Understanding the scholarship application process from the student's perspective helps administrators guide applicants and troubleshoot questions as they arise. This article walks through each stage of the Universal Application as a student experiences it, from completing the common application through submitting supplemental questions.
User Role: Administrator
Understanding the Student Application Experience Helps to:
- Understand what applicants see at each stage of the Universal Application process.
- See how features such as question branching, third party requests, and supplemental questions appear from the applicant's perspective.
- Understand how the system determines eligibility and presents available scholarship opportunities to applicants after they submit the common application.
Detailed applicant tutorials can be found in Guiding Applicants Through the Process.
The video below provides a brief overview of the student experience when applying for scholarships through the Universal Application.
Access the Apply Page
The Apply page is where students begin the scholarship application process by locating and selecting a universe to apply to. Understanding what students see on the Apply page helps administrators confirm that universes are visible and accessible, troubleshoot access issues, and guide students through starting a new request.
- To view universes to apply to, students will click Apply from the applicant dashboard.
For universes using Restricted Visibility, applicants can enter an access code into the search bar.
Each universe on the Apply page displays a status indicating whether the applicant can apply or has already applied.
- When ready to start a new request, students will click Apply on a universe.
If a student cannot find a universe on the Apply page, confirm that the universe is toggled to Available and that the student meets any access requirements. If the universe uses Restricted Visibility, verify that the student has the correct access code.
Complete the Common Application
After clicking Apply, students complete the common application form. Understanding what students see at this stage helps administrators answer questions about question branching, third party requests, auto-save behavior, and form download options.
Students will arrive at the first form of the request, which is usually the application form. If there is a deadline to submit the form, it is listed at the top of the form.
Students will complete the questions on the form. Required questions are marked with an asterisk.
Question Branching
Question branching keeps the form streamlined by only showing additional questions when they are relevant to the applicant's answers.
If a student reports missing questions on the form, Question Branching may be filtering them based on previous answers. Ask the student to review their earlier responses to confirm they answered branching questions correctly.
Third Party Response Questions
For questions that require information from a third party, such as a letter of recommendation, the applicant enters the third party's email address, and the system sends them a notification with a link to upload the document.
Download a Copy
To download a copy of the form, students can click Question List.
To download a .pdf copy of the completed form, students can click Application Packet.
Save the Application
If a student reports lost work, the system autosaves work every 100 characters typed. To manually save, students can click out of a question, then click Save Application.
Submit the Common Application
Once the common application form is complete, students submit it for review. Understanding what happens at submission helps administrators troubleshoot errors, explain the confirmation process, and determine when a common application may need to be reverted.
Students will click Submit Application when ready to submit the form.
To withdraw the application before submitting, students can click Abandon Request instead.
If a student cannot submit the form, the system will highlight any required questions that were missed. Direct the student to complete the flagged questions and click Submit again.
The form cannot be edited once it is submitted. If a student submitted incorrect information that affected their eligibility, administrators can revert the status of the common application.
Review the Confirmation Page and Supplemental Questions
After submitting the common application, students land on the confirmation page where the system displays the scholarship opportunities they are eligible for and prompts them to complete any supplemental questions. Understanding this stage helps administrators guide students through completing supplemental questions and troubleshoot eligibility or submission issues.
- Students will click Continue to move to the supplemental questions for the first opportunity.
If a student reports not seeing an expected opportunity on the confirmation page, verify that the eligibility rules for that opportunity are configured correctly and that the student's answers meet the criteria.
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Students will complete the questions, then click Submit Application.
If supplemental questions appear across multiple opportunities, the system pre-fills the answer so the applicant never has to answer it more than once.
If students no longer want to apply for an opportunity, click Abandon Request.
Students can click Save Application at any time to finish the additional questions later.