What helped "light a fire" under me was having my parents explain how much my ideal college will cost. They went over tuition costs, supply costs, and living costs. Then I compared it to the money Ive been saving up since the day I was born, which is only a few thousand. It was a huge reality check. My parents will be helping me pay but they have more than one kid to send to college and they cant take care of everything. These types of things are what you should discuss with your kid. Make them realize college is just over the horizon and soon they are going to have to pay for it.

I agree with you Shanda17. My parents didn't help me with looking for scholarships. I wish they would have.

talk to you school counslor...HE/SHE might be able to help you.

if your child is going to college he/she needs to start learning how to be dependent. And part of that includes taking some responsibility. Especially if you are footing the majority of the bill already your child should be the one hunting down scholarships and free money, not you. Eventually he/she has to learn that parents wont be able to do all of the foot work for them, what better time to start than now? Unless you also plan on looking for you child's future jobs and searching for their graduate schools as well, you need to take a step back and challenge them to do some work on their own.

as a parent make sure that your child takes education seriously. By their senior year in high dchool they would've racked up enough scholarships to pay for college

I think Parents should of course have some money saved up. But just assist in the process and also Take time out of their own schedule to apply for scholarships for their child.

Many late nights of internet searching and marking favorites that may match... then she has the tough job of reviewing and staying on top of deadlines and applications.

Have to say, I feel sorry for the first-born... I'm much smarter now for the second one! :-)

I'm thankful for my mom! She has played an active role in finding me scholarship and assisting me with filling out the information. I mean she doesn't write anything for me, but she sure does make sure it's right before I submit it.

influence them

I helped my daughter to find the scholarships then she applied for the ones we thought she had a chance at. The library was a great resource. They have many books listing scholarships and the websites. That was a little less overwhelming than searching online, which I also did. Also, we have a local education foundation that we visited together. They help students find local scholarships. My daughter's high school guidance counselor was also very helpful. He made sure she got the applications for many local scholarships. My daughter also got a scholarship through her employer. Many larger companies offer scholarships to employees or their children. Overall, she received 4 scholarships so all our hard work paid off. I learned during this process that there are many scholarships that students can apply for and win starting as early as elementary school. I'm starting the search for my younger daughter already.