Scholarship consultants are here to fill in that gap for us. They know what colleges offer which majors; they’ve got statistics at their fingertips; they’ve got all the latest information on scholarships, and they even know what the FAFSA is.
If you live in the Carolinas and want to meet someone face-to-face, I highly recommend Elizabeth Hartley of Scholarship Gold. Her office is in Lake Wiley, SC. We (my hubby, my daughter, and I) met with her for 2 1/2 hours last fall and it was money well spent. Elizabeth listened to what my daughter was looking for in a college (majors, size, location, Christian, etc), and then listed a bunch of colleges to look at. She also gave us a log of helpful information about scholarships, as well as scams to avoid. In addition, she’s only a phone call away for a follow-up chat. We also came away with a binder filled with helpful forms and websites for the entire college process. She also works with traditional school students.
If you’re not in the Carolinas and/or don’t want to take the drive, then I highly recommend Lee Binz, The Home Scholar. Lee’s two homeschooled sons got scholarships to top-ranking colleges, so she practiced what she preaches. She has different books, DVDs, webinars, phone consultations, and more to help you through the college scholarship search. She also has a bunch of resources to help you prepare your student’s transcript. In addition, she has free resources, so there’s no excuse not to check out her site!
Q4U: Have you used a consultant? If so, how was your experience?
Bethany LaShell 