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Scholarship application tracker

Short answer: use two SharePoint lists. One holds applicants, one row per application. The second holds reviewer scores, one row per reviewer per application. Saved views then show missing documents and who has not scored yet. This page describes the columns and views in text, so there is nothing to download.

Why two lists

One list with five reviewer columns fills up badly. A second list, with one row per score, scales to any number of reviewers. Each score row points back to the application with a Lookup column.

Make both lists as blank lists in Microsoft Lists, then add each column below with + Add column. Exact names may differ on your screen.

List 1, Applications

Use Title for the application ID, such as APP-2041. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: put the applicant's name in a separate column, and use the ID in views that reviewers see.

List 2, Scores

Documents complete

A calculated column can return Yes or No text from the other columns in its row. Microsoft's example for IF is: =IF(AND([Column1]>[Column2], [Column1]<[Column3]), "OK", "Not OK"). Build yours as:
=IF(AND([Transcript received],[Recommendation letter received],[Essay received]),"Complete","Missing")
Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: test this on one row with all three Yes and one with a No before you rely on it. Microsoft notes that "Calculated fields can only operate on their own row." Lookup columns cannot be used in a formula, so keep this column on the Applications list only.

Saved views

For each view, filter from the column heading, apply it, and keep it with Save view as.

  1. Missing documents: filter Documents complete to Missing.
  2. To decide: filter Stage to 2 Under review.
  3. Waitlist: filter Decision to 3 Waitlist.
  4. For reviewers, on the Scores list: a view filtered to the signed-in person needs the [Me] keyword, and Microsoft says: "You must use the classic view editor to filter columns using these keywords." See.

For sorting a ranking, Microsoft says: "When you create or edit a view, you can specify sorting on one or two columns." Sort the Scores list on Application first, then Score.

Flow 1, tell the applicant about missing items

Microsoft lists the trigger: "Triggers the flow when you create an item, and each time you modify it in a SharePoint list." Use it on Applications.

  1. Trigger: When an item is created or modified.
  2. Condition: Documents complete equals Missing, and Notified is No.
  3. Action: Send an email to the applicant's address with the missing items.
  4. Action: Update item, set Notified to Yes.

Notified is the Sent flag guard. Set its default value to No. The flow checks it is No, sends, and then sets it to Yes. That also stops the Update item action from sending the same email again. See.

Flow 2, reviewer assignments

Microsoft's Approvals page says of the Start and wait for an approval action: "This action lets you provide the information that should be in the approval request and the approvers who will receive the request." That fits a yes/no step such as eligibility check. For scoring, a list row per reviewer is simpler. Create the Scores rows with the Create item action, one per reviewer.

Reading the lists

Get items stops at 100 rows by default. For a big program, set Top Count (5,000 at most) and turn Pagination on. See.

Privacy and fairness

Applicants' grades and essays can be sensitive. Ask your school's or foundation's counsel about access, retention, and any award rules. For student records in the United States, the U.S. Department of Education's Student Privacy site is the official source: https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/ Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: share the Applications list with a small group, and show reviewers only the Scores view.

When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: $5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "What a SharePoint tracker costs to build". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

Tell me what's still manual

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. I work remotely. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

See trackers I built: Tools I built

FAQ

What columns does a scholarship application tracker need?

Application ID, applicant, program, date received, documents received, stage, decision, award amount, and notified.

Is there a scholarship application tracker template?

This page lists the columns in text. You build the two lists in Microsoft 365 with no download.

Should a scholarship tracker be an Excel spreadsheet or a list?

A list handles several reviewers per application and sends email. See.

How do I see which applications are missing documents?

Add a calculated Documents complete column and save a view filtered to Missing.

Can reviewers only see their own scores?

A view can filter to the signed-in person with [Me], but that needs the classic view editor, per Microsoft.

Sources