How to use the Scholly app for best results

What was the inspiration behind Scholly by Sallie?

Christopher: I came from a low-income background and was the first in my family to go to college. I applied for as many scholarships as I could (which took months!) and ended up winning over one million dollars. Because of that, I saw a huge problem—there's all this money out there and students don't know it exists. And when I went to college, that problem was amplified. There were so many people left behind who couldn’t pay for college because they didn’t have access to the resources. So I wanted to create an app to help people personally to find money they didn’t know was out there.

How does Scholly by Sallie differ from the other scholarship search apps?

Christopher: We serve the whole gamut. High school seniors going into college, people who are currently in college, and grad students. That’s one way. Two, we manage a lot of exclusive scholarships, so if you want that free money, you have to use our platform. Three, we are only matching you with scholarships that you qualify for, where the other databases just give you a generic list. 

Can you walk us through the application process on Scholly by Sallie?

Christopher: You can download the app or sign up on the web. Then you easily create a profile highlighting your interests and background, and then you're matched with personalized scholarships in minutes. We have something called the Scholly Score that ranks scholarships—how likely you are to get them based on data like how many people applied, demographics, and all that stuff. It’s a simple and easy-to-use product. We always say we turn the months of looking for scholarships into minutes, which is based on my experience.

Are there any best practices that new users should know?

Christopher: We hone in on the search process. Our goal is to give you access to money. Students still need to be motivated to apply and we shy away from doing too much of that for you. That’s how you need to approach it. And look for opportunities to repurpose your essay. A lot of essay topics for scholarships are the same. That’s what I did, and I was able to scale my essays, so to speak.

How do you keep the Scholly by Sallie database updated and relevant?

Christopher: We have a squad, almost like a QA team, that makes sure the scholarships are up to date and legitimate. You want to avoid the ‘Oh, here’s a $100,000 dollar scholarship, just give me your social security number.’ There needs to be quality control and a lot of my competitors are just pulling things from everywhere and saying, ‘Here it is,’ without looking into anything. We don't allow that.

Can you highlight any success stories?

Christopher: We have a lot. So many students have won several million in scholarships. My record has been beaten a lot which is a great problem to have.

What are the future plans for Scholly by Sallie?

Christopher: Leveraging AI to make the search faster and the aggregation of scholarships faster. Basically, speed up all of our processes. The college landscape is changing, and we'll change with it. A lot of employers are saying now they don’t need a college degree, so you might see the price of education drop, which will make learning skills more affordable. We’ll adapt to that and program for that scale.

Tell us about your experience on Shark Tank.

Christopher: Being on Shark Tank was a good and interesting experience. My episode was one of the most highly rated and had the biggest fight in Shark Tank history. We just filmed an update and it was kind of a full circle moment. A chance to show everyone that we did it right. Scholly by Sallie* has a forever home with Sallie Mae and it was great to share that moment with the sharks who believed in it.

*By clicking the link, you'll visit our affiliate Scholly's site. Any information that we may collect or that you provide will be shared with Sallie Mae and will be covered under the SLM Education Services, LLC privacy policy and terms of use.