Scholarship Application Dilemma

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Hello, all!

Thanks for reading this. Maybe you can help me or maybe there's really nothing I can do at this point. In any case, I would appreciate it if you took a moment to hear me out as I'm very upset at this point!

In May, my classmates and I were told about a scholarship that we could apply for that would give us full tuition and a guaranteed job after graduation. Three students in our class would be awarded. With a small class size, those odds are pretty good. I poured my heart into the scholarship essay, even took it to a writing center to have it looked over and get a second opinion, even though I'm usually the one who edits my friends' papers. I felt that my background, experience, and prior education gave me a great chance at this scholarship, so I was excited to hand it in and submitted it 3 days early.

My school has an online scholarship application system, so I submitted it through this system and after submission, on the screen it said, "You're done! Review your answers." I took this to mean that it went through, no problem, and I was now a candidate for the scholarship. Every time I checked the scholarship website, it showed that my status was complete. About 2 months passed and I still hadn't heard word from the scholarship committee, but no one else had been notified that they'd been awarded either. I decided to e-mail the person in charge and inquire as to whether I would know before fall semester, as it would affect my tuition. Nine days later, I received a reply back, simply stating that when they reviewed the scholarship applications, mine was not included and had I submitted it by the stated deadline? :eek:

So what do I do now? I replied back saying that yes, I did indeed submit it even before the deadline. I feel heartbroken and angry. I don't know what to do, but I feel that since it wasn't my fault that they missed my application, I should be owed something. :crying2: I just wanted to at least be considered. I'm kicking myself for not checking up on the status of my application earlier, but at that time, I hadn't known who to ask. Has this ever happened to anyone?

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My situation might be similar. I applied for the HRSA scholarship. I have an EFC of 0, a high GPA, etc.

From what I have read on this forum, the recipients of the scholarship have been notified. I have heard nothing. I have a higher GPA than some of the awarded applicants. I have even heard that people who don't have an EFC of 0 have been awarded the scholarship.

I cannot figure out why I didn't get it. According to the HRSA website, my application was complete.

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So sorry. :( what's an EFC?

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The EFC is the Expected Family Contribution. Its how much you are expected to pay toward your own education based on your finances.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

You said it told you the application was complete and to review your answers. I suspect you were supposed to review them and that there was a confirmation button you would need to click for the application to be sent onward from there. A last chance to change things or edit things. It is a common format for online applications of all types.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.

Unfortunately, if you didn't print out the confirmation page or have that confirmation page sent to your email, you maybe out of luck. I've submitted applications online and I take those confirmation pages seriously. Before closing out my browser I make sure one is sent to my email.

So sorry this happened to you.

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You said it told you the application was complete and to review your answers. I suspect you were supposed to review them and that there was a confirmation button you would need to click for the application to be sent onward from there. A last chance to change things or edit things. It is a common format for online applications of all types.

I just saw this and thought I'd update the situation since then. I did get confirmation of my submission from the system. In other words, there was no way this was my fault and I knew that. I am not technologically challenged, so I didn't understand what went wrong on my end.

I ended up talking to the scholarship office who confirmed that they had received my application in the system. However, my scholarship was supposed to end up online in a place designated for the scholarship committee. This did not happen. After a review into what happened (no one is sure why this happened still and I found out I was not the only student affected), the theory is that it only selected the users who submitted applications who were classified in the university system as nursing majors, even though we had marked "nursing" as our major in the application. (We are not allowed to change our majors on our own; only the nursing department does that. For some reason, some students in my class were still considered "pre-nursing" majors and we were unaware of that. I have never taken anything but nursing classes at this school, so I did not even know that my classification was pre-nursing.)

Anyway, the scholarship committee saw my application and about a month after finding out about my situation, they ended up awarding me the scholarship even after I was told they'd already chosen the recipients. I am so happy.

So now my advice for anyone who submits a scholarship is this: Make sure it is received by calling/emailing/otherwise asking for confirmation!!! Do not trust that online applications go through even if they say they do. If you can, hand in a hard copy along with the online copy. If something goes wrong, provide proof that you followed the application rules and handed in everything on time without being rude about it. Things just might turn out in your favor. :) Oh, and it helps to know what your major is classified as and how to change it to what it should be!!!

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Unfortunately, if you didn't print out the confirmation page or have that confirmation page sent to your email, you maybe out of luck. I've submitted applications online and I take those confirmation pages seriously. Before closing out my browser I make sure one is sent to my email.

So sorry this happened to you.

Thank you for your reply. :) That is very wise advice. Luckily, I did have the proof of confirmation of submission which I ended up emailing to the person who awarded the scholarship. I thought that it wouldn't make a difference, but it turned out to be my saving grace!

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Congratulations!!! What a great ending to this story, if I was you my heart would have been beating so fast and I would have been a wreck upon finding out that maybe something went wrong!! I

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Congratulations!!! What a great ending to this story, if I was you my heart would have been beating so fast and I would have been a wreck upon finding out that maybe something went wrong!! I

Thank you!!! I did shed a few tears when it first happened. But the initial disappointment in thinking that I would never get the scholarship resulted in a more shockingly joyous celebration when I found out I got it anyway! :D Everyone loves a happy ending.

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