WWYD: Scholarship undeliverable

[cjcouple]

My son was awarded a $1,000 Scholarship by the local chapter of a "veteran organization" without getting specific.

Anyway, the instructions said to send his first semesters schedule to a specific person/address and he will get half ($500). then the same for semester 2 for 2nd half.

well, it came back undeliverable. It had an expired forwarding address. the guy moved to another state. I called the high school (which we got it awarded through) and they called and left a message with the vet place.

That was last Wednesday. do we call ourselves or keep trying to contact the HS. 1st day of HS classes is Thursday so they are busy. It's no rush since I'm not planning on using it until next year's tuition but I don't want to just let it go either. it's $1k

[glw]

I would give it until next Monday and then call the organization's main number if you haven't heard back from the HS. I'd expect you'd need to leave a message with an admin there who will do some research and call you back.

[cjcouple]

glw thanks.

it's tricky because he has another scholarship for $350 by that same org as well but that one is after the 1st semesters grades are posted. (different address/ contact person though).

Their Thank you letter seemed to be delivered fine. (not returned)

Also there is a forwarding address on that yellow sticker I could try sending this to.

[dexteroni]

Since you don’t need the money immediately, I would give everyone some time. The veterans organization might not be robustly staffed or might rely on volunteers, and it might take some time for your message to get to the right person. I’d give it a couple weeks and then try again. And then I would recommend calling the vet organization yourself, to eliminate a step - waiting for the high school to call, then hear back, then call you back, etc. is just more room for a connection to be dropped. If you continue to not hear back from the vet org, then try looping the school in again to see if they get better results.

[tacokick]

I would call and send a note to the address on the sticker.

I don’t see any benefit in letting it drag on. Get it off your plate and if there are delays, it will be on their end. It doesn’t matter when you were going to use it, you expected it now and the org expected you to have it now. Maybe this will help someone else who was expecting money too, the org probably don’t realize there was a breakdown in communication.

[calmcosmo]

As a former scholarship chair at a high school, calling the HS just adds a layer in between you and your money. The high school likely has no power or information. They will be doing the exact same research as you, only for them it is a fraction of their bandwidth during the first few weeks of school.

I'm sure it's frustrating and I can totally understand that you want your money owed.

[waverly]

Aug 27, 2024 8:58:19 GMT -5 tacokick said:

I would call and send a note to the address on the sticker.

I don’t see any benefit in letting it drag on. Get it off your plate and if there are delays, it will be on their end. It doesn’t matter when you were going to use it, you expected it now and the org expected you to have it now. Maybe this will help someone else who was expecting money too, the org probably don’t realize there was a breakdown in communication.

This is where I am at.  It's already been a week, so it isn't like you haven't been patient.  They are likely a disorganized volunteer organization which requires more organization and persistance from you.  

[cjcouple]

thanks. I only went to the high school first because the letter of instructions were on the HS letterhead so I didn't know if there was like a hierarchy to scholarships.

[cjcouple]

Also, the actually framed award is not signed by the contact person.

for example letter says to send a thank you and schedule to James*
Award is actually signed by the commander David*.

*not real names. haha.

[dexteroni]

Also when you do get through to the right person, ask if you can email it. Mailing a hard copy seems unnecessary and is already causing problems.

[Deleted]

Aug 27, 2024 9:56:06 GMT -5 cjcouple said:

Also, the actually framed award is not signed by the contact person.

for example letter says to send a thank you and schedule to James*
Award is actually signed by the commander David*.

*not real names. haha.

The different names thing is fairly common.

Definitely reach out directly to the veterans organization at any contact info you have, and inquire about the funds. My guess is that somewhere with James’ departure, the ball was dropped, and it’s possible that nobody is even tracking that the money still needs to be sent to the university.

Generally speaking, Universities are willing to hold out knowing that the money is coming, but if this isn’t taken care of before registration for Spring classes, your student may have a hold on their account that prevents them from registering. (Sometimes they’ll remove the hold if it’s because delayed scholarship $$, but it’s still more work that could be avoided by not waiting to rectify this).

[redheadk]

I’d reach out directly to the president/leader of the organization and/or the treasurer if you have contact info for that person.

[cjcouple]

Aug 27, 2024 12:53:37 GMT -5 @villainv said:

Aug 27, 2024 9:56:06 GMT -5 cjcouple said:

Also, the actually framed award is not signed by the contact person.

for example letter says to send a thank you and schedule to James*
Award is actually signed by the commander David*.

*not real names. haha.

The different names thing is fairly common.

Definitely reach out directly to the veterans organization at any contact info you have, and inquire about the funds. My guess is that somewhere with James’ departure, the ball was dropped, and it’s possible that nobody is even tracking that the money still needs to be sent to the university.

Generally speaking, Universities are willing to hold out knowing that the money is coming, but if this isn’t taken care of before registration for Spring classes, your student may have a hold on their account that prevents them from registering. (Sometimes they’ll remove the hold if it’s because delayed scholarship $$, but it’s still more work that could be avoided by not waiting to rectify this).

this year is already taken care of. I took a loan for the full tuition plus a little extra. All of his graduation money, scholarship money, small 529 he had ans the refund from this years tuition will be added to the money market we opened and will hopefully pay next years tuition in full or at least enough that we won't need a second loan.

that's the plan anyway. My DH & I are also working 2nd jobs and will be adding to the account all year. I've forecasted out and assuming everything goes as planned, we shouldnt have to take any more loans BUT idk. You know what they say about best laid plans....lol

[redheadk]

I’m surprised they will send the money directly to him. I’ve been in several organizations that award scholarships, all were very clear that the check must be mailed directly to the institution.

[cjcouple]

Aug 27, 2024 13:36:39 GMT -5 redheadk said:

I’m surprised they will send the money directly to him. I’ve been in several organizations that award scholarships, all were very clear that the check must be mailed directly to the institution.

IDK - this is my first time dealing with scholarships. He received 4 scholarships and they have different parameters.
One had a check in the envelope (this was a sports award with a check awarded at the Senior athletic banquet), the others were given at class night and 2 of them said a check will be "mailed to you" after you send them for first semester report card and this one said "half will be mailed to you" before each semester with receipt of his schedule or something like that 

[dcn]

I’m a part of an org that awards scholarships - I would try to reach out directly to the org if you can. Phone or email, we even get Facebook messages.