Free College Resource Book: Inside Secrets From Two Parents Who Put Five Kids Through College for Next to Nothing » (Original)

After putting five children through college for almost free, Doug and Robin Hewitt's familiarity with online research and skill with guiding their children into college have given them crucial insight into funding sources. Doug and Robin are both full-time freelance nonfiction writers who enjoy writing fiction in their spare time.

Free College Resource Book takes students and parents through the process of weighing options for college funding, including scholarship searches, grants, savings plans, differences between financial aid options, and which financial aid programs provide the best benefits to students, and other sources of money for paying college tuition and fees.

VOYA

The coauthors of this resource have guided their five children through college "without spending a dime" and, after years of intense research, offer their tips and strategies for obtaining college money, using their children's experiences as case studies. They aim their suggestions at students, urging those as young as junior high age to start planning ahead. Their approach is summarized nicely with the acronym GRAND SLAM: Get started now; Research yourself, your interests, your skills; Analyze the fit/match between you and the college; Navigate your way to scholarship money; Develop an action plan; Scholarships: find the ones you can win; Learn how to write good essays; Apply for scholarships and college admission right for you; Maintain your advantage by following up. Each idea is the focus of a chapter, and chapters are interspersed with "Cash Clues" and "Scholarship Spotlights." The resource appendix is thorough, including broad categories of references as well as funding information sites for each state. This resource is written in an affable yet straightforward manner that students will find easy to read. Students will quickly realize that this is no quick fix but rather a methodical, logical approach to getting one's college-ducks in a row: Those willing to follow the journaling and research suggestions will undoubtedly reap the benefits. The "Scholarship Spotlights" provide fascinating discoveries, ranging from an award for making the best prom outfits from duct tape, to those from the Klingon Language Institute, to the annual Llamafest Scholarship. College counselors and school libraries will do their motivated students a favor by sharing this reference book. Reviewer: Mary Ann Darby

Introduction 1

1 Career Choices 9

2 How What You Do (Inside and Outside the Classroom) Influences Scholarship Money 21

3 Skill Sets and Scholarship Money 31

4 What's Your Major? 45

5 Choosing a College 59

6 Finding Information 77

7 Tools to Dig Up the Money 91

8 How to Get Going 101

9 Write a Winning Essay 111

10 Scholarship Application Sessions 123

11 The Interview 133

12 Tricks of the Trade 141

13 After the Money Rolls In 151

Resources 159

References 187

About the Authors 191