Could you share your Universal Scholarship Applications?
We're building out a universal application for our 2021 scholarships and I'm looking for examples of universal scholarship applications. Would anyone be able to provide me with a copy of their application?
The question list pdf version would be great.
Thanks!
Best Answer
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Here is a great application that was built by one of Foundant's CSM's who previously worked as a scholarship administrator at a Community Foundation! This application can be imported into your site and is a perfect starting point. It includes helpful tips for each section.
Tips:
Question Branching/form logic - use branching in a thoughtful way as to not over complicate your application. Complex branching can cause challenges in reporting so be sure to discuss this with your CSM as you build out your application.
Major: If you have some scholarships that require that the recipient pursue a specific major or career, consider only including those majors in a drop-down list (single select) or checkbox (multi-select) with the option of "other" If they select other, they may type in the name of their chosen major or career.
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Answers
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Happy to share. We built ours last year, so I know there's room for improvement. I also understand it's a bit wonky, so I'm including a additional document that shows how the branching works. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck!
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Thank you @TomWickersham! This is incredibly helpful!
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We are also building our UA for 2021 and would love to see some examples. Many thanks, @TomWickersham. And thanks, @BethNuttall for starting the conversation!
Laurie Abildso
Vice President
Your Community Foundation of North Central West Virginia, Inc.
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Here is our Universal Application from last year also.
I am in the process of tweaking some of the eligibility and branching for 2021. We identified some issues that just didn't work as smoothly as I'd thought (some language, some interpretation). And I've learned what to include in the Opportunities List.
Overall, we were very pleased.
And Thanks to Foundant for listening to our needs and suggestions and working to make our dreams come true!!
@TomWickersham Thanks for sharing that flowchart!! Awesome work.
Bettie
Bettie Stammerjohn
Executive Director
Community Foundation of Greene County, Pennsylvania
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Happy to share....
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Here is a copy of ours.
Please feel free to reach out if you have questions.
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Thank you @JoannFarnham! I am curious if you will keep the SAT question given the impacts of COVID?
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Beth, we did leave it on the application, Students are still able to take the SAT here with that being said, I must say i am not a 100% sure if the students are able to take it online or if they are using a secured location? I do know that some colleges are talking of not using this information. I have the question into a coworker that works directly with SAT to see what they know and will share their information with the group.
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Ok, that is good to know. We are leaving SAT/ACT questions off this year - I have heard the same about some colleges not using that info. Thanks!
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We are leaving the SAT/ACT on the application as an optional question.
But the one scholarship I have that requires a minimum SAT/ACT score will be removing that criteria since most post-secondary ed programs are not mandating it. And it is near impossible to get the test in our community in the past year.
I never liked those scores anyway!
Bettie Stammerjohn
Executive Director
Community Foundation of Greene County, Pennsylvania
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I love the idea of sharing application examples. I'm happy to share ours and open for feedback as we will begin to revise the financial information section in the upcoming weeks.
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Happy to share our 2021 Universe application! It's our first, and I'm sure we'll be tweaking next year. I've already made a few tweaks to clear up certain Instruction-type questions.
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This is my first year with SLM and I already have tweaks for next year, it's very helpful to see what others are doing! @TomWickersham, did you create that branching flowchart yourself? That is very insightful!
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I needed to create that flowchart -- I only think visually! (Is there a badge for visual thinkers? #needmorebadges)
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Circling back to share our application! It is almost final, but not quite there. Thanks for everyone who shared theirs!
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Here is a great application that was built by one of Foundant's CSM's who previously worked as a scholarship administrator at a Community Foundation! This application can be imported into your site and is a perfect starting point. It includes helpful tips for each section.
Tips:
Question Branching/form logic - use branching in a thoughtful way as to not over complicate your application. Complex branching can cause challenges in reporting so be sure to discuss this with your CSM as you build out your application.
Major: If you have some scholarships that require that the recipient pursue a specific major or career, consider only including those majors in a drop-down list (single select) or checkbox (multi-select) with the option of "other" If they select other, they may type in the name of their chosen major or career.
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Thank you for all these examples! I am new in the job as director of scholarships at a foundation in Chattanooga (1 yr on July 7th). We currently use an eligibility questionnaire that would then open up our scholarship applications. My questions are: Would the universal application now take the place of the eligibility questionnaire? How does the universal app connect to the processes?
If these are questions for tech, please let me know! LOL! I really want to take this summer to build this out if I can.
Thanks again!!
Stephanie
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