One Down, Two to Go (for): Three New Features for Our Students

ScholarshipOwl is all about helping students focus on their education and worry less about
financial issues. We do that with the support of our partners – scholarship providers, which
are many.
However, sometimes a handful of providers make decisions, justifiably or not, that impact the
opportunities our students have. Although our scope of response in these situations is limited, we do our best to remedy them – to the benefit of our students.

Canceled Scholarships and Our Response

It’s no secret that the current pandemic has had an impact on the global economy. Some scholarship providers, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or for other reasons, chose to cancel some of their scholarships, even though applications were already on their way. We at ScholarshipOWL understand that there are many reasons for this, but – at the same time – we feel outraged because we know that many students were already doing their part and submitting applications for some of these scholarships. Unfortunately, we can’t retrieve canceled scholarships, nor the work the students put in, since ScholarshipOWL does not directly influence scholarship providers. But, at the same time, and in order for this not to happen in the future, we’ve chosen to take action so that our students are safer in the future and certain that the work they put in is worthwhile. It’s already frustrating to wait for the draw and the results, we know, but to have all that nullified without an explanation? That simply won’t fly. Therefore, we’ve already lowered the credibility score of the said providers – this way, you will know that they are not completely trustworthy. Furthermore, for the scholarships that are canceled, we’ve put a notification with the canceled status. Please check if any of your current scholarship applications have been updated with this status and, if it has, save yourself the time and invest it in more worthwhile scholarship opportunities. Needless to say, we know that this is not fair, and are considering strict sanctions against such providers in the future. In the meantime, we wanted to do what’s in our power to remedy this, so we’ve introduced two more features.

The Window of Opportunity: Multiple Awards Scholarships

They say every cloud has a silver lining. We’ve found ours in scholarship providers that offer multiple awards scholarships.
What does this mean?

There are two categories of these benefactors: some providers give out the same amount to multiple winners (say, 3 x 1000 USD), or they might give several different amounts (e.g. 1500 USD, 1000 USD, and 750 USD) within the same draw. So, in addition to sanctioning the canceled scholarships, we’ve decided to make our students more aware of the multiple awards scholarships. This way, we minimize the chances of these great opportunities being overlooked. All you need to do is hover over the amount of the prize within the scholarship card and see how many awards are given out. If it is a multiple awards scholarship, you will see that there are several awards within the draw. Why is this important? If there are multiple draws, you automatically have a greater chance of winning the scholarship. Combine it with our other features, e.g. applicants counter, to further maximize your chances of winning a scholarship.

One Final Glance for Better Chance: Application Review

Our team jokingly says: If there is one problem, whack it with at least three solutions, so it has nowhere to run. And that’s what we do. So in addition to canceled scholarship and multiple awards notifications, we’ve also wanted to make the application process a bit easier and much more transparent – that is why we’re
introducing an application review window.

You already know that the ScholarshipOwl platform auto-fills your applications with the information you provided within your profile. This is meant to save you time so you can focus on the work instead of the administrative drudgery. However, now, whether you submit your application via e-mail or online form, you will get a chance to peek under the hood and see what it is that we are exactly sending to the providers. It’s our way of further including you in the process and giving you one last glance before you hit ‘send’. Furthermore, within this step, you can still make some last-minute modifications, if need be. So, from now on, with each scholarship application, you will get an Application Review screen as a final part of the submission – and make sure, for one last time, that your application looks dazzling. As it should be.

Only an Informed Response Is a Good Response

We’ve obviously encountered certain drawbacks when it comes to scholarship opportunities. ScholarshipOwl feels this impact as much as our students. Luckily, these are exceptions and not the rule. We understand that some of these drawbacks are justified, and hope that soon things will go back to normal, so we can offer you more scholarships that are consistent. In the meantime, however, we do our best to remedy the situation and further maximize your chances of winning. That is our mission, regardless of the things we can’t control. Take a look at the applications you submitted and make sure none of them are canceled. Then, hover over the amounts in scholarship cards and see if any of them are multiple awards scholarships, then use these opportunities. For further tips and tricks on how to maximize your chances and win more scholarship money, read our blog.