How to Organize: Scholarship Applications

One of my motivated, on-the-top students, sent me this question in preparation for one of our meetings:

       I would like to see a sample scholarship calendar or get some suggestions for effective ways to organize my            application time. A lot of my summer will be organization for senior year, so I think that it would be             meaningful          to talk about time management and organization strategies these summer months.

Wow!  I love that she is thinking forward, knowing that she will need to be organized during her senior year to make it count.  She is using her summer to plan ahead!  Even though I'm here to help, she recognizes that she is in charge of her own success, because the scholarships she will apply for are very different from the next person.  As much as I can advise--the individual student needs to keep track of the scholarship deadlines specific to their goals.  But how?  How do you possibly sort through hundreds of scholarships, and keep track of all these deadlines?  Read on...

I used to counsel students to keep track of things in a standard notebook--a couple pages for each month.  But as all scholarships have moved to the web, using the notebook for this has become antiquated.  I did some research of what other people have used, and found this great idea from the UNIGO website.  By the way, take some time and explore UNIGO--it's a massive website with loads of helpful information.  You can even get lost in the website, and a little overwhelmed.  If that starts to happen, click on this specific link:  UNIGO Post: Organizing Applications .  

Did you click on it and read it?  Pretty awesome technique.  I love XCEL, and think it is the perfect format to organize scholarships.  I just wish I had come up with it myself!  Ever heard of that phrase:  "Beg, Borrow, and Steal"?  That applies here--if someone is willing to share a great idea for getting the job done--use it!  And this is a great idea!

Here are some things I would add: 

• Don't feel locked into using the spreadsheet provided by UNIGO.  You can create your own spreadsheet!  Keep the critical fields if you create your own spreadsheet:  the name of the scholarship, the URL address, deadline, $ awarded, and what is required to apply.  
• It is easy to rearrange information in XCEL, so don't be afraid to add or move lines of data.  You might simply want to add in scholarships first--then worry about organizing it according to the deadlines.  
• Instead of only listing the "deadline", put in the "window" the application can be submitted:  the open date through the end date.  Some scholarships have a 1 month window, others extend to 3 months or even 6 months.  This way, even if 10 applications have the same deadline, they probably have varying beginning dates, and you can submit them throughout that time, hence increasing the amount of scholarships you have applied to without stressing yourself out in any one month.  
• Use XCEL to help you organize.  There are tab buttons at the bottom to add more "sheets" as needed.  If you are creating the spreadsheet early in high school, it would be helpful to create a "sheet" for each year of high school, and then a "sheet" for scholarships that can be completed once you are in college.  I would advise using one sheet as a "master" sheet--where all the scholarships are listed.

Hope that helps you get organized, stay organized...and especially apply for scholarships!
Comment below if you think this is a great idea, and how it works for you!  Excited to hear from you!