Applying for Scholarships
If you are new to scholarships on the Iowa State campus, we do our best to make it easy. In partnership with the Office of Financial Aid, most scholarships on campus are accessed through a single “smart” scholarship application we call OneApp. We call it OneApp because it combines what used to be a large number of individual applications into one application.
The best part about OneApp is that it saves what we know about you and asks you additional questions about yourself related specifically to scholarship opportunities you may qualify for. There is no reason to ask you about your GPA again if we already know it. But, the application is available for you to update as necessary. As you add new honors and leadership experiences, you have the chance to let us know about it.
For new students
If you are going to be a new student at Iowa State – whether you are starting directly out of high school or as a transfer student – this whole process starts with you applying for admission. You must be offered admission before you can complete the OneApp. Bonus: your application for admission also doubles as an application for some automatic scholarships.
General Application
The General Application is an opportunity to tell the Iowa State community about things not covered by your application for admission. It is thorough – over 30 questions to answer – but only about a third of them are required. There is a good variety of questions, but some of the most useful questions have to do with telling us about your career goals, extra-curricular activities, leadership roles and community
service.
Submitting the General Application is required to apply for College of Agriculture and Life Sciences scholarships as well as awards offered specifically by your major.
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Once you complete the General Application you will be able to complete the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences application. This is seven additional questions unique to the requirements of at least one of our scholarships and is only available to students in our majors. This is your opportunity to expand upon your leadership experiences.
Office of Student Financial Aid
If you are a U.S. citizen, you will also be able to complete the brief Office of Student Financial Aid application. This is simply four multiple choice questions for several scholarships not covered by the General Application and will only take you a little time.
Recommended Opportunities
Finally, based on your answers from the previous steps, OneApp will present you with additional scholarship applications. This is where you will find awards unique to your major. You may also find that you meet unique criteria for awards that have additional questions you must answer. The number of questions varies by recommended opportunity, but most are short and some may require essays.