No essay scholarships have become very popular over the years because, as the name blatantly states, you don’t have to write an essay to apply for them. As composing an essay is typically by far the most time-consuming part of applying for a scholarship and requires the most effort.
A no essay scholarship is exactly what it sounds like; it is simply a scholarship that does not require the applicant to spend hours of their time composing an essay to submit along with the various other required components of the typical scholarship application.
The great thing about this is that you can literally apply to tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of no essay scholarships in a matter of minutes.
If you find them on Scholarships.com they are definitely legit. We vet all scholarships thoroughly before listing them. There is no guarantee that every no essay scholarship you find elsewhere will be legit, but you shouldn't assume one isn't just because it doesn’t require you to write 500-1,000 words on a particular topic.
The eligibility requirements will vary from one to the next, as is true with most scholarships. For some, you may just need to provide your name, email address, year in school and college you will be attending. For others, you may need to supply considerably more information in order to complete the required tasks.
Some no essay scholarships will require a social media component, such as sharing on Instagram and @’ing or #’ing specific accounts and phrases or creating a brief YouTube video more or less promoting the scholarship provider, helping them to go viral with a message or product. A lot of no essay scholarships are offered by for-profit organizations and will also require you to provide a photo and agree to having your likeness used in the event you are among the winners.
Typically, it will be quite simple and you will be walked through the process step-by-step. Almost all will likely require your full name, date of birth, email address and then you will need to create a password. Basically, you are creating an account at the scholarship provider’s website. Most, if not all, will require you to provide your current grade level as well. Most will ask for your street address and phone number, though phone may not be a required field for all. Depending on the scholarship provider, there may be several more steps but typically the whole process will take under five minutes.
You can win up to $50,000 or even more from a single no essay scholarship. However, the largest dollar amount scholarships will be awarded less frequently and will be extremely competitive, naturally. There are a lot more smaller ones that will be $1,000 or $2,000, but they will have fewer applicants for each one and a lot of them are awarded every month, so you can apply to them over and over throughout the year.
You may absolutely apply to multiple no essay scholarships and we recommend you do so. These scholarships are so easy to apply for and take up so little time, you can apply to several in a single afternoon. If you are using a browser at home that has all of your basic information saved, it is even quicker, as it will automatically populate much of the basic info, like name, address, phone, etc. You should definitely take advantage of the easy scholarships such as these whenever possible.
There is no time like the present! Start now and apply early and often. There is a good chance that, no matter when you are reading this, there are opportunities to get some free money for college right now, with scholarship deadlines in the near future. Even in June and July when there are a lot fewer scholarships available in general, you will find no essay scholarships to apply for.
You will definitely know, as the provider will likely be reaching out via email, social media, text… it all depends on which of these you supplied when applying. That said, during your scholarship search, you should keep track of the ones you apply for, the deadline of each, the dollar amount and any other details that are important to you. Check back on their website and social media accounts to see if they have announced winners, as some providers may use this method as a means of notification to the winners.