**FIRST EMAIL**-2010 FIRST Scholarships Opportunities now on Website

[Mark McLeod]

Greetings FRC Teams:

The 2010 FIRST Scholarship Opportunities are now posted on our website at: www.usfirst.org/scholarships. Like last year, the display format provides a searchable scholarship database that lets you narrow your search based on the state where you want to attend college, your FIRST Program (FRC or FTC), and/or your current grade in school.

Currently over 107 schools or organizations throughout the country are offering confirmed FIRST scholarships to FRC students ranging in value from $500 to $149,000. Over $10 million in scholarship funding is offered from schools like MIT, Florida Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Harvey Mudd College, Carnegie Mellon University, Kettering University, Purdue University, University of Texas-Austin, University of Southern California, University of Minnesota, and Tulane University.

There are scholarships specifically for engineering, computer science, technology, science, or math, and many others that can be applied to any course of study. Most scholarships are for academic achievements, but some are for financial need and others simply for participation on a FIRST team. There are plenty of scholarship opportunities for all students to consider.

We are still waiting for a few schools to update their 2010 Scholarship offerings. These listings are labeled “Not Yet Confirmed”. Their offering and application deadlines may be similar to those listed for last year, but be sure to confirm this with the scholarship provider. As new scholarships are offered and existing ones are confirmed, the website listing will be updated. So check the Scholarship website frequently.

We have also added a FIRST Scholarships FAQ, so be sure to check this out at http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/content.aspx?id=15408.

New Scholarships for 2010
Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, CA)
Saint Vincent College (Latrobe, PA)

Seniors: Note that the following schools have deadlines coming up soon:
Olin College of Engineering (Dec 1)
University of Southern California (Dec 1)
University of Texas-Austin (Dec 1)

Juniors: Note that the following schools offer scholarships to Juniors:
College of Southern Maryland
Drexel University
ITT Technical Institute
Lawrence Technological University
Polytechnic University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)/BAE Systems
Virginia Tech/BAE Systems

All Students: When talking to school representatives at colleges or college fairs, ask if they offer a FIRST Scholarship. If they don’t, tell them about FIRST and why they should be trying to attract FIRST students by offering a FIRST Scholarship!

Team Contact:

• Please help get FIRST Scholarship information into the hands of students, parents and guidance counselors. There are additional materials to help you do this on the new FIRST Scholarship Resources for Mentors webpage at:
  http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/content.aspx?id=15411 . Check it out!

• Please use the FRC TIMS system to enter contact information for a Scholarship Contact (team member who will help promote college and scholarship awareness to students) and/or Guidance Counselor. FIRST will periodically send them special information about FIRST Scholarships

Go teams!

[Chris is me]

If your EFC is zero, then you should try to get scholarships to coer all of college. It's my understanding that financial aid will probably cover what you cannot, provided you do all of the paperwork for it.

In case you were unaware, the scholarships colleges offer through FIRST are merit based.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by hamdardi

How much will I need in scholarship amount if my EFC is zero? I am going to attend a private 4 year college. They have given me a merit scholarship of 8,000. The total cost of attending there is 39,955. I want to find out how much more I need so I can apply for more scholarships. My expected family contribution is zero.

Regardless of your EFC, always apply for EVERY scholarship you meet the criteria for. Heck, I always suggest applying for some you don't meet ALL the criteria for, worst they can do is turn you down.*


*I admit, I have an alternative motive here, I don't like the people who decide scholarships, I think they need to make harder choices because so many applicants are just plain awesome.