Incoming Transfer Scholarship Checklist

(Please Note:  This checklist was designed for students who will first enroll at MTSU for the summer or fall semester.  Students who plan to first enroll in the spring semester can find information about scholarship opportunities and find a spring checklist on our Spring Transfers homepage.)

Freshman Year

If you plan to complete a two-year degree at a community college then transfer to MTSU, take the following actions during your first year to help you qualify for scholarships after your second year:

• All Year: Focus on earning high grades. A great start will help you reach your academic goals and qualify for more scholarships!
  
  Take an average of 15 hours per semester. To qualify for most transfer scholarships, you will need at least 45 earned hours after the fall semester of your second year.

• Fall and Spring: Start searching for scholarship opportunities; visit our Private Scholarships webpage for suggestions on where and how to search. Begin a scholarship folder with information about scholarships in which you are interested. Note the source of the scholarship, requirements, application process, and deadline to apply.

• Summer: Begin applying for Private scholarships.

Sophomore Year (or the year you plan to transfer to MTSU)

• All year: Continue to focus on your grades. many scholarships will consider your GPA and earned hours only through the end of the fall semester of this year.

• Fall: Continue searching and applying for private scholarships.

• Early January: File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This is the application for federal grants and loans, the lottery scholarship, and other aid. File your FAFSA in early January to qualify for need-based aid, or by April 1 if you do not expect to receive need-based aid. 

• February 15:  Deadline to apply for admission in order to be considered for a Transfer Academic Service Scholarship or Transfer Raider Scholarship.

• February 15:  Deadline to submit online applications for other transfer scholarships.

• Early Spring:  Check with your academic department to learn about scholarship opportunities and application requirements for students in your major.

• Early Summer:  Request that your final transcripts be submitted to the MTSU Admissions Office as soon as possible after the end of the spring term, if you will not enroll at your current school for the summer.  (If you will enroll in the summer term at either your current school or MTSU, please note that there may be delays in applying your aid and lottery scholarship until we receive your final transcript and verify your eligibility.)

• Mid-Summer:  Expecting a lottery scholarship, TSAA Grant or other state aid?  Notify the state that you plan to attend MTSU.  Visit our Lottery Transfer page for more information.

• Mid-Summer:  Expecting a lottery scholarship?  Notify a lottery scholarship staff member as soon as you see your final semester's grades showing on your MTSU transcript.  You'll need to allow 2-4 weeks from that date for your lottery eligibility to be reviewed.

• Mid-August:  Expecting a lottery scholarship but no seeing your transfer grades on your MTSU transcript yet?  Check with a lottery scholarship staff member to ask whether you are eligible for a deferment based on the expected award.

• August 15:  One-Semester Scholarship Applications available for students who were not selected as recipients for other MTSU scholarships.

Questions?  Please contact us!

Return to the MTSU Scholarship homepage

Return to the transfer scholarships webpage

Updated September 2012