Intelligence Plus Character
is the Goal
of True Education.
Eight Scholarship Scam Warning Signs
Your child has worked hard to go to the college of their dreams – a worthy goal! But you don’t have $70 mill to donate to school. Maybe you don’t even have the $500,000 to guarantee admission and scholarships to that school. These exact events have happened recently, so knowing some warning signs can keep you from being a scholarship scam victim.
- Guarantees! The number one red flag is guaranteed admission, guaranteed financial aid, or guaranteed scholarship. Don’t walk away, RUN.
- You should never have to pay to search or apply for a scholarship. Go to FastWeb.com. A free $3 Billion scholarship site. You should never have to give credit card info to award providers.
- No Work Involved. Also called “everyone wins”. You cannot avoid putting in the time and effort to fill out scholarship applications, write essays, and document your leadership skills.
- No Contact Info. Legitimate sponsors will provide you a valid e-mail, phone number, and address (not a PO Box).
- Unsolicited Scholarships. If you are contacted to receive an award ($) for which you never applied for, be alert. Find out how you were nominated for award!
- Pressure Tactics. Being pressured into applying for a scholarship, especially if upfront money is involved.
- Official Sponsors. Be alert if sponsors to out of their way to sound “official”. Scammers will often use official sounding words like “national”, “education”, or “federal”, usually associated with a seal of sorts to fool you.
- Difficult getting answers. If you cannot get a straight answer from a sponsor regarding their application, or what will be done with your personal information, proceed with caution.
Be proactive, not reactive.
- Take a personality test for the right major for the right reason, which will lead to the right college.
- Don’t be a “Serial Joiner”. Leadership skills are more important than a long list of clubs, teams, etc.
- Get 2-3 years of honors classes. They are becoming more important than test scores.
Schedule your appointment to see what we can do for you!
Phone (314) 488-3180
Your Wealth Must Reside Somewhere!
Your wealth must reside somewhere! It must have a permanent place of residence. You must own, control, and have use your money, or you haven’t built any wealth, you just stashed some money away. About 90 % of Americans keep their wealth in either taxable, unavailable, and/or volatile residences that limit what you can do with their money. If what you thought was true about your money, wasn’t true about your money, when would you want to know? I first heard this question from Don Blanton, a fine southern gentleman with a distinct southern Georgia drawl, and I’ve been unable to “unhear” it, since.