Are any decent scholarships out there for college students w/ less than a 3.0 and lil to no essay writing?

I am a college student with a good GPA that needs monetary help to complete my college degree. If I stop, and try to return to college later, I will more than likely not finish my degree. My major is Business Admin. with a concentration on Operations management and I am a Junior within a few months of becoming a Senior in college. I have exhausted all of my financial aid options and can't afford to get anymore loans. I will be the only one in my family with a college degree if this works out. I have feverishly researched options on the net and have found nothing concrete. My GPA is 3.0, I am a female who is an undergraduate. I would appreciate any and all information that you could extend to me.

awaiting your reply,

L. Jones

Oh, you've come too far to give up now; and you are right, if you take time off you won't go back and finish. Go to these two sites: www.fastweb.com and fill out the profile, they'll find you more scholarships than you know what to do with although many of them will involve writing at least a short essay (and if you are in Bus Admin/Ops Mgt you had better be able to express yourself both in written form and orally!!!) and FreeScholarshipGuide.com. Good luck!

no

it might depend on what state you're in. i honestly don't know of any scholarships that don't require essays. mostly they require you to do some big project or compete in some competition.

try looking at this place.

www.fastweb.com

~Well, toots, you could do what I did. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, get off your lazy butt and get a job. Incidentally, I worked loading box cars 48 hours a week while working on a doctorate, so don't whine that you don't have time. Nobody owes it to you. If you want it, earn it.

You can apply for grants (check with any of your college counselor). Unfortunately, it is hard to get scholarship if your GPA is less than 3.5. Scholarship boards look at your GPA before looking at your profile so you can basically forget any scholarship, unless one of your parents is a veteran.

Which brings me to a suggestion. A 3.0 GPA would qualify you for any of the ROTC scholarship (navy, army, or air force). Check with the local National Guard (or Air Guard) since they do offer it. Don't worry, there are lots of "non-deployable" jobs out there.

Girl, you have GOT to be able to write an essay for most student scholarships. Why should a panel of philanthropists just fork over money to you and not know anything about you?

You can write a decent boiler-plate appeal with your personal information and tailor it for each scholarship letter. You will have to write and be articulate if you want dough, especially this late in the game--you really should have been writing letters last December or so for next fall.

Having said all that, here is some ideas.

There are tons of scholarships that go unclaimed each year. Many $400, $500 or $1000 scholarships never even get applied for because people think it's chump change and not worth applying for. Well, get a few of those $500 scholarships and it'll really make a dent in your tuition bill. People make the mistake of looking for one big scholarship to pay for everything when they should be targeting smaller scholarships that are more regionalized or specialized to their intended field or reflect something unique about them (son of Italian policeman, daughter of registered nurse, etc). Everybody goes for the big scholarships, the competition for those is much higher and your chances are smaller of getting it. Research and apply for anything and everything you are close to being eligible for no matter how small the scholarship.


Do a search on scholarships, search your major, your ethnic heritage, your town, your parents employers, your employer, hobbies, high school, local chamber of commerce/rotary/ lion's club etc. Left-handed? There is a scholarship out there for you! Older woman returning to school? There are scholarships out there for you. Do combined searches on more than one criteria "hispanic women aviation scholarships" etc.

Go to the library and ask the reference librarian for a reference book on scholarships. They usually have more than one. There are all kinds of scholarships out there, you just have to start applying yourself and make it your summer career to send out letters everyday for scholarships. Good luck!

Jonesie, search Fastweb.com

You should also talk to your financial aid office - they may know of private scholarships that can help.

If you can't write an essay concentrate on scholarships that do not focus on academics, like volunteer service or a special talent. Heck there are scholarships out there for people who are left handed. Just look around and if you are part of an ethnically minority group; Latino, African American etc., or part of a certain faith, or anything else that you can think of, enjoy. Go to google and type out specifically "latino scholarships" "christian scholarships" and so on. There are a lot of opportunities. Also look for "last dollar scholarships" in your area. These scholarships can not be included within your school's financial package therefore they are extra help. Also look for organizations in your area that focus on college help, like college access or any other.