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College Scholarship Tip: Make a List and Check it Twice!
Use this college scholarship tip to win more money for school.
Did you know that building a college scholarship list is an essential part of a winning scholarship strategy?
[2023 Edition]
With so many college scholarships having different due dates and guidelines, it is very easy for a student to inadvertently fail to include some of the required material when they submit the application packet for judging.
What many students don’t realize is the first thing that many scholarship judges look for when doing the initial quick scan of the application is 100% complete submissions.
For example, the scholarship guidelines may specify students to include the following:
- Filled-out application
- Letter(s) of recommendation
- Essay(s)
- School transcripts
Failure to include one or more of those materials will automatically get the whole application packet tossed into the disqualified pile, no matter how outstanding the essay or deserving of the scholarship money the student may be.
[You may also like 10 Epic Tips Straight from a College Scholarship Judge]
The best way to ensure this does not happen is to print out the guidelines when the application is being printed.
Students can then check off all of the required materials before mailing, making sure nothing is forgotten or left out.
But what about online submitted scholarships that only need a *click* to be submitted?
Online scholarship applications should be treated no differently than traditional mailed-in ones.
Before clicking for submission, the student needs to be 100% sure that all required documents were uploaded correctly and accepted by the website collecting the information.
They also need to be extra careful to follow the exact submission instructions. (Email, uploading via the online application form, etc.) If email, there may be a subject line requirement.
With a physical checklist, they can check off or cross-out what the guidelines specify to make sure nothing has been left out.
College Scholarship Tip: Make a List and Check it Twice! #Students #Parents Click To Tweet
Are you looking for more winning college scholarship tips?

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Be sure to also read:
Crucial Tips for Submitting Killer Online College Scholarship Applications.
This is a very basic and simple college scholarship tip, but following it could be worth thousands of dollars in money for school!
These books are a tremendous help in finding more scholarships and getting more financial aid for college, and I highly recommend them:

Monica Matthews is the author of How to Win College Scholarships. She helped her own son win over $100,000 in college scholarships and now shares her expertise with other parents and their students. She truly has “been there, done that” in regard to helping parents and students navigate the scholarship process.
Her method of helping students in finding college scholarships, writing unique and compelling scholarship essays, creating amazing scholarship application packets, and more have taught desperate parents to help their own students win thousands of scholarship dollars. She teaches them how to apply S.M.A.R.T. with outstanding results.
Monica’s scholarship tips have been featured on many prominent websites, and she has been dubbed the “Go-To” expert on college scholarships.
Such a good habit, this making of lists.
Thanks, Carol. I am a total list-maker and my kids are too. Are you?
Such a wealth of knowledge in this!!
Thank you, Stacey!
This is such a basic life skill and is SO important, but even as grownups I know of so many people who have struggled with this – and paid the price when their grant application, professional proposal, etc. gets “circular-filed” before it even gets a serious first read. Yes, we’re all human and everyone makes mistakes – but if you can’t show a committee reviewing your work that you’re serious enough about wanting their (money, admission slot, whatever) that you’re diligent enough to dot your I’s and cross your T’s, that gives them an easy excuse to winnow you out, which means you’ve put in a ton of time for nothing! This is a hard lesson to learn, but the sooner one learns it, the easier things like this get as we go through life! #beentheredonethat
Excellent points! Thanks so much for sharing, Flossie, and for taking the time to comment. 🙂