Wow....

[Yggdrasil]

My first LHH post. It is kind of awkward for me. Never thought I'd be posting here. Well heres my problem...I use to live in a big time city...with a senior class of about 250 students. Since then I moved to a little town and have a senior class of 10 students. Heres my problem:

This town plays favorites. By this I mean it favors students who lived here all their lives over students who moved here. I have seen this way too often in grading and such. The so called "Student of the Week", is a prime example of this. My greatest fear is that it will be applied when it comes time to give scholarships.

Now, I myself am in great need of scholarships because I am planning on attending the out-of-state Michigan Tech. The tuition (Sp.) is expensive and I'm afraid without scholarships or Financial Aid I won't be able to afford it. I am highly worried that I won't get any scholarships due to the favoritism.

I need two things....

1. Ideas of what to do to try and confront the schoolboard with this. I want this issue addressed and handled but I also don't want to lose and favor with this schoolboard because I never expect the system to stop playing favorites.

2. Any consoling someone can give me to stop worrying about this so much. I lose sleep occasionly over this being afraid I won't be able to live out my life to the fullest. I so want to go to Michigan Tech but I KNOW I won't be able to afford it if I can't get a scholarship. Especially because my parents REFUSE to help me pay for it. Their opinion is to "take out loans and be paying them back for the rest of your life like the rest of the smucks." Please don't shoot me for that quote...it isn't mine.

Thanks.

Yggdrasil.

[Mig]

I know exactly how you feel.

I myself moved from Spain a few years back, from a big city (La Coruna, (Co-roo-nee-ah) home of Deportivo, as I'm sure you'll know :P) to this small town. It IS hard to get into the circle of favourites, etc etc, I know, but it's possible. I guess back then I was younger than what you are now, but it was still roughly the same. It was hard to get accepted, I spoke differently, didn't have school uniform, looked different, and was a fuck of a lot smarter than those other kids. But in time, I was there.

Do your best to excel, I hate to say it, but try to get right up the teacher's arse. Stay behind, help them with clearing up the classroom, always be the first to hand in assignments, be the first to raise your hand and raise it the highest. Yeah, become a teacher's pet. Stuff what some of the other guys think of you, this scholarship is worth more, right? The board will probably just deny that favouritism is taking place. "Our school guidelines for teachers ensure that..." yabba yabba yabba. (Ok, they might not, but in my experience...)

All in all, good luck. :)

[krikie]

I use to live in a big time city...with a senior class of about 250 students.

Is that all?


Anyway, I know teachers can play favorites. I've witnessed it firsthand? But I also know that most teachers are still, at least, fair. So I really don't think you have anything to worry about. If you're a good student , get good grades, and be extra sweet to your teachers, you should be able to weedle a scholarship =D

But really, don't worry. Also try hard hard hard on your SAT's, if you do really good, there's scholarships there whether you're a favorite or not. [especially try to get in the top 1%]

<_< >_>

[Yggdrasil]

I scored a 29 on my ACT's....is that good enough?

[Phoenix]

I'm not sure what the ranking for ACT is, but NMSQT (National Merit Scholar) bases they're scholarships off the top 1% of the PSAT's, so you might want to look into that. No reason not to take it either, colleges don't see the scores unless you want them too, so no pressure that way.

Also, there are a ton of scholarships out there. I've got to tons of college financial planning meeting and such, and one of the things they always stress is to go out on the web, and just look em up. Most scholarship money goes unawarded every year simply because nobody applies, and there are scholarships for near everything, from being tall to wearing glasses. I'm sure you can find some.

A third option is to call the University and see what scholarships they offer. For example, I know that ASU offers I think up to $12,000 in scholarships themselves. Another idea is to see if there are any state offered scholarships both in your state, and in Michigan worth applying for.

Also, check out http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ It's the US governments financial aid application site which has tons of good info, and most everyone can be qualified for some amout of government aid, no matter how much income they have (Though obviously they look for lower income first, it's worth a good shot)

Anyway, don't give up hope man, and if the local board, (assuming it's a state funded school), write a long detailed letter to the state education department, and if you can, get some people to back you up on it, and ask them to investigate the matter.

[ThePrankster.]

I was going to go to Michigan Tech but I decided not to. It's in the UP and I live in the LP. It's really cold up there dude just to let you know but its really pretty. You should talk to your counsoler or someone esle at school and tell them you really show interest and attending a College that is out of state. Sometimes they sort of push to get students to go to school out of state to show other people where they came from.

[Beatrix the Goddess]

Well Phoenix has given you a lot of practical advice there Yggdrasil, so get working on that :)

As for the worries you've got...I think you need to get a sense of time - of the timescale of your school life. How long is it before the scholarship actually becomes an issue? Because in my experience, sure, new kids stick out like a sore thumb at first (I also went to a small high school, so I know what its like) - for a good few months you don't have a name, you're just "the new kid", but that doesn't last. Sooner or later you're integrated - particularly if you make the effort. So if you work hard now, try to get to know some of your peers, & let the teachers see you're making the effort, when scholarship time comes around this might not even be an issue. So based on that, I'd wait awhile before approaching the school board - see what happens. And frankly, the small-town mentality you're describes makes it sound like they'd just become more biased against you if you mentioned it.

Also, before letting your emotions cloud the problem, look at it statistically. I'm not sure how the scholarship system works exactly but it sounds to me like where you were at school before, you had a 1/250 chanve of getting one, whereas now you have a 1/10 chance. If you're smart then you can overcome any bias that's there. Just make sure you really work hard, & make an effort to be pleasant & get to know everyone.

One other thing though - even when they're isn't any bias, its unwise to put all your eggs in one basket. Make Michgan your top choice certainly, but you also ought to research some alternative choices, just so that you're prepared. That way, if you don't get a scholarship (which I'm sure you will - you're worrying too much :)), your world won't fall apart because you can't follow your only choice. Just have some back-up ideas.

As for your parents, do you think they're refusing to pay because they don't believe in higher education, or because they actually can't afford it? Make sure you know which one it is. If its a question of their mindset rather than how rich they are, well you might be able to change their minds with time. If you do well in your schoolwork they might see that the idea is worthwhile. And if you also show them that you're keen to make something of your future, thats sure to impress them.

Theres absolutely no need to give up hope, alright? :) You certainly shouldn't be losing sleep over it. Pm me if you want to talk more about it.

[Yggdrasil]

I live in Marinette County in Wisconsin...right below the UP border. Its cold here often..so it won't be that bad to live in Houghton. Thanks for all your help guys. Make me feel a little better.