'How I collected $1.8 million in scholarships!'

Ebony, Oct, 2003

DUKE University offered Faith Rogers a $152,320 scholarship package. Cornell University offered a $155,276 scholarship. And MIT offered a $159,920 scholarship package. At last count, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and Princeton were among a growing list of institutions of higher learning that, collectively, were offering Rogers a whopping $1.8 million in scholarship packages.

The 17-year-old Rogers of Greensboro, N.C., who graduated from Southeast Guilford High School with honors, is one who knows how to work the competitive scholarship system for top dollars.

Rogers, who began her scholarship search during her freshman year, has earned a free ride to MIT, where she will major in chemical engineering and minor in vocal music, and she shares her scholarship-seeking secrets and what it takes for other students to get money for school too!

HOW DID YOU BEGIN YOUR SEARCH?

I started with Internet programs such as Fastweb.com, where you can input your criteria and get e-mail of a list of scholarships that are applicable to you.

And while doing that throughout the course of high school, I became accustomed to scholarship-searching, and I got better acquainted with the scholarship-searching process.

WHEN DID YOU START APPLYING FOR SCHOLARSHIPS?

I started in the summer of 2002, during my junior year, when the bulk of scholarship applications started coming in.

HOW MANY SCHOLARSHIPS DID YOU APPLY FOR?

I can't count that high! I think I filled out between 100-200 applications.

WHAT WAS YOUR ROUTINE?

I put my social life on hold for about a year, working on scholarships during the weekends and after homework.

WHAT RESOURCES DO YOU NEED TO APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS?

It helps if you have a computer at home and have access to the Internet. It also helps if you have parents who are on your back all of the time, like my father was with me. Parental involvement is an integral part in every child's development.

DID YOU RECEIVE REJECTION LETTERS?

Yes, I did not get the Bill Gates' Millennium Scholars scholarship. I think that was the only one.

WHAT ARE THE COMMON QUESTIONS THAT THE VARIOUS SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEES ASK APPLICANTS?

Most scholarships always ask what you plan to major in and what you plan to do with that degree. They want to know the type of person you want to be, and what motivates you to want to be that type of person.

ARE EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT TO OBTAIN SCHOLARSHIPS?

Yes, they are. In fact, most of the scholarships require extracurricular activities. Decide what you want to participate in and stick with it. If you're fickle with your extracurricular activities, it just shows people that you are not dedicated to your decisions.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE THAT YOU'D LIKE TO GIVE TO OTHERS?

The social life that you think is very important in high school, is really not. So, when trying to decide what you are going to do over the weekend or after you've finished your homework, don't think about what other people around you are doing. Think about what's going to benefit you in the future.