White Middle Class Girl

Challenges in Finding College Scholarships and Financial Aid

Read the frustrations and challenges from this white middle class girl in searching for college scholarships. Our own readers offer tips in finding college scholarships and financial aid.

White Middle Class Girl

Struggles with College Scholarships

(by Tara from Arizona)

I have a problem. It’s a problem many teenagers my age also share with me. I need to pay for college and I do not have the money for it! So, I decided to apply for scholarships like every good student would. However, as I was applying for scholarship after scholarship, I realized something. There are minimal scholarships for white, middle class women, in the top 10% of their graduating high school class.

Yes, I know there are a ton of other students out there who are going to have a much more difficult time paying for college, but I am having some financial troubles of my own and could use a couple scholarships to help pay for my continuing education. Especially, since I have decided to be poor for the rest of my life by becoming an elementary school teacher.

It is going to be very hard for me to pay off all of my loans from college once I graduate, which is why I decided to apply for as many scholarships as I possibly could in hopes of winning a few here and there. So far, the best thing that has come out of me applying for scholarships is a “Thank you for applying, but we found someone we think deserves this more than you” box of sweets to help me indulge myself in chocolate to make myself feel better about living with loan debt for the rest of my life.

I worked extremely hard in high school to get good grades and I joined clubs and I excelled in sports, but I could never quite reach the valedictorian, community service queen, or state champion titles. I’m just a normal high school graduate who needs a little extra cash to pay for those expensive books or that horrendous meal plan I cannot get out of. I repeat, I know there are many students out there who are in a worse position than I am, however, there a millions of scholarships aimed toward helping them. I am left with the duck calling, random drawing, or tall person scholarships. (Did I mention I’m a full 5’4” tall).

I’m just an average woman (white middle class girl) working my butt off to pay for college. My mom always told me hard work pays off, I have worked extremely hard in paying for my college education, but I am still waiting for the pay off. Hopefully that happens before I graduate.

Comment from your friendly team at College Financial Aid Advice Thank you Tara "White Middle Class Girl" for sharing your story about the challenge of white, middle class women finding scholarships for college. I occasionally hear the same frustration from white, middle class men. While there are many excellent scholarships for minorities, most scholarships are open to women and men from all backgrounds, including white, middle class girls. Please check out some of the many scholarships listed on our website, that are offered to students of all races and ethnicity. You many also qualify for additional scholarships and grants through your college or state funds, so be sure to complete your FAFSA and submit it as early in January – February as possible. Also, read some of the stories about how other students pay for their college education. Good luck to you.

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Little Ms. Average

Written by Gisselle from Maryland

I'm not a stellar athlete by any means. I'm a good athlete, but I still lose tennis matches, I still forget the score, and I still cut corners when I'm running so I don't have to run as much...but then, don't most of us? I'm not a genius, either. I'm a good student and I work hard, but sometimes I still get a C on a test, and I'm still smack dab in the middle of my class ranking. So there it goes, the two biggest ways to get in to college and to get scholarship money out the window because I'm not a star athlete and I'm not a brain. So what am I?

I'm Little Miss Average, or at least that's what it seems like when I'm applying for scholarships. My family is middle class, making too much to get FAFSA but not enough to pay for tuition and boarding. For three years I've tried to make money so that maybe I could pay for room and board on my own, but let's just say that three summers of lifeguarding doesn't amount to very much.

I'm 5'3", an average height that's too short for a scholarship for tall people and too tall for a scholarship for short people. I'm Caucasian, so scholarships dedicated to African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics don't apply to me. I don't go to this or that specific high school and I'm not a descendent of that guy with a name that's about 25 letters long.

I'm a female, and there are tons of scholarships out there for females...if your a feminist, a vegetarian, a mom, or a lesbian, none of which I am. I don't have any weird talents or interests, so I can't apply for archery scholarship, the duck calling scholarship, or the asparagus club scholarship. I kid you not, these really are real scholarships!

I'm good at art, though! However, when competing against other people I may as well just be drawing stick figures. I'm super creative! But creating a prom dress out of duct tape is a little TOO creative for me to pull off and win.

Let's be honest, how many people actually can do all of those things? If there was a scholarship for reading I could win. Scholarship for singing in the shower? Sign me up! What's that? A scholarship for most scholarship applications sent in? At this rate I could probably win that, too! If there was a scholarship for teenager owning the most vintage vinyl records I would win a gold medal! But these don't exist, and believe me when I say I've looked!

So what am I? I'm little Miss. Average: Average athlete, average grades, average height, average talents, average interests, average girl. If applying for scholarships has taught me one thing it's that maybe I really am average. Perfectly contently average, but average nonetheless. Thing is, applying for scholarships hasn't just taught me one thing, it's taught me two. The first? In their eyes I may be average, but I really don't feel like I am. The second? I don't give up, so when I can't find a scholarship that fits or I get a rejection...I keep going. So for all the Little Ms/Mr Averages out there, don't give up, don't get discouraged. It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be worth it. So no matter how much it's worth, whether it's $500 or $20,000, apply for it, apply for every one you can get your hands on, apply for everyone that applies to you and your hard work will pay off.

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Earning money through scholarships IS POSSIBLE

(by Kristina, California)

Searching for scholarships can be a hassle. There are scholarships for everyone but it becomes stressful when you do not know the right places to look. The best scholarships usually come from sponsors within your community. I was having the toughest time finding a scholarship that I could win. I thought they were all “rigged” or “fraud”. I felt only select students could win online scholarships; not the Average Joe like myself. The problem was I was looking in all the wrong places, maybe you are too?

My advice is to talk to your counselors, teachers and even your parents. Often times their jobs provide plenty of opportunities to win scholarships. My mom works for a school district and that made me eligible to use her CSEA membership. That scholarship really helped me out when it came to financing my school books and also went towards buying a laptop for school. I couldn’t very well lug a desk top to each class. So the thousand dollars they funded really came in handy. It is true when they say “every little helps”.

Other reasons why I say ask your school teachers is because they may know more sources that are trying to help students out. Teachers always have your best interest in mind and are willing to help with finding local scholarships.

Reaching out to your counselors for scholarship help is good. They support you by offering a list of recommended scholarship sites that are beneficial and have helped students before. By getting to know your counselor it will make it easier for them to write a personal recommendation that could be needed for most scholarships.

Do not be afraid to ask about scholarships, if you are employed ask your employer if they help with school. Some corporations offer college loans or even better--scholarships.

Last but not least, take advantage of grants. Grants are free money that you do not have to pay back. Government aid is helping me most with my tuition fees, I can not emphasize enough the importance of applying for grants. I recommend the two sites: calgrants.org and fasfa.com. Check it out, more than likely you are qualified to receive money to pay for school.

Comment from your friendly team at College Financial Aid Advice

Thank you Kristina for sharing your advice about searching for scholarships. You offer some very good advice to talk to your counselors, teachers and parents about scholarship opportunities. Be sure to also check out our scholarship lists and deadlines for Scholarships for High School Seniors and Scholarships for College Students. Best of luck to you.

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Tips in Finding College Scholarships and Financial Aid

Our own readers offer tips in finding college scholarships and financial aid, based upon their college journey.

The Necessary Investment for A Better Future (Denicia, California)

You should also make sure that you fill out your FAFSA as soon as you can because that money is first come first serve (you have a higher chance of getting more money if you complete your FAFSA early). It is also important that if you receive a refund check you do not go crazy and blow the money because it should only be used towards your education plus if you are in debt you can start making payments towards your debt.

You Just Have To Know Where To Search (Sarah, Texas)

There are also many scholarships offered for specific universities so make sure to check with the college you have either been accepted to or are interested in attending so that you can learn about extra scholarships. The most important thing to remember is that the money amount the scholarship is offering does not matter, every penny counts and it is possible to get enough small scholarships that you could pay off your entire tuition because there is no limit to the number of scholarships that you are allowed to apply for.

Applying for Scholarships and Grants (Yineisi, New Jersey)

Don’t forget about grants. Grants are a wonderful way to finance your college education, because unlike loans they do not have to be paid back. You just need to remember to fill out the FAFSA, because they will always give you some type of grant. As a first year college student I learned about the TAG program, I thought that I was the only one who didn't know what that was. But I learned that many people didn't have a clue about the TAG program. The Tuition Aid Grant Program provides awards to financially needy New Jersey students, in other words, more free money that you do not have to pay back.

Important Tips on Scholarship and Grant Search (by Krystal, Virginia)

1. For a first-time student, to find out if the institution of choice has scholarships and grants available and who qualifies for them. If the student qualifies then please apply for all.

2. As a returning student to the same institution, another great way to obtain financial support is to achieve and maintain a high GPA. (3.5 or higher). Having this extremely impressive GPA will help the student to become a primary consideration for many scholarships from the institution. (I received 6 institutional scholarships last year because I obtained a GPA of 3.6).

3. Check out scholarship websites and apply for all available scholarships that your profile matches up with.

4. Most important is to stay in contact regularly with the institution's financial aid department and make friends.

Trust Me, You Won't Regret Reading This! (Kayla, Georgia)

Your junior year is the year that you need to be making all of your major decisions. Your junior year is when you need to start looking at and touring schools you’re interested in and doing your research on a major that you have in mind. This is when a College Board account comes into handy because it has so much information that is helpful to any student who has no idea where to start with all of the college mumbo jumbo. If you decide on what school you want to go to and what you’re going to be majoring in, then your senior year will be for actually applying to that school and maybe even taking extra classes that could help you out with your major.

Applying for Scholarships (Kara, Florida)

When filling out your application make sure to include any award or club you’ve ever received or been part of. Scholarships are one of the only places where bragging is perfectly acceptable, and even encouraged. If you build a resume that includes all of that information, you can use it for multiple scholarship applications which takes out an extra step. If you don’t know how to format your resume, see student resume for some tips.

More often than not, the scholarship you’re applying for will require an essay. A lot of prompts are very similar or even have an “Use an essay you wrote for another scholarship” option. Save every essay you write because, chances are, you might be able to use it as is or modify it to fit another prompt. However, whether you use an old essay or write a new one, have a couple of other people read it over. Not only will they find spelling and grammar mistakes you might have looked over, they might see that a sentence or paragraph isn’t necessary, or that you need to add a little more to it.

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More College Financial Aid Advice

Yes, I know you can relate to the frustrations from this white middle class girl in searching for college scholarships. It can be hard work. Check out other tips in finding college scholarships and financial aid at the links below.

College Financing

Money Tips for College Students

College Admissions Help

Scholarship Money for College

College Loans for Students

Student Jobs

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