Introducing The Scholarship Tracker

Winning scholarships is a numbers game: the more you apply, the more you win.

If you apply to a handful of scholarships and "wait to hear back," you'll rarely see the results you want. If you apply consistently, reuse your work, and hit deadlines consistently, you give yourself dozens of chances to win. That's why we built the Scholarship Tracker: to make applying to a large volume of scholarships manageable, organized, and sustainable without juggling spreadsheets, calendars, and screenshots.

Ready Set College has been helping students and families access affordable education for over 25 years — 100% free and always will be.

Already have an account? Sign in and open the Scholarship Tracker from your dashboard.

The rules of the scholarship game

Scholarships feel random when you treat them like a lottery. They become predictable when you treat them like a pipeline: find opportunities, complete requirements, submit, track outcomes, repeat.

  1. Local beats national. Smaller applicant pools dramatically increase your odds.
  2. Volume + consistency = wins. Scholarships are probabilistic. More high-quality attempts = more chances to win.
  3. Depth beats breadth. Real involvement creates real stories. "Resume padding" is easy to spot.
  4. Essays beat stats. Grades help you qualify. Your story and clarity win decisions.
  5. Apply early, apply often. Deadlines compound. Early submissions reduce stress and improve quality.
  6. Every "no" is data. Track outcomes, learn patterns, target better opportunities next time.

Key mindset shift: Your goal is not to "win the perfect scholarship." Your goal is to run a repeatable process that produces wins over time.

How the Tracker Helps You Apply at Scale

Scholarship Management
  • Add scholarships in seconds with name, deadline, amount, and source
  • Complete eligibility requirements (GPA, major, state, grade level)
  • Automatic match scoring based on your fit
  • Priority rating system (1-5 scale) to rank by importance
  • Track status from Discovery through Submission to Outcome
Document Library
  • Upload transcripts, resumes, test scores, and portfolios once
  • Attach documents to multiple scholarships without re-uploading
  • Track document requests (recommendation letters, official transcripts)
  • Set expected delivery dates and follow-up reminders
  • See which scholarships are blocked by missing documents
Core Essay Library
  • Build four reusable essays (Challenge, Leadership, Community, Future Goals)
  • Copy essays to individual scholarships and customize
  • Track essay completion and word counts
  • Preserve originals while creating scholarship-specific versions
  • Match prompts to essay themes automatically
Action Queue & Deadlines
  • Prioritized list of what to work on right now
  • Smart deadline calculation (accounts for document lead times)
  • Automatic alerts for overdue requests and approaching deadlines
  • Email notifications for critical dates
  • Track submission confirmations and decision dates
Achievement Log
  • Record activities, jobs, volunteer work, and leadership roles
  • Track hours, dates, and specific contributions
  • Build your profile over multiple years
  • Pull details directly into scholarship essays
  • Never forget what you did or when you did it
Outcome Tracking
  • Record wins, rejections, and award amounts
  • Track renewable scholarships and renewal requirements
  • Identify patterns in what works (local vs national, essay themes)
  • Calculate total scholarship earnings over time
  • Follow up professionally with scholarship providers

How the Scholarship Tracker keeps you organized

The Scholarship Tracker is your command center. It turns scattered opportunities into a structured workflow so you can apply at scale without missing deadlines or rewriting the same work over and over.

1) Capture

Add scholarships the moment you find them (no more "I’ll come back later"). If it’s not in your Tracker, it falls through the cracks — you miss 100% of the opportunities you never apply to.

2) Reuse

Upload core documents once and attach them to multiple applications. Build a small library of core essays and adapt them instead of writing from scratch every time.

3) Decide

Use the Action Queue to answer one question: "What should I work on right now?" The Tracker surfaces the most urgent next steps based on expected work time, document lead times, and calculated due dates — not just simple date comparisons.

The 4-stage workflow

With guided stages, every scholarship moves through the same workflow. Repetition creates familiarity, and familiarity creates confidence.

Stage 1: Discovery
Bookmark & capture

Save the opportunity quickly. Don’t overthink. Get it into the Tracker so it appears in your dashboard workflow and doesn’t fall through the cracks.

Stage 2: Collection
Gather requirements

Configure what’s required for each scholarship (documents and essays) so the system can drive proper alerts and keep you on track. Track document requests (recommendations, transcripts, verification) and follow-ups. Get reminded in advance via email and SMS so you never miss a deadline.

Stage 3: Submission
Submit & log

Submit the application, record the submission date and confirmation details, and move on to the next one. The system keeps everything logged so you always know what’s pending.

Stage 4: Outcome
Track wins

Record results (won, not selected, declined). Follow up professionally and use the data to improve targeting. Every outcome teaches you something about fit, timing, and strategy.

Where to start (by grade level)

Freshman
  1. Complete your Student Profile
  2. Start the Achievement Log
  3. Log activities as you do them
  4. Browse scholarships to see what exists
Sophomore
  1. Keep Achievement Log current
  2. Add 2-3 scholarships per month
  3. Build depth in activities
  4. Identify leadership opportunities
Junior
  1. Add 20-30 scholarships to Tracker
  2. Write four Core Essays
  3. Upload core documents
  4. Apply to 3-5 practice scholarships
Senior
  1. Add 3-5 scholarships per week
  2. Customize Core Essays for each
  3. Submit 2-3 applications weekly
  4. Track confirmations and decisions

Our In-depth Guides

The article series below provide step-by-step playbooks you can read in order or jump to what you need.

What the Tracker Prevents

Scattered Information

No more screenshots, random notes, and forgotten spreadsheets. Everything lives in one place.

Starting From Scratch

Build documents and essays once, then reuse them. Stop rewriting the same content for every application.

Missed Deadlines

Automatic alerts and the Action Queue keep deadlines visible and prioritized by urgency.

Decision Paralysis

The Action Queue tells you exactly what to work on right now. No guessing, just do the next task.

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