This first interview was with Max Li, a graduating senior from Hanford High School. He will be attending Duke University in North Carolina with several scholarships and money from financial aid. We thought he might be able to impart some of his infinite wisdom onto us.

Q: When should juniors apply for scholarships?

A: Juniors should be on the lookout of scholarships all year long, but there are probably the most to apply for between January, after college applications are due, until around May.

Q: What's the difference between financial aid and scholarships?

A: Well, financial aid can be a sort of "loose umbrella" term that covers a whole bunch of types of money. It can include need-based grants from the university itself (those don't need to be paid back), need-based loans from the university (those do), or "free" grants from corporations and organizations. While in a more specific sense, a scholarship is generally something applied for, something that is based on academic or athletic merit rather than need.

Q: Where did you go for information on scholarships?

A: A great place to look up national scholarships is fastweb.com, but to be honest, I didn't find most of my scholarships there. Instead, the best place to check is probably the counselor's office - they have detailed information about each scholarship and Mrs. DePeel is super friendly and informed. Besides, the counselor's office has a bunch of local scholarships, which are less competitive and thus have more potential than those national ones.

Q: What's the difference between a renewable scholarship and a nonrenewable scholarship?

A: Well, a renewable scholarship is a scholarship that can be, in a sense, reapplied for every year. If you have a $1000 renewable scholarship, that means that you'll either automatically get $1000 every year after the first $1000, or have the chance to reapply for $1000 each year. On the other hand, nonrenewable scholarships are just a one-time deal - If you have a $2500 nonrenewable scholarship, that's all you're going to get for it.

Link back to the Scholarships Home Page