*This post is sponsored by Going Merry.
High school counselors deal with information overload every day! Add scholarship search questions and emails to the mix, and you just may want to throw in the towel.
We’re trying to analyze and manage all of the information given to us and get it out to students in the most effective and efficient ways.
As you’re resetting yourself and resetting your systems at the start of the school year, take time to consider what else could help you add value to your high school counseling program.
We want to train students in the scholarship search process and equip them to be independent… but also put the right tools in their hands to find the most success possible.
(I always told my students that the ones who are willing to put in the work are the ones who get the scholarships!)
Here’s where Going Merry steps in to meet the needs of high school counselors and high school students ALIKE.
Going Merry takes finding scholarships for high school students and streamlines it for both students and counselors.
High school counselors- it’s time to create a FREE account on Going Merry, because this website is about to be your new best friend! This easy-to-use scholarship platform is going to revolutionize the way you serve your students!
Going Merry has addressed all of the pain points of the scholarship search process for high school counselors and created one amazingly comprehensive dashboard to solve those problems.
Let’s talk about 3 ways Going Merry streamlines the scholarship search process for high school counselors (which ultimately benefits high school students, too).
1- Going Merry provides simple counselor and student tutorials for the scholarship search
I’m not an “instructions person,” so anything I can listen to or follow visually is a plus. High school counselors are busy! We need the facts!
That’s why I appreciated the quick video introduction to Going Merry that I set up when I first created my account. I picked a time for a group Zoom meeting with the founder and creator of Going Merry. (Don’t worry, you can keep your mic and camera off and just be a fly on the wall if you want!)
Though the counselor dashboard and portal is very intuitive to navigate and manage, I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any key features that Going Merry had to offer. The live walk-through takes 30 minutes and allows time for questions either in the chat or out loud.
If you don’t want to commit to the live demonstration, you can’t miss the big, pink, “take the tour” button on the home screen guiding you through the highlights of your counselor account.
Here, you’ll become familiar with your student stats like who has signed up for Going Merry, how many scholarship applications they’ve drafted, how many scholarships they’ve submitted, and how many completed FAFSA applications have been submitted. (You’ll need to request access to this FAFSA tool. It’s WELL worth it!)
This self-guided tour also points out the high school counselor checklist so that you can make the most out of your free Going Merry account. You’ll know where to find additional counselor resources like checklists, lesson plans (time to build your classroom confidence), handouts, and scholarship search articles/blog posts to pass along to students. You’ll also find plenty of student tutorials (you have to sign up and log into your free account to see this) to pass along, use in classroom lessons, or share in small group settings!
2- Going Merry vets all scholarships for high school students in their scholarship search
No more wondering, “Is this legit?”
Going Merry personally vets all scholarships coming through their site so that students and counselors can rest assured that their information is secure and the applications are real.
There are too many scam scholarships out there! I know more than one student who has given a credit card number or given away too much personal information to a fake website.
Once you’ve created your account inside of Going Merry, you KNOW you’re going to find legitimate scholarships.
Both the counselor and student sides of the portal will always be free, because the scholarships pay to list their information on this search engine.
If you have any regional, local, or school scholarships that you want to add to the list specifically for your students, you can do that, too! This minimizes collecting paper applications or spending time emailing PDFs to students.
3- Going Merry makes it EASY for students to search for and complete scholarship applications
When you sit down with your seniors at the beginning of the year for senior planning meetings, do they all want you to TELL THEM what scholarships they qualify for?
Time to take the guesswork out of the qualifications with Going Merry’s scholarship search filter. The search filter gives student results based on matches and partial matches.
Students can filter based on the deadline, award amount, and time to complete. (I imagine this last one being the biggest seller to students!) The “bundle” feature shows students which applications have the same essay question so that they can apply to multiple scholarships through one application!
Going Merry has “redesigned” the FAFSA to make it more user-friendly for students. They break down each question with easy-to-understand language instead of financial jargon. The visual cues make it feel more interactive and less intimidating than most government websites.
When it’s time to celebrate your seniors and summarize your scholarship data points for your senior class at the end of the year, Going Merry will make sure that process is easy for you, too.
Overall, I love the comprehensive nature that Going Merry’s platform offers high school counselors.
Tools like Going Merry allow college to be accessible to ALL types of students!
If you’re looking for ways to engage your students more fully in the scholarship search and application process, Going Merry is your solution!
Create a free counselor account on Going Merry, and get started today!
