Weekly Routine: How Current Students Win $10K+

Current college students who win big don't usually do it with one application. They apply regularly—often weekly—and stack small and medium awards. $500 here, $1,000 there; over a year or two it adds up to $10K or more.

Awarded is built for high school and college students. You get matched to scholarships, see quick entry links, and track what you've entered. The Awarded app keeps everything in one place so a weekly routine is easy to maintain.

$10K in scholarships might sound like a lot, but it's often the result of stacking many smaller awards. A $500 no-essay scholarship here, a $1,000 quick-apply award there, plus a few larger ones over time—it adds up. The students who hit $10K or more are usually the ones who apply every week, not the ones who apply once a semester. A weekly routine of 30 minutes to find and enter 2–3 awards means 50+ applications over a year. Even if you only win a fraction, that fraction can total $10K or more when you're consistent. The routine is the strategy.

Why a Weekly Routine Works

New scholarships open every month. If you apply only at the start of the semester, you miss most of them. A weekly block—even 30 minutes—lets you enter new awards and follow up on pending ones. Consistency beats cramming.

Scholarship deadlines are spread across the calendar. Some open in fall, some in spring, some monthly or quarterly. A single burst of applications at the start of the year leaves most opportunities untouched. A weekly habit means you catch new awards as they open and re-enter recurring ones when new cycles start. You also build momentum: the more you apply, the more you learn what fits your profile and the less daunting each application feels. Current students who stick to a weekly routine for a full year often report 40–60+ applications and a real shot at $10K+ in total wins.

What to Do Each Week

Open Awarded, find 2–3 new scholarships you qualify for, and enter them. Note deadlines. Next week, repeat. Over a year that's dozens of applications and a real shot at $10K+.

Pick a fixed day and time—e.g. Sunday evening or Tuesday after class—and treat it as non-negotiable. In that block, open the Awarded app, filter by your criteria, and enter 2–3 scholarships. Prefer no-essay and quick-apply when possible so you complete more in less time. Use the app to track what you've entered and what deadlines are coming so you can follow up. Next week, repeat. No need to marathon; 30 minutes weekly is enough to build a pipeline that can reach $10K+ over a year or two.

Stack With FAFSA and School Aid

File the FAFSA and use school aid. Then add national awards via awarded.app. Current students who stack all three often hit $10K+ in free money.

FAFSA and school scholarships form the base of your aid package. National awards from Awarded layer on top. Don't skip the base—file the FAFSA every year and check your financial aid office for institutional awards. Then use your weekly block to add national no-essay and quick-apply scholarships. Stacking all three is how current students often hit $10K+ in total free money and reduce their loan burden. Weekly routine plus FAFSA plus school aid equals maximum funding.