Sunday, October 11, 2009

My Personal Experience

When I was looking at colleges, my family wasn’t in the best of financial situations.  My dad was a student at Baylor University pursuing a PhD in New Testament in order to be a college professor.  He made about $15,000 a year in that capacity.  My mother has not held a job since I was born (I am the oldest child) and she did not intend to start then.  My parents had done very smart investing throughout their marriage so we were not solely living off of my dad’s income by any means.  However, college was a bit of a concern for us financially. 

I did my part and filled out a FAFSA to apply for federal aid.  However, because of my parents’ great investments, our gross family income was much higher than the $15,000 my dad made annually.  My parents, particularly my mom, were very adamant about me pursuing scholarship opportunities.  I applied for every scholarship through my high school that I was eligible for and also applied for several through the colleges I applied to and others that were recommended to me by my guidance counselor.

I received scholarships from both Baylor University and the University of Oklahoma.  I did not receive anything from the University of Georgia however, because their scholarships are highly competitive due to an in state incentive program.  I also received all of the scholarships that I applied for through my high school.  With all of the money I received, my first semester of college was almost completely paid for.  People are just waiting to give out money so that you can go to college.  All you have to do is work at it so that you can find those opportunities and apply for them!

2 comments:

  1. Luke, solid story, but do not forget to get experts in here. Next week - 5 graphs! julie

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  2. Ok, Luke. I see your other story. I am doing an "emily lattela" - never mind ;-) julie

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