是打工,還是申請獎學金

如今，大學學費的負擔越來越重。盡管家長們拿出一生的積蓄供子女上學，我的同學中仍有許多人需要幫家長分擔部分學費。很多同學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，我發現減輕大學費用的最佳途徑是獲取校內和校外的各種獎學金。

在美國，許多亞裔家庭普遍有一個誤解，認為優秀的私立大學比本州的公立大學更貴。優秀的私立大學學費確實比較驚人，不過它們往往提供更豐厚的經濟資助，彌補表面價格的差距。與資金有限的公立大學相比，擁有大筆捐贈基金的私立大學能根據學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奧斯丁分校提供的8000美元獎學金，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。雖然上哈佛大學每年預算為4.5萬美元，但絕大部分都由哈佛自動提供的獎學金承擔，剩下僅僅4000美元由學生自己負責——通過選擇貸款、打工或校外獎學金來解決。誰能想到，上不起公立的得州大學的我卻能走進哈佛呢!因此在選擇申請大學之前，必須要仔細調查不同學校的經濟資助規則，因為大多數家庭都是依賴不同程度的經濟資助來實現大學教育的。

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

校外獎學金低至200美元，高至2萬美元，針對高中生或大學生。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、藝術愛好者等等。私立獎學金的數量和種類意味著并不是只有成績最好的學生才能獲取獎學金，無數擁有感人經歷、獨特才華或有趣理想的優秀學生都有機會獲得。

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

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

有時候為了應急，半工半讀可能是必需的。但要記住，在讀大學生目前的收入水平遠遠低于其畢業后，為了忙于低薪打工而犧牲學習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，專心學習，認真參加課外活動，同時積極申請獎學金，并要持之以恒。在選擇沒有報酬但具有挑戰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，應該選擇前者，然后利用獎學金來彌補失去的工資，因為，有許許多多獎學金在等著優秀而且主動積極追求的學生來領取。

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》]