A Guide to Test-Optional Colleges

As you navigate the college application process, you may have heard the term “test-optional” in relation to SAT or ACT scores. Going Merry has compiled answers to common questions that students and parents have on how test-optional policies work, and how they impact you. Skip straight to a specific…

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Making Sense of Your Financial Aid Award Letter: What do the numbers mean?

Receiving your financial aid award letter can be an exciting time when you’re prepping for college. You can see how much financial aid you’re eligible to receive per college you’re accepted to. But it can also be confusing – what do the numbers mean? What is the financial aid award…

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Completing the FAFSA® for self-employed or small business owners

Increasingly, the “9-to-5” doesn’t represent the landscape of American jobs. Over 10% of the American working population is self-employed, and 16% report working on some sort of freelance or online gig job. But these “unusual” job setups can make it complicated to…

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FAFSA® Made Easier: A simpler way to apply for financial aid

Filling out the FAFSA® is probably the single most important thing a college-bound student can do to pay for college. It opens up a whole slew of student financial aid, both governmental and institutional, worth $15,000 per year (on average). That’s $60,000 for a four-year degree! This is particularly…

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14 Most Common FAFSA® Errors

Our team knows the FAFSA®–and the common mistakes made on it. Over the last 3 years, we’ve helped thousands of students fill out the form (using our FAFSA® Made Easier), and walked countless confused parents through how to correctly report their complicated home/financial situation. Here are the…

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25 Summer Scholarships to Fund Any Semester of College

If you’ve been scrolling through scholarship listings for a while now, you’ve probably noticed most applications are due in the fall and winter — even though summer is when many students actually have the time they need to write all those application essays.  If that’s you, you’re smart to be…

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Why high school counselors say they love using Going Merry

In 2019,  NACAC (the National Association of College Admission Counseling) invited us to deliver an online demo of our scholarship platform. So Going Merry co-founder and CEO Charlie Maynard led high school counselors through how the scholarship platform works and how it benefits counselors: “It’s one place where students can…

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Scholarship Bundles: Apply for multiple scholarships simultaneously, using just one scholarship app

Back when I was a student applying for scholarships using those dreaded scholarship search engines, I noticed that scholarship applications often asked for the same information (name, email, class year, SAT score, etc.)–and sometimes even had the same essay prompt! So I’d dutifully, and monotonously, type in my personal information…

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Superb Scholarships for Students in South Carolina for 2021

We know you’re probably relaxing by the beach, not wanting to think about financing college tuition. We get it! Applying for scholarships is no walk in the park, but we’re making this easy for you with our scholarship search and application tool. Jump to:South Carolina Scholarships1. Cindy Mellen…

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