggling to even get to see colleges she is interested in. I think her mom wants her to go to college, but her dad is a truck driver and didn't go himself so he sees little point. They are taking her to a college this weekend that is just a few hours drive away. That will be her first college visit. It is not one she is interested in, but her dad decided they should see it. Go figure. I thought maybe he'd changed his mind, but my student says he made it quite clear he isn't paying anything.
Two words: Pel Grant. Look up the FAFSA website; they have everything there. Her parents will have to cooperate with providing information, because at her age, her grant would be based on their income information. But mom could do that, doesn't have to be both parents. Grants don't have to be paid back. If she could start at a community college, it would cost a lot less than trying to start at a 4-year institution, then she could transfer easily later. The college financial aid office can be of great help in locating scholarships and other funding.
I am aware of those grants - will go look again. Problem is I am nervous her mom won't fill out the FAFSA. Hopefully she will. We have talked about the possibilities of a community college, but there are reasons (good ones) that she really needs to be able to go away to a 4-year college where she can be in residence. I think if they do fill in the FAFSA she should be able to get some money, but I doubt will be nearly enough. She is prepared to take out loans, but I hate the thought of her starting off with a huge financial burden. My oldest is already at college and with all the scholarships she won + help from my parents + money from us and her workign on campus - she is just making ends meet (we got nothing from Fafsa. She also needs a car ... this summer she needs to be mobile so she can get to jobs that will pay more. And then she needs car insurance - there is just so much for her to try to pay.
I would see if a counselor at the public school is willing to meet with her. In our state they are required to offer the same services to homeschoolers as they do to PSers, but I don't know about other places. Anyhow, my guidance counselor in high school dug up TONS of scholarship aps for me that I wouldn't have found otherwise. And tell her to look into the "Fastweb" website. They also pair students with applicable scholarships. Then there are school scholarships. Once she picks a couple of schools where she actually wants to go, have her ask about scholarships for the school/department of her major. Often times they will give out x number of full and partial scholarships per year in each department.
I am the 'guidance counselor' at our co op as I have worked through this with my oldest and read tons of books and scoured countless websites. She is hooked up with all the online scholarship searches and I have been helping her go through them. She has filled out countless already and is aware of what is available at the schools she is interested in (Biola and Asbury) BUT - from experience with my oldest, I know how hard it is to get scholarship money. My dd was a National Merit finalist and tried for 40-50 scholarships. She got the highest amount possible from her school and did get money from about 8 scholarships - and still didn't even have 1/2 the fees. My dad had put money aside for the grandkids, and my dd has managed to get work on campus, so she is going to come out with no debt. Believe me, I am working every angle ... the other problem is - she couldn't get to a guidance counselor. Her parents won't take her and she has no car. Our umbrella school has told us quite a bit, so I have passed on all that info - and I did manage to take her to a college fair at our umbrella school. Once she turns 18 she will try to buy a car and get a better job ... it is just that for the next 7 months the only way she can make money is online. She can make movies, so I am going to help her market those skills - she has a website and can take people's photos add music etc.
My oldest son attended Asbury. It's a very good school, but it is quite expensive. Their rates have been going up quite rapidly. As of about three years ago, it was a little over $25,000/year. We were having to pay over $2,500 per month (using their 10-month payment plan). That's asking a lot for a student paying her own way. Since cost is an issue, I'd echo what someone else wrote: Two-year colleges can provide an excellent low-cost option, and you can transfer to a four-year college later. Also, the costs are considerably less when you attend a public college in your own state. Yes, it's important to chase your dreams, but my observation is that cost is the biggest driving factor here.
Do 2 year colleges have residences? The issue here is she needs to move away. I don't want to go into details, but she needs to be at a Christian college with a place she can stay on campus - away from her home. Definitely not in the same city. Asbury and Biola both fit what she needs (also in terms of what she will study). And I know the price - my daughter applied to both and ended up at Biola.
Those words alone are going to cost at least $15,000/year: Private schools are much more expensive, and living on campus can add several thousand a year. You need to decide what is the priority: Going to a private college? Living on campus? An affordable education? These are conflicting requirements. If the parents are not willing to pay anything, I'm guessing the priority is "affordable education". I do have another idea, though, which I'll post in the private area.
