Paying for college is a stretch these days for many families, but tapping into the billions of dollars in scholarship money paid out every year can definitely help.

Hillsborough High School IB senior Connor Williams is getting ready to apply to colleges this fall and says figuring out the process isn’t easy.

“It was very overwhelming in the beginning, because there’s a lot to know, a lot to Google,” Connor said.

According to College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2014–2015 school year was $31,231 at private colleges, $9,139 for state residents at public colleges, and $22,958 for out-of-state residents attending public universities.

Connor’s dream school is American University in Washington D.C.  With tuition and fees at more than $40,000 a year, she and her parents hope they can score some scholarship money to offset costs.

“It would be fabulous to be able to get scholarship money. I mean talk about the burden being taken off of the parent and the child,” said Kimber Williams, Connor’s mother.

Target Your Approach

To help increase Connor’s chances of getting scholarship money, her parents hired Dr. Ralph Argen, Ph.D., founder and president of Coherence First.

Argen is a college coach.  He helps students find schools and scholarships that are good matches for their skills and helps to develop a plan to apply for them.  Finding the right match is what he believes is the key to increasing a student’s chances of winning scholarship money. 

“If you’re great in math, you want to focus on math-related universities and math-related scholarships. If you’re great in writing, you want to go in that direction,” he said.

There are thousands of scholarships out there, from the government, schools, businesses and community organizations. But, Argen says, when you look at the numbers, almost 98 percent of scholarship money comes from the government or schools.  He recommends you have a more strategic approach and focus there, first.

“You can’t go for all of them,” he said.  “If you try to go for all of them, you’ll bog yourself down and you won’t do your best.”

FAFSA starts the game

Filling out your FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is the first step to getting just about any scholarship money, no matter where you apply.  It determines how much scholarship money you can get based on your family’s need. 

“FAFSA starts the game,” Argen said. “No FAFSA, no money.”

After need-based scholarships come merit scholarships - based on your academic ability.

“Merit based is measured by, first, the SAT or the ACT," Argen said. "You can’t ignore that. The next thing is your GPA. And the next would be extracurricular activities and activities outside the school.”

It’s important to target the right schools when you apply - not only to get in, but to increase the likelihood that the school will contribute money to your education.

“The best thing to do is to find out how you can be attractive to a school that you want to attend.” he said.

First, go online and check to see if your SAT or ACT scores are in the range for most students accepted at that school.  Ideally, you want to meet that threshold, so it won’t count against you.

Argen says if you can get a combined score of roughly 1900 on your SATs, then you can pretty much guarantee it won’t be a barrier to opportunity at most schools.

“My general feeling is if you can get a 635 on every one of the three tests - reading, math and writing - you put yourself in a strong position to get into most any school,” he said. “Now that doesn’t mean you’re going to get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale, but they might not be the best fit for you.”

Beyond the numbers

Beyond the numbers and extracurricular activities comes the intangible. That is characterized by the all-important essay.

“What separates you? What makes you different is your ability to write,” Argen said. “It’s the one area where you can express your humanity, your character, your passions, and the quality of who you are, beyond the numbers.”  (Watch the video above to hear more tips on writing a good college entrance essay.)

Connor has been working on her essay for the Common Application, which allows you to apply to multiple colleges through one online application. She tries not to stress out about it too much.

“I just kind of read the prompt and write. Then, stop writing when I run out of ideas.  Put it away and come back.  If I like it, I keep it.  If I don’t, I change it,” she said.

She tries not to force her writing, so it has a natural flow and doesn’t sound like a textbook.

Athletic Scholarships

Athletic scholarships are the other great resource for students who are good at sports, but it’s very competitive.  Once again, be realistic.  Only a small percentage of kids who play high school sports can play in college.

If you want a chance at an athletic scholarship, start freshman year in high school. Contact coaches, go to recruiting events and be honest about your level of ability.

“It’s actually harder, I would say, for a boy to get on a football team and get money, than it is for a girl to get money from, say, a crew team or a volley ball team,” Argen explained.  “Title IX gives girls great opportunity to use athletic money to supplement their need based money and/or their merit based money.”

Whereever you apply, stay focused on your strengths to maximize your efforts. Pick smart and apply to schools and scholarships that fit your personality, goals and talents.

These free online scholarship search tools can give you an idea of what might be available to fit your talents:

·         Fastweb.com

·         Scholarships.com

·         College Board.org

Negotiate

Finally, when a school sends you that acceptance letter, which hopefully includes an award for financial assistance, realize you can negotiate.

“We’ve done that several times with students to get them an extra $5000 or $10,000, and that can make a big difference, but they have to want you. They give money to the people they want,” Argen said. 

So don’t be shy, if a school wants you, tell them what you need to seal the deal.