Frequently Asked Questions

 Check the Criteria to Apply page to see if you are eligible. 

 Please be sure that your uploaded documents are pdf files. A pages file or google doc will not work as uploads and result in the page being unable to be saved. 

 All applications must be completed using the online application. 

 Yes, you will need to make a final decision before you can complete the application. In order to calculate your eligibility for this Scholarship, you will need to know the actual cost of Grace Prep Private School and the financial obligation you have to make towards the school. Your financial eligibility will likely be different for each school year you are accepted to, so you will need to know the amount and which school fees you will be obligated to cover yourself in order to accurately calculate your eligibility. The deadline for the scholarship is 12 noon, November 1, 2022 to allow applicants to register with Grace Prep Private School and to receive the account from the school. That said, you can begin your application at completion of registration to Grace Prep.

For more information about the early response option and Grace Prep Private School, please click here.

If you have information that is required to complete your application accessible on a website, do not send us the web link. Instead, take a screenshot of the website to upload to your application.

Please be sure that your name or your student ID number, as well as your college name, show on the screenshot. If your screenshot includes the website URL, that will often provide the college name.

How to Take a Screenshot on a PC:

• The “Print Screen” button may be labeled “Prt Sc”, “Prnt Scrn”, “Print Scrn”, or similar. On most keyboards, the button is usually found next to the “F12″ and “Scroll Lock” keys. On laptop keyboards, you may have to press the “Fn” or “Function” key to access “Print Screen”.
• Looking at the screen you want to save, hold down the “Alt” key and press “Print Screen”.
• Open Microsoft Paint. To open Paint, open the Start menu, click on “All Programs,” click on “Accessories,” and click on “Paint” to open it.
• Right-click on the canvas and select “Paste.” Your screenshot will be pasted onto the canvas.
• Save the file using “save as” and upload it. Paint will automatically save your file as .PNG, which is fine.

How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac:

• To capture the entire desktop, press Command-Shift-3.
• The screen shot will be automatically saved as a .PNG file on your desktop. Rename the file so that you can easily recognize it (for example, “SARscreen.png” or “FinAid.scrnshot.png” then upload it in the normal manner.

If you have used multiple screenshots to capture a document that you need to upload, you must combine them into one document to upload. 

How to Combine Files in Word:

• Open a new blank Word Document.
• Click “Insert” and “Picture” and then select the file that you created from a screen shot (or from a photo taken by a smart phone).
• Insert the first screen shot. Make sure that the information is readable. Then move the cursor below the first screen shot but still on the same page.
• Click “Insert” and “Pictures” again and navigate to the second file. Insert that file.
• Do this until all screen shots are in that word document. Save the word document (as .doc or .docx). Even if it is multiple pages, it is still only one file and will upload successfully.

How to Combine Files in Adobe Acrobat:

Many personal computers run Adobe Reader, which does not have the same capabilities as Adobe Acrobat. Make sure you are using Adobe Acrobat to combine files this way.

• Open Adobe Acrobat.
• Click on the “Create” button and select “Merge Files into a Single PDF” from the dropdown.
• A new window will open. Click on the “Add Files” button to browse for the PDF files that you would like to combine. You can select these saved files from your desktop.
• Use the “Move Up” and “Move Down” buttons to put your PDFs in the correct order. Make sure that “Single PDF” is checked.
• When you have added all the PDFs you would like to combine and have ordered them correctly, click “Combine Files.” Then Save your new PDF.

How to Combine Files on a Mac using Preview:

• Open all the PDF documents that you want to combine in Preview.
• Select each Preview window, then choose View > Thumbnails to open the Thumbnails pane.
• Select the thumbnails of the pages you want to move. You can press the Shift key or the Command key while clicking each page thumbnail to select multiple thumbnails at once.
• Drag the thumbnails from one PDF window to the thumbnails pane of the other PDF window. Move your pointer to where you want the pages to appear in the PDF. Release your pointer to move the pages to the location you’ve selected.

Note: When dragging the thumbnail to the top or the bottom of the thumbnail pane, a divider line may appear. To ensure your pages are inserted into the current document, do not drag the thumbnail beyond the divider line.

• If you need to re-order the pages in a PDF, you can continue to drag and drop the thumbnails of each page in the sidebar of the Preview window. Then Save your new PDF.

Uploading Files to Your Scholarship Application

Please follow these instructions carefully! If you attempt to upload a document in an incompatible file format, all your other work on that page of the application will be lost.

File Naming and Saving

Apply these general tips about file naming and saving to all of the processes outlined below.

Tips on File Saving & Naming:

• Please name the document something that you can easily recognize, for example, “Formal Essay.docx” or “Goals Essay.pdf”
• Save the file on your desktop so that you can easily find it to upload in the appropriate field on your application.

Saving Other Files as PDFs

If while writing your essays, you have used Google Docs or Pages- the default word processing program on a Mac, Text Editor, etc., you will need to save each document as a PDF.

Also, htm or html files cannot be uploaded to your application. These are internet files (your financial aid information or Student Aid Report) that must be saved as a PDF before uploading to your application.

How to Convert Your Pages File to PDF:

• After completing and saving your document in Pages, click on the File menu and select Print.
• Under the printer menu, on the lower left hand side click on PDF and select “Save as PDF.”
• The default application for opening your PDF on your Mac will be Preview. You can view your PDF here before uploading the file to your application.

How to Convert from Google Drive to PDF:

• After completing and saving your document in Google Drive, click on the File menu.
• Hover over “Download As” and select “PDF Document (.pdf).”

How to save a file as a PDF document in general:

• Most files you can “Save As” a PDF document to your computer, then upload to your application.
• If this does not work, try printing the file as a PDF. From the print menu, you can change the selected printer to “save as PDF” or “print to PDF.”

 We require that all documents to be uploaded are in the following file formats: pdf, doc, docx, jpg, jpeg, or png. (If you try to upload a document in an incompatible file format, all your other work on that page of the application will be lost.) We do not accept pages or google docs. Please click here for information about file formats for uploads. 

 The cost of Scholarship awarded listed on The Grace Abundance Fund Scholarship form comes from the direct costs that will be covered by us, tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, administration. School's often provide a Cost of Attendance, which includes other expenses, such as the cost of books and supplies. That is why the cost figures on the Grace Prep Private School website may be more than the scholarship published cost coverage, which does not include both registration fee, administration fee and non-direct costs. 

 To upload documents, press “Choose File”, navigate to the file on your computer that you want to upload, and select it. You can see when the upload is complete because the text “no file chosen” is replaced by the name of your file. When you save the page and move out of it, the name of your uploaded file will show to the far right of the upload field. Although you can view the name of the uploaded file, you cannot view the uploaded document itself. If you think you may have uploaded the wrong file, you may upload another file to replace the first upload. You can only do this until you submit your application. Once you submit your application changes are not possible. If you need to update a document in your application after it has been submitted, please email us at rochelle@thegraceabundancefund.com.

 Yes, a student who is not awarded can apply again in following years. A new application must be submitted with a new application entry, an updated report, essays and all other supporting documentation. Most likely this student would now be a current college student so would be filling out a new Application for students, due November 1st. 

 Your application will be submitted when you complete all of the required fields and navigate to the Confirm and Submit page. At the bottom of the Confirm & Submit page you will be asked to certify that you have reviewed your information and completed all the required fields. You will then need to check off a box to confirm your application is complete and hit the Save button to submit your application. You will then see a message on the screen that says “Thank you! Your application has been submitted. You may log back in to the review a read-only version of your application.” You will also receive an email confirming that your application has been submitted. 

Students who applied in early April will receive notification by email in late April.

All students who submitted a complete application by November 1, 2022, will receive an email in mid to late December with our decision. You will know that you have successfully submitted an application once you receive an email from us confirming that we have received your submission. (This should happen within the dame day.) If you do not receive an email confirmation, your application has not been successfully submitted and you should re-apply.