Introduction

College is expensive, and families feel that pressure earlier than ever. For 2025–26, College Board reported average published tuition and fees of $11,950 for in-state students at public four-year colleges, $31,880 for out-of-state public four-year students, and $45,000 for private nonprofit four-year colleges (College Board, 2025). Those numbers do not include every cost a family may face, and the final price can change dramatically after grants, scholarships, and institutional aid.

That is why many parents ask the same question: “Can my child earn $100,000 or more in scholarships?”

For some students, yes, a $100,000+ scholarship total can be possible across four years. It is not guaranteed, and it depends on GPA, course rigor, test scores, college fit, scholarship availability, essays, deadlines, need-based eligibility, and the quality of the application. But families improve their odds when they stop treating SAT/ACT prep, scholarship research, financial aid, and college-list building as separate tasks.

They are connected.

Below are seven strategies parents and students can use from grades 9–12 to build a smarter scholarship and testing plan.

Strategy 1: Start Scholarship Strategy Before Senior Year

Senior year is when many scholarship applications are due. It should not be when scholarship planning begins.

By ninth and tenth grade, students are already building the academic record that colleges and scholarship committees will later review. Course choices, grades, reading habits, leadership, service, work experience, and extracurricular depth can all affect scholarship competitiveness.

A strong early plan includes:

• Choosing appropriately challenging courses.

• Protecting GPA from the start of high school.

• Building a focused activity list instead of joining everything.

• Tracking awards, service hours, jobs, projects, and leadership roles.

• Exploring colleges that offer meaningful merit scholarships.

• Learning which scholarships require essays, recommendations, portfolios, auditions, interviews, or test scores.

Parents can help by creating one shared spreadsheet or planning document with columns for scholarship name, amount, eligibility, deadline, required materials, and status.

Parent/student action step: By the end of sophomore year, build a preliminary list of 20–30 scholarship opportunities: local awards, employer-based awards, state programs, institutional merit scholarships, and national scholarships.

[STUDENT EXAMPLE: Student earned $___ in merit scholarships from ___ colleges after applying to ___ colleges and completing ___ scholarship applications.]

Strategy 2: Understand How SAT/ACT Scores Can Influence Scholarship Opportunities

Even in a test-optional world, test scores can still matter.

Some colleges require SAT, ACT, or an approved alternative for admission. Others are test-optional for admission but may still use scores for merit scholarships, honors programs, course placement, or competitive scholarship review. Families should never assume one testing policy applies to every purpose.

The ACT states that its test is accepted by U.S. colleges and connects students to score-based scholarship opportunities; however, families should verify each college’s current scholarship rules directly because requirements vary by institution and year (ACT, n.d.-a).

Strong scores may help a student:

• Qualify for automatic merit-aid tiers at some colleges.

• Strengthen an honors college application.

• Compete for full-tuition or high-value institutional scholarships.

• Add academic evidence at test-optional colleges when scores are above a school’s typical range.

• Improve placement outcomes after enrollment at some institutions.

This does not mean every student must submit scores everywhere. It means families should compare each student’s SAT/ACT results with the admitted-student profile, scholarship criteria, and testing policy at each college.

Parent/student action step: For every college on the list, write down three separate policies: admission testing policy, scholarship testing policy, and honors/program testing policy.

Strategy 3: Update Your Prep Plan for the New SAT and ACT

Today’s SAT and ACT are not the same tests many parents remember.

The SAT is now digital and has two sections: Reading and Writing, and Math. College Board lists the SAT at 2 hours and 14 minutes, with 64 minutes for Reading and Writing and 70 minutes for Math. Each section has two modules, and the second module adapts based on performance in the first module (College Board, n.d.-a; College Board, n.d.-b).

That changes prep. Students need to practice:

• Shorter reading passages.

• Digital tools and calculator use.

• Module pacing.

• Accuracy early in each section.

• Reviewing mistakes quickly and specifically.

The ACT has also changed. ACT’s current student page lists English, math, reading, and science, but science and writing are optional and do not affect the Composite score (ACT, n.d.-a). ACT also explains that students registering for 2025–26 national test dates can choose format and whether to include science, while state/district and international enhanced ACT testing began rolling out in spring 2026 (ACT, 2025).

ACT superscoring has also shifted. ACT says the Superscore Composite is calculated using English, math, and reading after the enhanced ACT transition, while science can contribute to STEM reporting but not the Superscore Composite (ACT, n.d.-b).

Parent/student action step: Have your student take one timed digital SAT practice test and one timed ACT practice test, then compare percentile, comfort, pacing, and scholarship usefulness before choosing a main test.

Strategy 4: Know Which Colleges Require, Recommend, or Value Scores

Testing policies are changing quickly. Families should use five categories:

Test-required: Scores are required for admission. Examples include MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, Yale, Georgetown, Caltech, and the University of Florida, based on current official admissions pages (Brown University, n.d.; California Institute of Technology, n.d.; Dartmouth College, n.d.; Georgetown University, n.d.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, n.d.; University of Florida, n.d.; Yale University, 2026).

Test-optional: Students may choose whether to submit SAT/ACT scores.

Test-flexible: A college requires testing but may allow alternatives, such as AP, IB, or other exam scores. Yale previously used a test-flexible policy but announced in May 2026 that applicants will again need ACT or SAT scores beginning with the next admissions cycle (Yale University, 2026).

Test-blind or test-free: Scores are not considered for admission, even if submitted. FairTest’s database lists more than 2,085 accredited bachelor’s degree-granting colleges and universities with test-optional or test-free policies for fall 2026 or beyond, including 75+ test-free institutions (FairTest, n.d.).

Scholarship-specific testing: A college may be test-optional for admission but still request or value scores for certain scholarships.

Parent/student action step: Before dropping testing, check whether any target college requires scores for admission, merit scholarships, honors colleges, direct-entry majors, or state aid.

Strategy 5: Master Five Grammar Rules That Appear Often on SAT/ACT English

Grammar points can be some of the fastest score gains because the rules are predictable.

1. Subject-verb agreement

Rule: Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs.

Wrong: The list of scholarship deadlines are confusing.
Correct: The list of scholarship deadlines is confusing.

Tip: Cross out phrases between the subject and verb. “List” is the subject, not “deadlines.”

2. Pronoun agreement and clarity

Rule: Pronouns must clearly refer to the right noun and match it in number.

Wrong: When a student submits essays late, they can hurt the application.
Correct: When students submit essays late, they can hurt their applications.

Tip: If you cannot tell who “they,” “it,” or “this” refers to, the sentence likely needs revision.

3. Punctuation with commas, semicolons, colons, and dashes

Rule: Use commas for pauses or nonessential details, semicolons between closely related complete sentences, colons to introduce explanations or lists, and dashes for emphasis.

Wrong: The student improved her ACT score, she earned a scholarship.
Correct: The student improved her ACT score; she earned a scholarship.

Tip: If both sides can stand alone as complete sentences, a comma alone is usually not enough.

4. Verb tense and consistency

Rule: Keep verb tense consistent unless the time changes.

Wrong: He researched colleges, writes essays, and submitted applications.
Correct: He researched colleges, wrote essays, and submitted applications.

Tip: Check lists of actions. They should usually match in tense and form.

5. Concision, redundancy, and logical sentence structure

Rule: The best answer is often the clearest answer with no repeated meaning.

Wrong: The final deadline is completely finished and over.
Correct: The deadline has passed.

Tip: On SAT/ACT grammar questions, shorter is often better only when it keeps the full meaning.

Strategy 6: Follow a Scholarship Timeline That Maximizes Awards

Scholarships are won through timing as much as talent.

Grade 9

Build strong habits. Track activities, service, awards, and projects. Start reading scholarship descriptions to learn what committees value.

Grade 10

Take the PSAT or PreACT if available. Begin exploring career interests, majors, and college costs. Identify local scholarships from community foundations, civic groups, employers, and religious or cultural organizations.

Grade 11

Take serious SAT/ACT diagnostics. Create a first college list with reach, match, likely, and financial-safety options. Begin essay brainstorming. Ask teachers which classes or projects show your best academic qualities.

Summer before senior year

Finalize test dates. Draft a main scholarship essay that can be adapted. Build a recommendation plan. Research institutional merit scholarships before applications open.

Fall of senior year

Submit early college applications where strategic. Complete scholarship applications with fall deadlines. File financial aid forms as soon as appropriate. The FAFSA is free and is used for federal aid, and many states and colleges also use FAFSA information to award aid; USA.gov lists the 2026–27 federal FAFSA deadline as June 30, 2027 (U.S. General Services Administration, 2026).

Some colleges also require the CSS Profile for non-federal institutional aid. College Board explains that the CSS Profile opens October 1 each year, schools set different deadlines, and families should submit by the earliest priority filing date (College Board, n.d.-c; College Board, n.d.-d).

Winter and spring of senior year

Keep applying for private and local scholarships. Compare financial aid offers carefully. Federal Student Aid explains that aid offers may include grants, scholarships, work-study, and loans, so families should separate free money from borrowed money (Federal Student Aid, n.d.).

Parent/student action step: Treat scholarship applications like a class. Set a weekly 60–90 minute scholarship block from August through April of senior year.

Strategy 7: Build a Scholarship-Smart College List

A scholarship-smart college list is not just a list of “best” colleges. It is a list where the student is academically, financially, and personally positioned to succeed.

Families should include:

• Reach schools: Admission is possible but highly competitive.

• Match schools: The student’s profile fits the school’s admitted-student range.

• Likely schools: Admission chances appear stronger based on available data.

• Financial safeties: Schools the family can afford even if major scholarships do not appear.

• Merit-friendly schools: Colleges where the student’s GPA, scores, talent, major, or leadership may qualify for strong institutional awards.

The key is to compare net price, not sticker price. Published prices can look intimidating, but College Board notes that many full-time undergraduates receive grant aid, and net prices can differ from published prices (College Board, 2025).

Parent/student action step: For each college, estimate four numbers: total cost of attendance, likely need-based aid, possible merit aid, and family net cost after grants and scholarships.

How UniAtlas Helps Families Plan Smarter

UniAtlas is designed to help families connect college search, scholarship discovery, cost planning, and application planning in one place.

Families can use UniAtlas to:

• Search and compare universities.

• Explore scholarship opportunities.

• Review university profiles.

• Save universities and scholarships.

• Use financial planning tools.

• Read college-planning guides and blog resources.

• Use AI-supported planning features where available.

• Organize essays and application planning with tools such as the Essay Workshop.

UniAtlas should not replace official college admissions pages, FAFSA instructions, scholarship rules, or professional financial advice. But it can help families ask better questions, compare options faster, and avoid building a college list based only on rankings or brand names.

Conclusion: Big Scholarships Come From a Connected Plan

A $100,000+ scholarship total is not something any family should assume. It is a possible outcome for some students when academic preparation, test strategy, college fit, scholarship research, deadlines, and application quality work together.

The strongest families do not wait for senior year. They start early, test wisely, track deadlines, compare colleges by net cost, and apply to schools where the student’s profile matches the scholarship opportunity.

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9. References

ACT. (2025, August 8). The enhanced ACT explained. ACT Counselor Blog.

ACT. (n.d.-a). The ACT test for students. ACT.

ACT. (n.d.-b). Superscore FAQs. ACT.

Brown University. (n.d.). Standardized tests. Undergraduate Admission.

California Institute of Technology. (n.d.). Standardized tests. Undergraduate Admissions.

College Board. (2025). Trends in college pricing highlights. College Board Research.

College Board. (n.d.-a). How the SAT is structured. SAT Suite of Assessments.

College Board. (n.d.-b). How are scores calculated?. SAT Suite of Assessments.

College Board. (n.d.-c). About CSS Profile. CSS Profile.

College Board. (n.d.-d). Getting started. CSS Profile.

Dartmouth College. (n.d.). Dartmouth’s testing guidelines. Dartmouth Admissions.

FairTest. (n.d.). ACT/SAT optional list for fall 2025. National Center for Fair & Open Testing.

Federal Student Aid. (n.d.). Financial aid dictionary: Top terms related to grants, work-study, and student loans. U.S. Department of Education.

Georgetown University. (n.d.). Preparation process. Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (n.d.). First-year applicants: Tests & scores. MIT Admissions.

University of Florida. (n.d.). Freshman requirements. UF Admissions.

U.S. General Services Administration. (2026, April 1). Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). USA.gov.

Yale University. (2026, May 27). Undergraduate admissions updates testing policy. Yale News.