# Page 4 | SmarterSelect Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 4 - Is SmarterSelect the right Scholarship Management solution for you? Explore 227 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/140270/SmarterSelect/reviews --- SmarterSelect 4.4 (227) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/140270/SmarterSelect/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Page 4 - Reviews of SmarterSelect ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 76-100 of 227 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use SF Stephanie F. Program Officer Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Scholarship Use" September 19, 2018 4.0 Pros Software is easily set up, very user friendly on the admin end. From what I hear from applicants the software is easy for them to use as well. Cons There have been issues with individuals accidentally creating admin accounts rather than applicant accounts. We have also heard that when information is entered into a given section it cannot be removed by the applicant. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Grants & Donor Services Manager Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Overall positive experience. Staff, applicants and evaluators report the tool is easy to use." November 16, 2017 4.0 Pros Customer support is excellent, and ongoing trainings/webinars and resource library are all helpful. Application design is mostly straightforward and intuitive. Built in logic (app rules) are pretty basic, but work well. One would be hard pressed to find a better solution for the money. Cons Would like to see more predefined fields and built in text formatting options. Currently one has to add html code (provided by the vendor) to bold or otherwise change how text is formatted. Finally, I could see us getting to a point where the app rules/logic don't meet our needs. Review Source Response from SmarterSelect November 17, 2017 Hi, Many thanks for your review! Stay tuned for text formatting. Coming soon! Robert RB Roxanne B. Business and Program Manager Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SmarterSelect" September 12, 2022 3.0 Frustrating Pros It moved our scholarship application process online. Previously, it was hard copy documents mailed in. Cons It's too slow to load. We are not able to really use it for the kinds of application scoring we do. Not a lot of customization available. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Marketing and Design Specialist Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Easy for everyone to use" September 6, 2022 5.0 Great for managing scholarship applications. Pros Integrating this product was easy- I like that on computer or mobile the forms work great. Especially with getting traction and attention through social media, forms are more apt to be open on mobile devices. Cons I wish that we could have more personalization options to customize forms to our company's branded fonts and colors. Review Source RV Ray V. Chief Operating Officer Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Smart Move with Smarter Select " September 15, 2022 5.0 We have the benefit of greater member outreach and onboarding Pros Very straight forward interfacing, specific features catered to use Cons Perhaps more integration with common database features of SalesForce Review Source AL Angela L. Executive Director Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Save time! Secure your applicant data! Perfect package! " September 6, 2022 5.0 It has improved our operation exponentially Pros Ease of use, cost, efficiency, and the copy feature is much appreciated! Cons Sometimes sort feature is not accurate and you have to sort by hand Reason for choosing SmarterSelect Usability Review Source EL Elton L. Scholarship & Financial Aid Specialist Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Our experience with SmarterSelect has been fantastic! It is an amazing tool for our applications." November 28, 2017 5.0 Pros What I most like about the software are the features like the "App Rules", "Calculation" and "Autoscore". When we design and update our applications, these features make evaluation and selection process much easier to verify and lightens our overall workload. Cons What I least like about the software is how the form looks rather simplistic compared to other online applications. This is a very minor issue overall as the look and layout of the form is actually very helpful for mobile users. Review Source AL Alison L. Executive Director Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "We use SmarterSelect for the scholarships our honor society provides, both applications & judging." November 29, 2017 4.0 Previously, scholarships were handled on paper (!!!). You can imagine the savings in time, energy, and resources by going to an electronic system. Pros It's great to have everything available in one place! I can also easily "clone" last year's applications to set up this year's applications. Judges have a single sign-in to get to the applications for their review, and it is usually easy for recommenders to follow the link sent and upload their letter of recommentation. Cons After awhile, the number of accounts in the system gets overwhelming. I wish there was some way to "archive" non-active users in regard to our account. Recommenders seem to often miss the emails sent to them; it might be helpful to remind applicants to let their recommenders know to expect an email (and to check their spam folder). There are certain aspects of the system that are a bit clunky, non-intuitive, and/or repetitive. Review Source NP Nancy P. Testing Specialist I Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Proctor" November 9, 2018 4.0 Pros Easy for proctors and student to be able to create an accounts have an understanding how to use the program. Cons I do not like that every time we are searching for an applicant it takes awhile. An example if you have 300 or more it could take 2 or more minutes to find the the applicant. Review Source Response from SmarterSelect November 12, 2018 Hi Nancy, Thanks for your review! Please use the Search box on the Applicants page to quickly find the applicant. Also, you can use a Report. In 2019, we'll be updating the tables for even faster responses. Stay tuned for updates! Regards, Robert Katie L. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Grants and Scholarships " November 2, 2018 4.0 We track, review/evalutate and export all of our grants and scholarship applications. Pros The exporting feature, and being able to compile all evaluator feedback. Cons I wish there were some different features for viewing each application and being able to see each evaluator comment. It takes a lot of work after the export to compile all responses and would be nice to bring up each application and see the review from each evaluator on one screen without having to do the export. Review Source Response from SmarterSelect November 14, 2018 Hi Katie, Many thanks for your feedback! We like your suggestions regarding viewing application and evaluation data. We'll incorporate that in future releases. Regards, Robert JW Jenny W. Program Operations Associate Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Would like more user-friendly and customization!" November 2, 2018 3.0 Pros I like that it meets the basic needs of our program in terms of letting students apply to our program. Cons The user interface feels very slow and clunky. It's not super intuitive. For example, when creating an application form, I assume I can just edit by clicking on what I see, but in order to actually edit a section, I have to click through the sections on the right hand side first, and that doesn't seem very intuitive. I also wish we could create our own statuses that would allow us to do specific autoscoring. For example, one of the things we need to do is make sure that the applicants have submitted the correct attachments. I wish we could check for that in SmarterSelect continuously throughout the application period and not just at the end. Review Source Response from SmarterSelect November 12, 2018 Hi Jenny, Many thanks for your review! We appreciate your feedback on our user interface as we continuous work to improve it. Regarding your own statuses, create them with a multiple choice question with the Admin question class so that only you can see them. Regards, Robert JE Joan E. Program Coordinator Public Policy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Customizable features and Customer service" September 12, 2022 5.0 This was a big asset for me in my work. The prior systems relied on spreadsheets and fillable forms. With Smarter Select I can download and filter on any field to get to the information I need. Pros I've introduced Smarter Select at two foundations that I've worked with, and to other grant funders in my community. It is easy to set up, easy to customize applications, intuitive to the user and the customer service is GREAT! Cons I wish there was a way for previous applicants to log in and have some of the fields pre-filled with information from prior applications. (I.e.: Name of Organization, Address, Contact Person, Phone, etc.) Review Source PB Penny B. Director of development Philanthropy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Review " September 7, 2022 4.0 Pros Ease of overall use. Great customer support. Cons Can be difficult to create forms. Adding app rules to the program can be confusing. Reason for choosing SmarterSelect It was in place when I started working here. Review Source JT Jaime T. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent product for the price!" September 6, 2022 5.0 Pros We have used SmarterSelect for many years. It has allowed us to streamline our processes and move from paper applications to one simple common online application for scholarships. I love being able to pull everything into a PDF or Excel file. Cons The only thing I wish we had (which is probably available on a higher tier), is the ability for scores to be added in the evaluator section for their viewing. However, when I pull scores in Excel, it is easy for me to tabulate scores. Reason for choosing SmarterSelect Price Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Vice President of Programs and Marketing Philanthropy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Smarter Select Review" November 9, 2018 4.0 Very positive! Pros The flexibility and numerous options for setting up various types of applications and scholarships Cons When exporting the data, I wish there was a way to automatically conduct mathematical averages of evaluators' scores to each evaluation questions. Also, it would be ideal to have an option to list each application by organization name rather than individual. Review Source Response from SmarterSelect November 20, 2018 Hello, Many thanks for your review! Regarding averages of evaluator scores, check out our help article on how to set this up: https://support.smarterselect.com/hc/en-us/articles/208750836-How-can-I-customize-the-Evaluations-table- Thanks, Robert KE Kimberly E. Finance & Operations Coordinator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "It is a good product and meets our needs." November 28, 2017 4.0 It allows us to keep our applications (scholarship & grants) uniform and easy to share electronically. Pros I like that it can be customizable. It can have as many questions you want. It is versatile enough that we can use it for both our scholarship and our grant applications. It is easy to have the option for attachments. Cons I don't like that you cannot pick up a phone and call someone. A phone call has to be scheduled via email. Any issues have to be dealt with via email/chat. Sometimes it is a lot quicker/easier to explain a problem by talking rather than writing. I wish there could be a way to create a chart for applicants to complete on questions such as activities or work history over the years. Right now you have to ask a the same question for each time frame. It gets a bit redundant. Review Source SS Sue S. Scholarship Program Manager Aviation & Aerospace Used the software for: 2+ years ### "5 Years with Smarter Select" November 13, 2018 4.0 I feel that the tasks of managing the applicant files and the voting process have become much more streamlined since we started using SmarterSelect. Pros Before we found SmarterSelect we were mailing out paper applications and keeping hard copy files of all applicants. SmarterSelect made the whole application process so much easier. Cons There are times when it would be nice to actually call for technical help but for the most part they are very good about responding quickly. Review Source KS Kristy S. Programs and Donor Relations Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SmarterSelect Review" August 29, 2016 4.0 We use SmarterSelect for grant management, scholarship application, and nomination for an annual award. Pros While it is the only system of it's type with which I am familiar, I find it easy to use and to update. Cons I wish that the identifier for applicants could be altered depending upon use: ie, applicant for scholarship, organization for grant, etc. Review Source Response from SmarterSelect September 9, 2016 Hi Kristy, Thanks for your review! Stay tuned for an enhancement to configure your Apps table columns (e.g. applicant, organization). AD Amy D. Program Officer Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Overall, okay. Have been many issues; most satisfactorily resolved." November 16, 2017 3.0 Pros Matching feature for scholarship program; online evaluation function; linkage between applications that eliminates need to fill-in fields multiple times. Cons Frequency of "bugs" combined with inability to contact customer support by phone. The inability to contact customer support is not specifically a software issue, but it complicates the process as a user/administrator, particularly when the issue is time-sensitive. Review Source SS Stephanie S. Program Coordinator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SmarterSelect Review" November 2, 2018 4.0 Pros Our staff loves how much paper and file space we save with using SmarterSelect. Our scholarship and grant applicants love the ease and availability of submitting applications online. The support we receive from the support staff when encountering a problem is done in a timely manner. The training webinars and libraries are helpful and informative. Cons It doesn't intergrate with our current grants management software. Review Source CH Chelsey H. Project Manager, Grants Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Software" September 6, 2022 5.0 Pros Easy to use and manage awards applications Cons Having to build the calculations out, was a bit tough at first Review Source MP Mary P. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "DCF to SS" November 2, 2018 4.0 Very Very good Pros The ease in use and understanding the software. The cost was very affordable. There is good value for the cost. Cons The support is only available via email. You cannot always explain the nuances or a complicated problem via email, but you try. And then the answers come back not always on point. There is sometimes a loss in translation. To be able to talk to someone would be helpful sometimes. Review Source KM Kate M. Program Specialist Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Value and Easy to Work with" November 16, 2017 5.0 We are able to more efficiently manage our programs! Pros I love the ease of being able to work with applicants and evaluators in an easy way. Communication, documentation, and management is easy through SmarterSelect's software Cons We have to use a separate program to work with matching our applicants to scholarships. It is also hard to know what evaluators and applicants are seeing through their view as an administrator. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Family Foundation Operations Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Accessible, flows well and gives great result ." November 16, 2017 5.0 Pros The accessibility of the staff and the value of the product are amazing. I loved having the staff to call or email with! Cons Some sections are not easy to navigate right off the bat..but take time to learn. I wish you could reorder questions easier. Review Source Response from SmarterSelect November 17, 2017 Hi, Many thanks for your review! Stay tuned, as we are adding a new App Tree so it will be easier to reorder questions. Thanks, Robert BA Bill A. Development Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great for Scholarship management and more" September 12, 2022 5.0 Our committee likes this software for its ease of use for both youth and adults alike Pros This is an easy way for our students to apply and for our judges to use the same system to evaluate and make notes. I love the reports it can generate and the scoring it allows us to do. Cons Adding scoring or questions sometimes is less than intuitive when you first learn how to do it. Reason for choosing SmarterSelect We were recommended SmarterSelect from a colleague who used it for their own scholarship program. 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