是打工,還是申請獎學(xué)金

如今，大學(xué)學(xué)費的負擔越來越重。盡管家長們拿出一生的積蓄供子女上學(xué)，我的同學(xué)中仍有許多人需要幫家長分擔部分學(xué)費。很多同學(xué)為了半工半讀而放棄了參加課外活動和休閑的時間，然而還有人連餐館服務(wù)員的職位都很難找到。與其為了尋找兼職而讓自己焦頭爛額，我發(fā)現(xiàn)減輕大學(xué)費用的最佳途徑是獲取校內(nèi)和校外的各種獎學(xué)金。

在美國，許多亞裔家庭普遍有一個誤解，認為優(yōu)秀的私立大學(xué)比本州的公立大學(xué)更貴。優(yōu)秀的私立大學(xué)學(xué)費確實比較驚人，不過它們往往提供更豐厚的經(jīng)濟資助，彌補表面價格的差距。與資金有限的公立大學(xué)相比，擁有大筆捐贈基金的私立大學(xué)能根據(jù)學(xué)生家庭的需要提供更好的資助。

比如，幾年前我曾收到得州大學(xué)奧斯丁分校提供的8000美元獎學(xué)金，和令人不快的6000美元貸款，剩余的都要由我自己承擔。這樣，靠打工是很難做到的。雖然上哈佛大學(xué)每年預(yù)算為4.5萬美元，但絕大部分都由哈佛自動提供的獎學(xué)金承擔，剩下僅僅4000美元由學(xué)生自己負責——通過選擇貸款、打工或校外獎學(xué)金來解決。誰能想到，上不起公立的得州大學(xué)的我卻能走進哈佛呢!因此在選擇申請大學(xué)之前，必須要仔細調(diào)查不同學(xué)校的經(jīng)濟資助規(guī)則，因為大多數(shù)家庭都是依賴不同程度的經(jīng)濟資助來實現(xiàn)大學(xué)教育的。

對于已經(jīng)在校的大學(xué)生來說，學(xué)校突然減少下年的經(jīng)濟資助會讓人不知所措。這時，利用校外的眾多私立獎學(xué)金就比以往更加重要了。就我個人而言，校外獎學(xué)金讓我的大學(xué)生活相對從容，并在畢業(yè)時沒有一分貸款。

校外獎學(xué)金低至200美元，高至2萬美元，針對高中生或大學(xué)生。它們在申請者中選擇時有各自不同的傾向，比如移民、某個城市的居民、藝術(shù)愛好者等等。私立獎學(xué)金的數(shù)量和種類意味著并不是只有成績最好的學(xué)生才能獲取獎學(xué)金，無數(shù)擁有感人經(jīng)歷、獨特才華或有趣理想的優(yōu)秀學(xué)生都有機會獲得。

搜索、申請適合自己條件的獎學(xué)金需要大量時間和功夫，但回報是值得這些付出的。盡管獎學(xué)金的競爭格外激烈，但只要獲得一項獎學(xué)金，就可以超過一個學(xué)期的打工收入。比如，在一份申請表上投入整整5天時間、獲得了一份2500元的獎學(xué)金，和每周打工8小時、每小時10美元、一學(xué)期4個月總共收入1280元比起來，當然是獎學(xué)金劃算了。

在校大學(xué)生可以把申請獎學(xué)金所用的時間當做是每星期的打工時間，之間的區(qū)別在于前者更具風險，回報也會更多。與在圖書館重復(fù)掃描書本的打工相比，準備獎學(xué)金申請表的過程更具學(xué)習(xí)價值。

有時候為了應(yīng)急，半工半讀可能是必需的。但要記住，在讀大學(xué)生目前的收入水平遠遠低于其畢業(yè)后，為了忙于低薪打工而犧牲學(xué)習(xí)和課外活動的寶貴時間，并不是個值得的投資。

我推薦的策略是，專心學(xué)習(xí)，認真參加課外活動，同時積極申請獎學(xué)金，并要持之以恒。在選擇沒有報酬但具有挑戰(zhàn)性的助研員位置或者是有工資但沒有意義的收銀員工作時，應(yīng)該選擇前者，然后利用獎學(xué)金來彌補失去的工資，因為，有許許多多獎學(xué)金在等著優(yōu)秀而且主動積極追求的學(xué)生來領(lǐng)取。

These days， paying for college is harder than ever. Even after parents have dug up their life savings， my college peers are still finding the need to shoulder some of the financial burden themselves. Though my friends have given up extracurricular activities and fun for a part-time job，some of my classmates find it hard even to find a job as a waiter. Rather than fretting over the difficulties of finding part-time work， I have found that the best strategy for cutting down college costs involves scholarships from both colleges and outside sources.

Many Asian families have a common misconception that competitive private colleges are less affordable compared to in-state public universities. Though their prices tags may indeed be steep， better financial aid packages at exclusive private colleges often make up for the price difference. In fact， private colleges with large endowments may offer more need-based financial aid than poorly funded public schools.

For example， the financial aid I received from the University of Texas at Austin included only about $8，000 in grants， with an unpleasant $6，000 in loans， and the remaining left for my personal contribution through jobs-a rather unrealistic expectation. But Harvard College covered almost all of its $45，000 cost with grants， leaving me only about $4，000 in student contribution， to be covered by my choice of loan， job， or outside scholarships. Who would have thought that the in-state University of Texas turned out to be less affordable than Harvard! Thus careful research to distinguish between the financial aid policies of various schools should be finished before you even apply， since most families rely upon financial aid to make college possible.

For those already attending college， a sudden drop in the financial aid offer from your school can prove to be challenging. It is now more important than ever to take advantage of the abundant pool of private scholarships. In my situation， outside scholarships have enabled me to live with reasonable comfort during college and still graduate without a single loan.

These awards range from $200 to $20，000， cater to high school seniors and current college students， and may have preferences for specific kinds of applicants， such as immigrants， students living in a certain city， those with interests in art， etc. The large number and diverse targets of available scholarships mean that they are not just for the most brilliant students， but also for the countless good students with inspirational stories， unusual talents， or interesting dreams.

It takes extensive research to find appropriate scholarships and efforts to prepare applications， but the rewards are well worth the effort. Despite the fierce competition， a single award can overshadow the total income from a part-time job over an entire semester. For example， a $2，500 scholarship， from an investment of five full days spent on the application， is more worthwhile than a part-time job of 8 hours a week， at $10 per hour， for a total of $1，280 per semester (four months).

For current students， think of the time spent preparing scholarship applications as hours logged for lucrative， part-time job. In fact， you will probably learn more from writing a scholarship essay than from the repeated scanning of books at the library.

Sometimes a boring part-time may be necessary to help urgent needs， but remember that a student’s earning capacity now is much lower than after graduation. Taking precious time away from your classes and extracurriculars for a low-wage job may not be a worthy investment.

The strategy I recommend is to concentrate more on academic studies and extracurricular activities， while also applying to scholarships aggressively and with persistence. In other words， choose an unpaid but challenging research position over a paid job at the cash register. Then cover the foregone wages with some of the millions of scholarships available， wanting to be claimed by the best candidates with enough initiative to find them.

[摘自美國《世界周刊》]