Testimonials from our Students

--Kelsey Glaser, Class of 2015

Dollars for Scholars has helped me immensely with my financial needs in college. Academically, my grades/ scores were not high enough to get a scholarship through the University of Iowa, but I was blessed enough to apply through the high school ones. Although it was a lot of work and time commitment, it all paid off in the end. Applying for scholarships will only benefit a student, it cannot hurt them. Every single dollar matters when it comes to college. College will only  keep getting more expensive, so why not try to get as much "free" money as possible!

 

--Maddy Miller, Class of 2015

Let me start by saying how different college is from high school.  Not only do you have to walk through blizzard conditions to five different classes in five different buildings each day (and you must sacrifice fashion for warmth), but you also have your best friends living right across the hall!  New experiences are the best kind.  Over my high school years, I found myself participating in over 30 extracurricular activities; thus, showing up at school for music at 7:00am, leaving the building after games at 11:00pm, and still finding time to do my 9 classes worth of homework was an often occurrence.  Stress is inevitable in life- and unending.  Currently, I attend the University of Northern Iowa majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders and pursuing my Master's in Speech-Language Pathology.  I'm also planning to graduate early with University Honors, a minor in Spanish, and an education endorsement.  With my plate full of new college experiences, I find working 16 hours a week, taking 18 hours of classes, doing A LOT of homework, being involved in 7 clubs, and balancing my social life to be a whole new sort of crazy.

Coincidentally, I work in the UNI Financial Aid and Scholarships Office specializing in scholarships.  From firsthand experience, I can tell you how beneficial scholarships are to each and every student's financial package.  No one wants to take out loans.  I have truly been blessed thus far with receiving scholarships.  (I hate to tell you, but the majority of hometown scholarships are awarded to first-year students- so please don't miss out.)  Winning scholarships isn't easy, but taking the time to fill out the applications is so worth it.  I filled out nearly 40 applications and I won 8 of them.  That's a lot of applications, but if I could do it with my high school schedule, it's capable for anyone.  One of the easiest applications to fill out was Dollars for Scholars.  It does take a little bit of time, but you're practically filling out ten different scholarship applications at once!  Plus, the hours of volunteering are a blast!  I suggest filling it out early in your scholarship search because the same information you use on the DFS application you'll use on all other applications as well.  Without winning almost $7000 from our generous Dollars for Scholars program, I would be too worried about my financial situation to focus on reaching my academic goals.  Please, please, please don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity our loving community has bestowed upon us.