Scholarship Deadline: Do Not Miss

Q: If I miss a scholarship deadline, should I still send in the scholarship application late? Also, will I still be considered for a scholarship award if I miss the scholarship deadline?

A: In all facets of financial aid for college, deadlines are extremely important, and college scholarships are no exception. Typically, an ample amount of time is provided to students for completion of all needed scholarship application requirements, so pleading a case for consideration after the deadline has passed, doesn’t do much good.

The truth is that most scholarships being offered receive a large amount of qualified (and over qualified) applicants, who complete the requirements before the scholarship deadline. The scholarship selection judges and/or committees often have a difficult enough time selecting a winner from the applications that do apply before the scholarship deadline, that any consideration for an application received after the scholarship deadline will simply be out of the question (regardless of how qualified you are for the scholarship or how easy the scholarship may seem).

In addition to meeting the scholarship deadline, applicants should also carefully review the scholarship’s requirement criteria. If an applicant does not meet all of the required criteria to be considered for the scholarship, an applicant would be wasting his or her time to apply. With such a large number of scholarships out there, applicants should have no problem finding a number of scholarships that they do qualify for. Depending on your situation, it may be worth a try to contact the scholarship provider and inquire about their policy on missing the scholarship deadline, but do not expect any special exceptions because there typically are none.