College Admission Help

College-bound students who rack up College Scholarships apply for funds early, experts say
By Gary Pettus
Mississippi clarionledger.com
Asked how much money she has received in college scholarships, Bailey Magnet High School's 2009 valedictorian said, "Wait, let me get my calculator."
The total, said Martha Taplin, 18, comes to more than $1.8 million - "so far."
Taplin, who boasts a grade-point average of 3.8 and a shining but not pristine ACT score of 24, has been offered more than 60 college scholarships.
Some of that money can be applied only to certain colleges, but wherever she decides to go - Jackson State University, Tougaloo College or Ole Miss - Taplin has more than enough to pay for her education.
Taplin got started early on the application process - as others should do, education experts say.
An alert, though, to those looking for help with tuition for the coming college year: most scholarship bucks have been taken. Some community college and private awards may still be untapped, but application deadlines for most scholarships have passed.
As for high school juniors and even students in eighth grade, they can, and should, be plotting ways to finance their college education now, experts say.
"When it comes to scholarships," said Mathew Cox, dean of enrollment management at Millsaps College, "the big take-away for parents and students is this: You don't have to be a National Merit Finalist or score 30 on the ACT to be highly sought after by colleges."
But it doesn't hurt.
Wesley Welch, 18, of Pearl is a National Merit Finalist who's going to Harvard University - a college he applied to "just because."
"I thought I would be going to Duke," said Welch, a Pearl High School senior. But I applied to Harvard anyway and found out I was accepted on April 1.
"I was incredibly happy."
Welch has received enough scholarships from various sources to pay for his education at the prestigious Ivy League school, where undergraduate tuition for the coming academic year is $33,696.
Welch's solid-gold resume sparkles with a list of activities featuring membership in 15 school clubs; participation in football, tennis and track; and at least three years of community service, including building houses with Habitat for Humanity.
It's Welch's connection with the community that is a lesson for scholarship-seekers who may not have those ginormous ACT scores.
"Students with leadership abilities and extensive service are also highly sought after," Cox said.
"Colleges pay attention to many things beyond an ACT score or a GPA."
Many top academic scholarships are reserved for the perfect 36 ACT scorers, said Paula Pratt, coordinator of counseling for Education Services Foundation, a Mississippi-based nonprofit corporation that offers college planning and other services.
"But there are leadership scholarships; often, students who receive them have found something they are really good in and stuck with it.
"Or they create something unique. Colleges love that."
For instance, she said, one student received a scholarship to Mississippi State University for her work with Hurricane Katrina survivors.
"She started a canned-food drive at her high school and took the food to the Gulf Coast, month after month.
"Student government, Beta Club, athletics - those are all good activities.
"But the students who are getting the scholarships are going a step further."
In the past, students with 20-something ACT scores didn't have the opportunities they have now, said Gina Morgigno, counselor at Pearl High, where a class of about 200 seniors nabbed more than $3 million in scholarship offers in 2008, the highest per-student average in recent memory for the school.
"We won't know the total for this year until May, but I'd be surprised if it isn't higher.
"Over the past few years, I've seen a greater effort by the universities to reach out to different types of students.
"Being a leader can really pay off."
But it doesn't pay to wait until your senior year to start leading, or studying.
"You start working toward scholarships when your GPA starts, and for some students that could be in the eighth grade," Morgigno said.
"That includes foreign language courses, pre-algebra and computer classes.
"It means taking some of the higher-level courses, even at that early stage.
"Also, you can't overestimate the importance of certain activities, including band and ROTC, which begin in the ninth grade. Scholarships are available for those students if they excel."
That was the case for Ameenah Abdur-Rashied, 19, a music-education major who entered Jackson State on a band scholarship.
"I did work hard on my grades, but I wasn't at the top of my class," said Abdur-Rashied, who graduated from Murrah High School with a 3.6 GPA and a 24 on her ACT.
"But I'm able to go to college with the band scholarship and other awards. There are plenty out there. People want to give you money to go to school."
Some will give you money after you're already in school.
This week, Abdur-Rashied received another music-related award, for $2,000.
"You can continue to get scholarships throughout your college career," said Maria Harvey, dean of JSU's W.E.B. Du Bois Honors College.
"So many students need them. The books here cost $700 a semester or more.
"Think of the average parents. They don't have that kind of money for books, tuition and everything else."


College-bound students who rack up College Scholarships apply for funds early, experts say