Free Money?

Chris Vuturo has news for the millions of Americans who believe that college scholarships go only to the needy, to the academically gifted or to talented athletes. There's big money to be had by middle-class students who are simply willing to work at it, he says.

He should know.

Vuturo, a 28-year-old graduate student, has won $885,782 in college scholarships during his admittedly lengthy college career. That gave him the ability to graduate from Harvard with just $6,000 in debt--despite Harvard's $100,000-plus price tag and the fact that neither he nor his family had money saved for school.

Any ambitious student can achieve similar success, he notes. Vuturo's 835-page book, "The Scholarship Advisor," (Random House, 1999) delineates where and how to apply for thousands of scholarships.

"It comes down to a question of effort," says Vuturo, a grad student at Duke University in Durham, N.C. "If you put out the effort, good things are going to happen."

Vuturo's scholarship success story starts in 1988--the summer between his junior and senior years of high school. Vuturo was the youngest of six children. His parents were nearing retirement age, and there was no money for him to go to college. He realized that if he wanted to go--particularly if he wanted to attend a university outside his hometown of Louisville, Ky.--he had to figure out something on his own.

He spent every spare hour that summer in the public library, looking for books and information about privately sponsored college scholarships. He learned that these scholarships are legion.

Better yet, many of them are portable. Only a handful require that you go to a specific college. With the others, no matter where you decide to study, you can take the scholarship money with you.

That flexibility is pivotal, Vuturo says. While most financial aid comes directly through the college you attend, outside scholarships can enable you to create a better aid package.

That's because a large portion of most financial aid packages provided through schools are made up of loans. If you get an outside scholarship, you can use that money to reduce the amount you have to borrow.

And unlike financial aid that comes through colleges and federal and state governments, private scholarships frequently have nothing to do with financial need or academic prowess. In fact, there are hundreds of awards that can go to "B" and "C" students, Vuturo notes. Your ability to win one is more likely to be affected by your outside interests, your family's religious, professional and cultural affiliations, and, often, where you live.

Consider the Ethel N. Bowen Foundation, which gives $2,000 grants to 20 students who reside in Southern County in West Virginia. The Bud Raftery Scholarship Fund offers grants ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 a year to three students whose parents are members of the International Brotherhood of Painters. The First National Bank-California Scholarship awards $1,000 annually to a California resident who is affiliated with Future Farmers of America. And the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons gives a variety of awards to Native Americans who study theology, religion, health or medicine.

"The saddest thing is when people think they can't get any scholarships, so they don't even try," Vuturo says. "At least try. Even if you don't get the scholarship, it prepares you for the college application process--and it prepares you for applying for more scholarships later."

Naturally, you won't get every scholarship you apply for. Vuturo applied for 20 in the months prior to college and got seven. But you increase your odds of winning scholarships if you know how to write a good essay.

Many colleges also require an essay when they consider accepting you. Writing essays for the scholarships--something you can do months before applying to colleges--can help you organize your thoughts, activities and resume for the entrance applications, which may help you get into a better school, Vuturo says.

"Applying for these scholarships really lays the foundation for the college application process later on," he says. "You have your essays, your list of extracurricular activities, your SAT scores, and you're more organized. I don't know if it helped me get into Harvard, but it certainly didn't hurt."

What's the key to writing a scholarship or entrance-winning essay? Character, Vuturo says. Colleges and scholarship sponsors usually pick a topic or question they want you to focus on, but their point is to peek at your soul rather than your resume.

"They really don't care which books you choose [when they ask about your three favorite books, for example]. What they're trying to do is find out what you are really like--beyond the grades, beyond the numbers," Vuturo says. "When you fill these things out, you have to ask yourself, 'How am I going to reveal my character?' "