Many of you might be wondering if you can apply for more than one scholarship. For example, applying for Benjy Grinberg and Sam Haskell scholarships at the same time. Many students have been given the advice to apply for as much scholarships as you can which is a solid advice.
But from that some other questions arise such as can you actually apply for too many scholarships? What about the other end of the spectrum of scholarship? Is that a bad thing to apply for too many scholarships? All your questions will be answered in this particular article.
Too Many Scholarships affects the Financial Aid
The answer to can you apply for too many scholarships is sort of a ‘yes and no’ answer. The problem in this is not the amount of scholarship you apply but the amount of scholarships which you do win.
You are required to reports any sort of outside scholarships (besides the university scholarships) or any sort of financial aid to your university or college. This will help your institutional aid to be adjusted according to it. This basically means that the more money you get from the outside scholarships, the less money the university or the college have to give you.
You may think that this doesn’t make any sense, but in reality, it actually does. Earning outside scholarships means that you have fewer financial needs. So that the university or college can focus on other students who are in need of the financial aid in order for them to pay for their higher education.
Financial Aid cannot exceed the attendance cost or tuition fees
To explain this easily, say your college expense is 1000$ a year and you will be able to earn a full-ride scholarship and a few other outside scholarships which can total up to 1100$? Then the question arises do you get to keep the extra 100$?
That depends on two things:
- Where that 100$ came from
- What the rules of the scholarship’s sponsor are
Some of the scholarship sponsors will be happy to tell you keep the extra money and use it for other college related stuff, but other might not be like that. They might ask you to return their money since all your college costs are already covered by the scholarships.
According to me, sometimes applying to so many scholarships, you might win more than one scholarship. But in result some other students you are also in need of the financial aid will not be able to get that.
So, your extra scholarships can be helpful for some other students in need of financial assistance for their higher education. You should consider all the pros and cons of applying for too many scholarships, before you actually apply for it. As it may be good for you, but not for other students in need.
If you are applying for small scholarships for your college, then it is ok to apply for too many scholarships. As one or two of the small scholarships are not able to cover your college expenses.
You can apply in two or three scholarships at time but don’t apply in so many as there are other students as well who are in need of financial aid.