Counselors: Why You Should List Your Local Scholarships on Going Merry
You might be wondering, what is Going Merry?
Going Merry is a free scholarship-matching platform. We make it easier for students to find and apply for scholarships and simpler for scholarship providers to create and manage them. Going Merry also provides financial aid resources for students, parents, and counselors. Our mission is to give every student truly equal access to life-changing education.
We list thousands of local scholarships and work closely with high schools across the U.S. to digitize their local scholarship programs. Safe to say, we know how much time and effort goes into managing these programs and we want to help you manage yours! There are so many reasons to list your local scholarships on Going Merry. Read on to see why (and get answers to a few FAQs along the way!).
1. Going Merry is Free
We don’t charge schools, districts, or local scholarship providers a fee to list local scholarships on Going Merry. Going Merry is also free for students. There are no signup fees, application fees, or annual fees.
2. We Never Sell Student Data
We never sell student data to any third parties. We use bank-level data encryption methods and best-in-class data storage solutions to keep student data safe. Our servers and databases are hosted on Amazon Cloud (part of Amazon Web Services (AWS)), which meets the requirements of the most security-sensitive organization. Other users of AWS include Capital One and NASA.
3. You’ll Receive Support from Real People
AI chatbots have made huge strides in recent years, but we all need to “speak with a representative!” sometimes. If you have questions about how to best set up your program, how to access applications, or what resources we offer, the Going Merry team is here to help. Whether it’s Brianna, Eleanna, Meg, Allyson, Bethany, Grant, or Madison, we’re real people who are here to answer your questions!
If you have students and parents who have questions about applying for scholarships on Going Merry, questions about the FAFSA®, or other financial aid questions, send them to us at support@goingmerry.com. We’re a team of real people, ready to help!
If you prefer to explore on your own first, we also have an extensive library of FAQs to answer your questions!
4. Easily Digitize Your Local Scholarships with the Scholarship Wizard
Built specifically for counselors and providers, the Scholarship Wizard is a user-friendly portal that allows you to create and list scholarships on the Going Merry site.
The Wizard has built-in videos, tooltips, and suggestions so you won’t run into any roadblocks while building your scholarships. Whether you have one – or 150 – scholarships in your program, the Wizard helps you quickly set up your program so your students can start applying. Things for you to know:
- You decide the eligibility requirements, application questions, and supporting documents.
- You decide what student information you want to collect on an application.
- For example: Maybe you need to know a student’s school name, GPA, class rank, contact information, and degree pursued. But you don’t need their intended career or work history. Whatever the case may be, you select the info that appears on an application.
- You’re given a preview of the scholarship application and listing page and can make as many edits as needed before the scholarships open to students.
- Receive complete applications from eligible students only.
- Only eligible students can submit their completed applications. No more sifting through applications trying to figure out if applicants are eligible or not!
View this support article and walkthrough video for more information about the Wizard.
5. Easily Renew Scholarships Year After Year
Subsequent years on Going Merry are super easy because you can Renew (basically copy) all scholarships from the prior year. No need to build your scholarships from scratch every year. If things such as eligibility requirements or application questions change from the previous year, you are welcome to make edits to scholarships when you renew them for the new year. If your scholarships are pretty much the same every year, you’re good to go!
6. Local and National Scholarships- All In One Place!
Going Merry lists both local and national scholarships. That means students can find your local scholarships as well as big-name national scholarships (hello Coca-Cola, Foot Locker, and Taco Bell) all in one place – which is pretty special for a scholarship site.
The Going Merry team also vets every scholarship added to our site. We verify that all of the scholarships we add are real so students can feel confident that they won’t get spammed when applying for scholarships using Going Merry.
7. Create and Share a Custom List of Scholarships
A common request from counselors was the ability to create a custom list of scholarships that could be shared with students. We built a feature that does this just for you!
In your Going Merry Counselor account, you can create a Custom Scholarship List curated by you for your students (find more info about Custom Scholarship Lists here). When you add scholarships to your list, you can:
- create a webpage that displays the scholarships you want students to apply for; and
- create a list of scholarships that you can download as a CSV file
Both the webpage and CSV file allow students to view scholarship listing pages and start their applications. Share the list as a webpage or email students the list as a CSV file. You decide how you want to share your scholarships! Keep the list simple and only add your local scholarships, or also add national scholarships to the list.
8. Students Love the Going Merry Experience: Simple Applications, Scholarship Matching and Tracking, Frequent Reminders, and the Popular Mobile App
The Going Merry sign-up and application process is very easy for students!
- Auto-Filled Applications: Students fill out their Going Merry profiles and we use their information to auto-fill applications. That means they don’t have to type the same personal information over and over again for every application. Students save time with simple, auto-filled applications!
- Scholarship Matching: Going Merry is a scholarship-matching platform. We match students with scholarships based on the information in their profiles, so students automatically see scholarships they’re eligible to apply for in their accounts (including your local scholarships).
- Scholarship Tracking: In their Going Merry accounts, students can track which applications they have in draft mode and which applications they’ve submitted, helping them stay organized.
- Mobile App: Our mobile app is very popular with students. In the app, students can submit applications anywhere in the U.S., at any time.
- Reminders: Students with applications in draft mode will receive emailed reminders to submit their applications before the deadline. Students also receive a bi-weekly emailed digest of scholarships they’re eligible to apply to.
- Documents: Students can upload their own documents to applications. Once they attach a document, it’s saved to their profile so they can attach it to other applications on Going Merry.
If documents are required to be uploaded confidentially, students can send an email from their accounts to counselors, teachers, mentors, and coaches requesting that they upload confidential transcripts and recommendation letters. When a recommender uploads a transcript or recommendation letter, the student can’t view the contents, but they can attach the document to applications.
Counselors can also upload confidential transcripts and recommendation letters to student profiles via their Going Merry counselor account.
9. Advertise Your Scholarships Using the Going Merry Scholarships Widget
A widget is a table of local scholarships that updates automatically. You can add it to your school or organization’s website so students have a live feed of local and national scholarships.
10. Easily View and Download Applications and Supporting Documents
When you digitize your scholarships with Going Merry, you gain access to your “provider portal,” an online account that allows you to track applications in real-time. In the portal, you can view the applications and documents that have been submitted as well as the names and email addresses of students whose applications are still in draft (these are applications that are still in progress).
There are a few different ways to view applications. You can:
- Download and print applications and documents individually or in bulk
- View online versions of applications and documents in the portal without downloading or printing and/ or
- Download a CSV file of all applicant info—whatever works for you and your program!
All applications are uniform and easy to read.
11. Quickly Invite Other Administrators to Help Manage Applications
As the program administrator, you decide who has access to applications and student information. If you work with a scholarship committee or other counselors at your school, the provider portal allows you to invite others to access applications. You can give other administrators or committee members access to all scholarships or select scholarships, depending on their role or involvement. You’re able to edit and revoke access as needed.
If it’s easier for you to directly email applications and supporting documents to other administrators instead of inviting them, you can do that in the provider portal too! It’s up to you how you’d like to manage applications.
12. Use Our Evaluation Features to Help Select Scholarship Winners
When the time comes to select scholarship winners, use our evaluation tools to help narrow down candidates.
Utilize the Quick Evaluation Rating feature which allows you to select if a candidate is a:
- Yes (A promising candidate)
- No (Not a candidate)
or
- Maybe (A potential candidate)
Use the Full Evaluation Rating feature which allows you to set a custom rubric a committee will use to rate applicants on the criteria you set (for example: community service, essay response, leadership, recommendation letters, or academic record).
You can then filter and select recipients based on their evaluation ratings.
Ensure that applications are viewed without bias by downloading redacted applications (redact student information such as student name, gender, household income, and more).
13. We Help You Notify Scholarship Winners
Informing winners that their hard work has paid off and that they’ve been selected as a scholarship recipient is one of the best parts of the scholarship process! Once scholarship winners have been chosen, select them as recipients in the provider portal. This makes it clear to other admins and committee members that the selection process is complete. Students frequently reach out to us to ask about the status of their applications. When you select a winner, applicants will receive an email three months after a scholarship’s deadline informing them of their application status (students are informed if they “Won” or if they were “Not Selected”). The application status in a student’s account will also update 3 months after the deadline.
Let us know if you don’t want this email sent or if you want the time frame in which it is sent to change.
14. Tip: Invite Students to Sign Up for a Going Merry Account
In your Going Merry counselor account, send students an invite to sign up for a Going Merry student account. You can also encourage students to sign up for an account directly on the Going Merry website.
Parents are welcome to sign up for a Going Merry parent account. When they do, they will have access to parent resources and can also view local and national scholarships. Parents can sign up here.
Ready to get started?
We’re here to support you, your students, their parents, and scholarship providers.
Fill out this form, and we’ll contact you with the next steps in 1-2 business days.
We can’t wait to hear from you!
Don’t have a counselor account yet?
Sign up for a Going Merry Counselor Account here.
See what current programs have to say about Going Merry:
“As the scholarship administrator, I found the Going Merry system to be easy to use.”*
– Sarah, program administrator from Colorado
“You helped us provide scholarships to students in need in a very seamless way. We appreciate all the help we got from you!!”*
– Miguel, program administrator from California
“This has been a game-changer for our scholarship experience! I rave about it anytime someone asks about local scholarship organization on my counselor Facebook groups.”*
– Julie, a counselor from Illinois
“We love how easy it makes the application process for students. The auto fill feature truly does save a lot of time.”*
– Deanell, a counselor from Kansas
* Results are not guaranteed and may vary.
Disclaimer: This blog post provides personal finance educational information, and it is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice.
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