College scholarship ideas/advice?

[OKRuss]

BTW, anyone with pointers to a "female friendly" career field that doesn't involve college, feel free to throw it out there. And by that, I don't mean one that requires living in Dallas or even OKC size places to be able to work. My daughter is leaning towards dental hygientist type work so far, even though with her love of math I've asked her about financial type work (retirement planning, banker, etc). My son says architecture is his plan, as of now...

As Dennis mentioned, look into nursing. Could get a CNA, then LPN then RN and make very good money at home and LOTS more if willing to travel. Granted, she'd need some years experience before traveling for big bucks but niece is doing it with 2 years of ER experience.

One caveat to note is "some" hospitals require a BS in Nursing along with your RN license. Has to do with being an accredited institution. My wife had to go back and take several tough classes to get her BS in Nursing but would've been huge if she didn't already have a degree.

All this said, it takes a very special person to be a nurse(man or woman) and definitely not a job for just anyone wanting a paycheck. If either kid genuinely likes helping people, this might be an option.

 

[OKRuss]

Also wanted to add that I think FedEx will still pay tuition for part time workers. May not be as many options here in OK as there are in TN but where ever there's a sorting facility there should be PT available postings. Now would be a great time to see if FedEx or UPS would hire for the seasonal workers. Great way to get foot in the door.

But, being a delivery driver is HARD work so I would try to find a loader/unloader type role - more likelihood of having a part time opening.

 

[wawazat]

I treated scholarship applications like a job and was an essay writing machine. My thought was the longer the essay required for application, the smaller the applicant pool I would have to compete with. I got a lot of school specific scholarship offers, but I ended up using the scholarship from the Oklahoma State Regents to fully pay for my degree from UCO. I had originally wanted to go to Tulane, but even with 55% of it paid for, my debt wouldve been far outside of my comfort zone just for an undergrad degree.

I do agree that starting with a career field they are really interested in and working backward from there to determine which school (college, trade, whatever) is a solid direction to go. Also, if going to a university, try to meet some of the staff and ask if they have been in the industry their classes are associated with. UCO's business college at the time had ton's of professors with lots of actual career experience in a broad range of industries and they provided really solid advice and recommendation letters if you busted your hump in their classes. I treated college as much like a professional networking opportunity to try and get my foot in the door somewhere as I did just getting a degree. I don't really use my employment law degree at all and never have other than knowing when to shut my mouth, but it did allow me to apply for jobs that I couldnt have if I had no degree at all.

 

[steelfingers]

Anyone on here have tips, pointers, tricks, etc on scholarships for soon to be graduating kiddos? I may be a SOB for it, but I have long told my kids that I won't foot their college bills, that they're smart enough to A) figure out a path that will pay for itself, and B) find most of the money needed with their grades. I have worked with guys that stayed working until 70 because they drained their retirement funds so their kids could go to a certain university/college due to the name alone...I aint that guy!

Anyways, I know in today's world full of scams and sh**ty people, I'm sure there are multiple scams for kids looking for college $$. I would love some advice on what to avoid, or at least good resources on where to go for them. TIA, hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Well. You could do like I did and work 2 or 3 jobs to pay for my college

 

[Chuckie]

College is a scam and waste of money. College will push to undo everything you've intilled in your kids and uproot their morality.

If your child was raised right then any stint at college will not undo your teachings as far as morality and good character goes. I do agree though, that the 'need' for a college degree to do well in life, is a scam.

 

[wawazat]

If your child was raised right then any stint at college will not undo your teachings as far as morality and good character goes. I do agree though, that the 'need' for a college degree to do well in life, is a scam.

Yeah, neither of my cousins in their early 20s came out any less logical or conservative. If anything, they became a little more steadfast in calling BS when they see it.

I personally believe that if I were to have to go through it all again now, I wouldn't go to college for anything other than a STEM based degree. We have also started working on getting our son to think about it from an investment perspective. What is the potential rate of return on a degree/certification/whatever versus the cost to acquire it? Paying college tuition for several years to "find oneself" isn't really wise use of one's funds. I also think the military has a lot to offer when it comes to growing up, experiencing some life, and learning self discipline. I think I would've benefitted GREATLY with at least 4 years of that after high school and it would've made me appreciate college a lot more.

 

[crrcboatz]

If your child was raised right then any stint at college will not undo your teachings as far as morality and good character goes. I do agree though, that the 'need' for a college degree to do well in life, is a scam.

Possibly not if the person enjoys the type of work they prepared for?

 

[SoonerP226]

Well. You could do like I did and work 2 or 3 jobs to pay for my college

But I don’t think he wants to pay for your college.

 

[xseler]

Many national companies offer tuition assistance for their employees. This may also be a way of earning extra money and getting the assistance kicker.

Best of luck!

 

[Dorkus]

I have not read all the comments so this might have been already stated by someone else. I apologize in advance if that is the case.

I went through this about a decade ago and back then, if you were a "normal" white male kid with above average grades and you make a decent salary, you are screwed. Now if you have diabetes, a prosthetic leg, have a lower income family or part of a protected minority group, you are golden.

We looked and looked and had minimal success. My son had a 27 ACT which is decent and he received a scholarship at the school he attended and then one from the old ladies group at church. Outside of those, there were not any that we could find that he qualified for at that time.

Your plain semi-smart kid did not have any luck for us.