What to Do Once You Have Applied for a Scholarship

Now that you’ve postmarked your application or, in most cases, hit that “Send” button in your email browser, your new mentality is probably out of sight, out of mind. Though your focus should be on other scholarship applications, there are still some “to-dos” to check off your list for this particular scholarship. There are five next steps you can take once you have applied for a scholarship. While you wait, here’s what to do next:

After You've Applied for a Scholarship

Send a follow-up email.

Give your application 7–10 business days to reach the scholarship provider and be processed along with the other applications. After this time has lapsed, send an email to verify they received your application. You may not get a response, depending on the applicant pool size, but in some cases, you may hear back on your application status. It doesn’t hurt to ask just to give you some peace of mind. This is also a good rule of thumb if you later realize you forgot to submit a portion of your application. You’re more likely to be able to turn in separate pieces from the rest of your application, if you’ve personally reached out to make sure that the provider has received your application and all supplementary materials. This follow-up email is not the time to ask if you’ve won the scholarship; that would just be premature – and tacky. It’s more of a polite formality to show your interest and that you’re on top of things.

Don't nag the scholarship committee.

On a similar note, the emails most likely to be ignored by the scholarship committee are those asking if a final decision has been made and if so, who the winner is. For the most part, scholarship providers will only reach out to the applicant selected as the recipient and not to everyone else who has applied. If you haven’t heard anything for a month or two after the scholarship deadline, it’s safe to assume that you didn’t win the scholarship. You can always check the scholarship guidelines to find out when the provider plans to notify winners. Place this date, and the scholarship name, in your planner so you can easily keep track of winning timelines.

Ask for feedback.

Once a month or two has passed, it doesn’t hurt to reach out to the scholarship provider and ask for any feedback they might have on your application. Asking for and implementing feedback helps make your future scholarship applications better. Plus, you’re getting the opinions and insights of someone who knows what to look for in a scholarship application. The chances that you’ll get a response from the scholarship provider are slim, but if you do get a response, it’s more than worth it to send a quick email to ask for feedback. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know if you could have received some pointers!

Maintain your GPA and Stay Involved.

It’s important to remember that you’ll need to keep up your academic work. While the award you’re following up on might not be a merit-based scholarship, you want positive academic status for other scholarships you qualify for! This includes continuing to look for ways to enhance your brag sheet and finding ways to give back to your community with volunteer work.

Update Your Fastweb Profile

Rather than aimlessly waiting to hear back, enhance your odds of finding even more scholarships that fit you by updating your Fastweb profile. Be sure to include new extracurricular activities you’re in, your latest school year and more. There are so many simple tricks you can do to make Fastweb work even better for you. So now that you’ve sent in your application, avoid sitting back and just relaxing. Maintain a level of interest in the scholarship until the entire process is complete – you’ll learn something along the way that will help with your future scholarship applications.