How scholarship matching actually works
By Vincent Elliott · Published · Updated
What we check your profile against, and why we'd rather show you one extra scholarship than hide a match.
What we check
Your profile is compared against what each scholarship requires: graduation year, whether it's only for high school seniors or only for college students, state, intended major, GPA, financial need (only the highest income bracket is ruled out for need-based awards), first-generation status, extracurricular focus, military or first-responder family, clubs you belong to, gender (only for awards meant for women or for men), citizenship status, and ethnicity (only for awards meant for specific groups). A scholarship is only excluded from your matches when something you answered is in clear conflict with its requirements.
Missing information won't hide a scholarship
If you haven't filled in your state, we don't exclude you from state-restricted scholarships. When we can't judge a dimension, we will not count it against you. The only way a scholarship disappears from your matches is if we see an actual conflict, like a graduation year that clearly excludes you. We believe that seeing one extra scholarship you may not qualify for costs you a few seconds, but never seeing the right one could cost you the scholarship.
Why financial need is treated cautiously
Eligibility for a need-based scholarship depends on much more than an income estimate. Our income range field only excludes you from need-based scholarships at the highest income bracket. Anywhere below that, we still show the scholarship to you, since the sponsor's own application will be the final determination of need.
You can change your profile at any time
If your major, state, or graduation year changes, simply update your profile and your matches will update immediately. Nothing about your original answers is locked in.