For all you prom-goers out there who want a one-of-a-kind look on prom night, remember the Stuck At Prom Contest. Win scholarship money and look fabulous for your big night out.
To all the juniors and seniors in high school … Have a wonderful, memorable prom, but please remember to act responsibly.
~ the WPC team
© White Picket College, 2010 – College Funding for the Upper Middle Class
We understand that upper middle class (UMC) parents and students search for non-need based scholarships and non-need based financial aid. It’s often a search that lasts all year long. Those who receive the most financial aid start the earliest. So it’s time to start your search for college scholarship money in January 2011.
White Picket College aids in your search. We have a whole section entitled Non-Need Based Scholarships. Simply click on the scholarship name in the pull down list and read about the requirements and deadlines. No scholarship is under $1000 in award money. To date, we have 30 scholarships listed and we’re working on more.
This is a great time to organize for the year and plan for deadlines. Some scholarships will take a large amount of time, while others only have a few requirements that can be done quickly. Either way, make sure to check out all the scholarship opportunities listed.
Keep in mind, if you win a few, smaller scholarships, that’s $3000. No, it won’t pay your tuition, but it is some extra money for spending, books, fees, etc. So make sure to submit applications to the scholarships you’re interested in. Take this process seriously and apply when possible.
Don’t forget to continue checking as we add more scholarships. Join us on Facebook or on Twitter @whitepicketcoll.
Best luck in your search for college scholarship money.
~ the WPC team
© White Picket College, 2010 – College Funding for the Upper Middle Class
White Picket College students and parents, do not forget that we are entering the fall season. That means applications for college scholarship money is just around the corner. Remember to take a look at our college scholarship list for non-need based scholarships. So far we have 23 scholarships, 1 link to the best colleges that give non-need based financial aid and Scholarship Tips. To access all of this information, please read Non-Need Based Scholarships.
Simply scroll down the page and you will see a list. Click on the titles to be directed to the page of your choice.
Please note that we have to go through hundreds of listings to find these non-financial need scholarships. It takes a lot of time and energy. Most scholarships we’ve come across are driven by financial need. Many times the scholarship is too niche as well. For example, an Asian woman with an extra toe living in Idaho receives a $2000 scholarship. Okay, we’re exaggerating a little, but it’s quite hard.
On the bright side, please check out the list above as you ease back into the school year.
Enjoy the last days of summer & Best of luck for the 2010-11 school year!
~ the WPC team
© White Picket College, 2010 – College Funding for the Upper Middle Class
We doubted this when we first heard about it as well. Students can create their own scholarships? So in essence, the student creates her/his own opportunities for college scholarship money. It just sounded too good to be true, so we did a little investigating and this is what we found.
The first organization is called ScholarMatch.org. It started the same month as White Picket College in April 2010. Students (only in the San Francisco Bay area as of press time) can set up online profiles of themselves and provide their goal of raising money for school. Potential donors sign up for the site and are given student matches. Donors get to know the student via her/his profile and donate money toward the student’s education.
As we perused the site, we found that none of the students we saw had incredibly high goals such as $25,000. In fact, the highest scholarship goal we saw was $8000; however, we did not sign up for the site, thus we did not have full access to all the student profiles. So it seems ScholarMatch is for students who would like to fill a gap in their need, but do not have overwhelming need.
It is likely that ScholarMatch will expand to include other parts of the United States besides San Francisco, but who knows. We like the idea of creating scholarship opportunities for motivated students, and we like that it seems to be based on the student’s need, which is great for students from upper middle class (UMC) families. Therefore, we urge our readers in the San Fran area to take a look and please report back to us.
There are two other sites where students can also create scholarships called: Sponsormydegree.com and Greennote.com.
For more in depth commentary on how to create your own scholarship, please refer this college scholarship article by Kim Clark of U.S. News & World Report.
~ the WPC team
© White Picket College, 2010 – College Funding for the Upper Middle Class
When we started White Picket College a few months ago, one of our big goals was to help upper middle class (UMC) parents and students find college scholarship money for Ivy League schools. But now that we’ve heard back from many frustrated UMC parents, we may be changing our game plan a bit.
Firstly, it’s time to analyze, what’s in a name? Really, what does an Ivy League name say to people? Let’s face the facts, saying you went to Harvard will impress friends, family, colleagues and those you meet at random parties. But what about the value of education at a particular Ivy League institution, and what about other institutions that rank higher than the Ivies, such as Stanford and MIT that aren’t Ivies?
I’ll share my personal experience with everyone. I went to a prestigious undergraduate school and another equally prestigious school for my Master’s degree. In between, I took a couple graduate classes at Harvard. They were good. I learned a good amount. The professors were good, including one I still stay in touch with from time to time. I believe he wrote me a recommendation for my Master’s if I’m not mistaken. I was happy with the overall experience.
However, to this day, I will tell anyone who asks my prestigious undergraduate school was much more challenging than Harvard. The professors were much tougher–they demanded and expected more. The assignments were more challenging as well.
In comparison to the school where I received my Master’s, Harvard was about equal.
I spent a lot of money on two classes at Harvard, and quite frankly, I really wasn’t blown away. Was I satisfied? Yes. Could I have gone to Boston University, Boston College or Wellesley College for half the price and received an identical or better experience? Yes.
The reason I’m telling you this is not to put down Harvard. It is a good institution, but I’m not sure if it’s the best. And I’m certainly not sure it’s the best value for a challenging education. And that includes the entire Ivy League.
We’ve also heard responses from frustrated parents telling us that Harvard is unwilling to give UMC admitted applicants any money. We’ve heard this complaint a lot, since April 2010. One parent even reported the financial aid officer at Harvard flat-out said they only give merit scholarships or college grant money to low-income students or lower income middle class students–and charge everyone else full price. So, the intelligent and gifted UMC students are left behind, and must choose their second or third choice college.
The main problem with this is Harvard’s competitiveness will eventually fall. If the school accepts high-achieving low income to middle class income students, that’s fine. But then you mix this small number of students with upper class students who are not as talented or as gifted, the school will eventually began to decline in the rankings.
This is why I believe that second and third choice schools may start to become first choice schools over the next ten years. There’s a reason why state schools are now graduating some of the smartest kids in the nation. There’s a reason why schools like Swarthmore and Rice University are on the best value colleges list.
The bottom line is schools that do not give substantial college financial aid to UMC students are missing out on a huge pool of gifted young men and women. These young adults are the future, and will become the next leaders in the US. We need these graduates to compete against China, Russia, India and other world leaders … but the great thing is they don’t need a Harvard degree to do this.
Keep watching and listening. You will see the state schools getting extremely competitive. And you will see those second and third choice schools pumping out the leaders for future generations to come.
~ the WPC team
© White Picket College, 2010 – College Funding for the Upper Middle Class
June 14, 2010: At WPC, we realize that most upper middle class (UMC) parents do not qualify for college financial aid from the federal government or the schools themselves. Therefore, we try to find any type of free money for college that is not need-based.
In our quest to find such money, we constantly update a list of scholarships. Sometimes we feel that attempting to find a non-need-based scholarship is like searching for a needle in a haystack. But yet we press on and keep adding to the list. Please visit our Non-Need-Based Scholarships section for the complete listing.
Also, we’d like to point you to this list of wacky, fun scholarships that have nothing to do with financial need. Students must either excel, be ingenuous or just be plain wacky themselves. Please click on the name to view the wacky scholarship list:
Have a great week!
~ the WPC team
© White Picket College, 2010
We hope you’re having a great spring so far! Make sure to enjoy the warm weather but also actively work toward college scholarship money while doing so with the Brower Youth Awards, due May 15th. Young environmentalists should check out this free money for college opportunity:
Also, we have a series of three articles on divorce and student college financial aid. How is the process different when the college-bound student comes from a divorced family? What if s/he lives with a stepparent — should the stepmother/father fill out the FAFSA too?
These articles are MUST-READS for divorced parents, stepparents and children of divorce. Know the legalities. Any misstep could destroy the student’s chances for a great financial aid package:
Divorced Parents? Epic Battle #2
Have a wonderful week & thank you for the continued support!
~ the WPC team
© White Picket College, 2010
Don’t forget that the Brower Youth Awards Scholarship is due May 15th. Win college scholarship money in the amount of $3000 if you are a young environmental leader. For more info, click on:
And take a look at these two articles, which discuss the fate of the federal government student loan and student loan help in general. Check out President Obama’s new bill for college students in 2014 and how it will affect you or your future college-bound children. These articles are MUST-READS to understand the future of student loans and grants:
Thank you for your continued support in our first month. Please note for this week, we will be adding more articles to the Special Topics section in the Articles menu and we will be adding more non-need-based scholarships and grants. Have a wonderful week!
~ the WPC team
© White Picket College, 2010
Remember, the Fountainhead scholarship is due April 26th! Don’t miss your opportunity for college grant money. Click on:
Also take a look at these two articles, which discuss the fate of the unpaid internship as a post graduate job. Are these internships worthwhile or simply a form of free slave labor? Check out what the federal government may be mandating:
Unpaid Internships, The Future
Thank you for the continued support in our first month. We update the site a few times a week with new opportunities for college scholarship money and other information in the Articles and Scholarships & Grants sections, so please keep checking back. Have a great week!
~ the WPC team
© White Picket College, 2010
