How to Go to College Almost For Free: The Secrets of Winning Scholarship Money

Journal of College Admission, Spring 2000 by Boshoven, John B

by Benjamin R. Kaplan

Waggle Dancer Books, 2000

$23.95, 320 pages, paperback

Review by John B. Boshoven, a counselor for continuing education at Community High School in Ann Arbor, MI.

This rags-to-riches scholarship book written by a young and spunky recent Harvard graduate makes systematic scholarship seeking feasible and likable. Like any how-to guide, if we put in the work, we stand a better chance to reap the rewards. Kaplan likens the search for free money to a game-one with rules, officials, scoring, strategy, timing and plays. Like any football coach, he reminds the players that there are drills to be performed (learning the rules and terminology in this case), uniforms to wear (how the scholarships look and are packaged), games to be played (within regulation time), and a final score which, for Kaplan, was a winning one.

When Larry Bird became a professional coach, skeptics wondered whether a player could also be a coach. In his book, Kaplan claims early on that "the best way to master the game is to learn from someone who plays it well." How to Go to College Almost For Free is a practical, smart, and helpful guide that is well worth a $24.00 gamble. It's packed with how-to tips, scholarship examples with strategies and helpful background information, web resources, essay tips and a rationale that works. When my neighbor kept winning sweepstakes, I asked her what her secret was. She remarked, "I enter as least one each day, learn the rules, determine my odds, and win something consistently." Kaplan's book just might be the structure we need to play the money games smarter and win more games.