Tuesday, March 20, 2007

If you are a GED student and live in Tennessee, read this first!

Many people don’t realize that they can qualify for the Tennessee Lottery Scholarship if they are a GED student who scored a minimum of 525 AND who scored a 21 ACT (or 980 SAT). These students must apply to an approved list of Tennessee colleges or universities within 16 months after earning their GEDs.

Many students who get a GED don’t realize this and apply for college before taking the ACT, missing their opportunity to get a lot of money for school.

It’s always good to read the fine print: http://www.collegepaystn.com/mon_college/lottery_scholars.htm.

There are many different lottery scholarships, and there’s even a nontraditional student component.

The Tennessee Lottery Scholarship is administered by Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC), which admininsters more than just the lottery scholarships. Check out its web site and check out all the programs administered by this state agency: http://www.collegepaystn.com/index.html.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Internships--Get Paid to Work!

Internships are like a paid vacation—you get to explore something you’re interested in while getting paid.

Here are some internship opportunities.

1. http://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com/sap/its/mimes/zh_wdwcp/index.html

Disney Theme Parks & Resorts College Program

2. http://www.boeing.com/educationrelations/internships/index.html

Boeing Internships

3. http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=students.html&sid=intern

Google Internships

4. http://www.latimes.com/classified/jobs/counselor/la-counselor-010705,0,3303455.htmlstory?coll=la-class-employ-counselor

An article in the LA times which lists places to look for music internships

Friday, March 2, 2007

Funding an Education using the S.E.C.R.E.T. Method, Part 5

I created the S.E.C.R.E.T. method—Selective Efforts Create Rapid Effects Tomorrow—to replace FEAR—False Expectations Appearing Real.

5. Explore web sites for information

I will pinpoint several sources you might not be aware of.

The federal government has a web site where you can put in your information and see what government benefits you qualify for: http://www.govbenefits.gov/

The federal government gives over $60 billion a year in federal aid.

Visit Federal Student Aid (FSA) for Students: http://studentaid.ed.gov/

Also, check out Students.gov, the student gateway to the federal government. Check out information under the headings of plan your education, pay for your education, and career development: http://www.students.gov/

Also, explore the official website for exploring the federal government: http://www.usa.gov/

Funding an Education using the S.E.C.R.E.T. Method, Part 4

I created the S.E.C.R.E.T. method—Selective Efforts Create Rapid Effects Tomorrow—to replace FEAR—False Expectations Appearing Real.

4. Do not let lack of money be an excuse; plan your dream.

Barbara Sher recounts the story of Diane, who was twenty four and a secretary. Sher had a BA, but she wanted to become a city planner. She had no money.

What she did was join local city planning-board meetings. Her enthusiasm was so apparent that many people from all over New York City were calling her for advice and help. By volunteering, she met all the right people who could give her honest recommendations. She received a full paid tuition to Hunter College.

She recounted Diane’s story in her book, "Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want". This book is available for free at http://www.wishcraft.com/. In Chapter 6, Sher describes how volunteering on pages 117-119 can lead to a scholarship.

This entire chapter is valuable, in that Sher describes how you can make any dream a reality by using a form of project planning. She uses the pursuit of a medical degree and the steps involved to show how you can map out a plan of action for your dream.

You can find out more about Barbara Sher at http://www.barbarasher.com/, and find out about her success teams at http://www.shersuccessteams.com/.

Funding an Education using the S.E.C.R.E.T. Method, Part 3

I created the S.E.C.R.E.T. method—Selective Efforts Create Rapid Effects Tomorrow—to replace FEAR—False Expectations Appearing Real.

3. Follow successful methods created by others.

You do not have to reinvent the wheel. I recommend three books by people who have

a) received money well over $80,000

b) developed a system that we can follow easily

Ben Kaplan, author of "How to Go to College Almost For Free", 2nd ed., ISBN #0-06-093765-3. You want the 2nd edition of this book. Kaplan received more than $90,000 in merit scholarships to go to Harvard. His web site is at http://www.scholarshipcoach.com/.

Marianne Ragins in her senior year of high school received more than $400,000 in scholarship money. Her book is "Winning Scholarships for College", Third Edition: An Insider’s Guide, ISBN # 0805075216 and her web site is http://www.scholarshipworkshop.com/.

Gen and Kelly Tanabe received more than $100,000 merit-based scholarships and graduated from Harvard debt-free. They are the authors of many books. One recent book by these authors is "Get Free Cash for College", 3rd edition, ISBN # 1932662022. Their web site is http://www.supercollege.com/; this web site also includes a search for scholarships engine.

I noticed that Gen and Kelly Tanabe have a SuperCollege.com Scholarship. Here are the details: http://www.supercollege.com/central.cfm?area=13&cart=1

Funding an Education using the S.E.C.R.E.T. Method, Part 2

I created the S.E.C.R.E.T. method—Selective Efforts Create Rapid Effects Tomorrow—to replace FEAR—False Expectations Appearing Real.

2. Fill out the forms and make profiles at three top scholarship search engines.

I recommended Fast Web yesterday (http://www.fastweb.com); here are two more sites:

http://www.scholarships.com

Peterson’s Scholarship Central: http://www.petersons.com/finaid/landing.asp?id=806&path=ug.pfs.scholarships

Peterson publishes many good books about the process of going to college; here is its main web site: http://www.petersons.com/

Create an email account at http://www.yahoo.com/, http://www.hotmail.com, or http://gmail.google.com, so that can you give out this email address to the scholarship web sites. Just use this account for scholarships.

Many of these scholarship search engines will send updates to your email. Also, you can avoid spam by not giving out your primary email address.

Scholarship sites are often free because they provide a way to market to those who are going to college. Just be aware as you fill out these forms to be selective in the material you share. For example, I didn’t mind receiving mail from advertisers in college about health insurance.

Never post your social security number on the Net or answer such questions as "What is your mother's maiden name?" I also would be wary of paying anyone for scholarship searches. You can do searches for free at these search engines or at your local library.

Funding an Education using the S.E.C.R.E.T. Method, Part 1

I’ve been writing a book entitled, The S.E.C.R.E.T. Method to Winning the Scholarship Game: New Technologies to Go to College with Little or No Debt. I have been running seminars since 1996, helping everyone from single moms to high school students find a way to pay for college

I wrote a column in August 2005, and what follows in the next few days are excerpts from that column along with updated information.

I created the S.E.C.R.E.T. method—Selective Efforts Create Rapid Effects Tomorrow—to replace FEAR—False Expectations Appearing Real.

Here are a few steps to help your research:

1. Make a commitment of 90-180 hours in the coming year to spend on your search.

This sounds like a lot of time, but if you watched one hour of TV last week, you spent 20 minutes watching commercials.

15 minutes a day equals about 90 hours a year; 30 minutes a day equals about 180 hours. If you commit yourself to such a plan, spend at least 15 minutes a day. If you skip a day, do not beat yourself up; commit to resume the next day.

Also, small steps are important to make change a habit. If you can’t commit 15 minutes, commit a minute to thinking of ways to search for scholarships. Write down your ideas. Next week, begin to implement some of those ideas. Make a phone call. Type in an internet address. Begin to fill out the form at http://www.fastweb.com/. Make the commitment of spending one minute this week, two minutes the next week, and so on.