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Tuition Assistance
I am currrently a juinor in high school and I want to major in chemical engineering for my bachelor’s and get a masters in cosmetic engineering. Then, eventually, get an internship and a job in cosmetic engineering. I know that there are companies that offer tuition assistance but all the ones that I have heard of don’t offer it for the field that I am interested in. Does anyone know how/if there is tuition assitence available for the path that I am interested in?
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3 Replies
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The best advice for high-school students seeking collegiate financial aid is to obtain the advice of their school counselors first. That’s their profession and they often know routes for assistance that can be successful. Secondly, decide on a University that is preferably one close to your home. State schools generally have lower tuition and programs for ambitious students (particularly those who can demonstrate financial need because of having lower income parents) to fund their own way with on-campus jobs and tuition breaks. Don’t be misled that state schools don’t have excellent chemistry programs. Some of this country’s best chemists (myself included) did their undergraduate and graduate programs at state universities.
I know of one young man (now in his Junior year) who goes to the University of Mississippi and has been able to fund his entire way working on-campus and summer jobs along with financial aid provided through the school for students who need financial help. I will tell you that if your family isn’t truly poor the system is slanted against you to get assistance. Even though middle income parents are actually in no position to pay the high costs that schools charge today, their ‘break-even” salaries disqualify their children from assistance. It takes twenty years of savings for middle income families to have enough to pay the fees. Of course, if you have a straight A average and top SAT scores, there are many scholarships available. But a B student doesn’t have much chance to get one of those. If you and your family have been a lifelong members of an established church denomination such as Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic or Episcopal (and perhaps religions other than Christian) there are programs available to go to one of their Universities on scholarships (often those have on-campus work requirements as well). Those denominational schools have some remarkable chemistry programs as well.
My advice to someone from a middle class background who can’t get financial assistance is to stay home, take a job locally and go your first two years to community junior college (might take you four years to complete that). Then apply to a four year school and because you are now an upper-class (3rd year) student you can go on a part-time basis (even as little as 6 hours or less per semester). I know of two people with college degrees who took ten and twelve years to complete their schooling using that method. And, as surprising as it seems, they grabbed jobs quickly because their history in sticking with it and overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds gave them excellent records for their job applications and interviews.
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@perspicacious has this entirely correct.
The company I worked for (Estee Lauder) funded a good chunk of my bachelor’s degree, but only because I had paid for enough schooling myself to be able to get a full-time lab technician’s job there, and I went to school nights and weekends while working. I do NOT recommend this as a pathway to funding your education, unless you have no other choice at all. I had to completely sacrifice any hopes of having a social life for six years in order to get my degree.
Going to school this way also severely restricts your choice of major. Not all majors offer all of the required classes on nights and weekends - and the chances of your getting time off from work to go to day classes are very close to zero.
Chemical Engineering is also one of the hardest majors there are. I’m not at all sure that it’s possible to get through a ChemE program without devoting 100% of your time to schoolwork.
Talk to your counselors and teachers about local schools. Visit them and talk to faculty. Living at home while going to school is a very big money saver.
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Thank you to both of you! My family is in the upper middle class but my dad will retire by the time I go to college and so I was lookijg at my different options. @Bobzchemist That was what I was thinking about but now I think I am going to hold off on working and getting my degree at the same time. @perspicacious I do get all A’s and am projected for a good SAT score (1500s new scale), based off of my PSAT. As of now, I have 4.57 GPA for the year and 4.19 GPA cumulatively from the past three years and am looking at a GPA of 4.83 for senior year. And I do various after school activities. Do you think that I would be able to get good scholarships from that? I have already made an appointment with my college counselor at my school. But, because I live in Hawaii, my parents want me to go to school on the Mainland (mainly California).
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