# Page 8 | SmarterSelect Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 8 - 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 8 - Reviews of SmarterSelect ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 176-200 of 227 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use NP Nadine P. Consulting Program Officer Philanthropy Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Needs more Customization" September 21, 2022 3.0 I got the job done. But it could have an easier interface for applicants and staff. Pros Can't say. I don't have more to say so I will ramble on. This is part of the problem.... Cons Applicants had a hard time uploading content for the portfolio. Also difficult to select filters via categories. Review Source KD Kaeli D. Administrative Assistant Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Simple, easy to use program to both admin and user!" November 20, 2017 4.0 Pros I love the ability to match applicants to various programs using the Matching Questionnaire. This feature allowed us to pull a pool of similar applicants into each eligible scholarship without having to sort by hand. This feature ensures that we are including every possible student into the correct scholarship. From there, the reporting feature also comes in handy. I like being able to sort students on various criteria within the scholarship program such as major, GPA, most unmet need for college etc. Cons I do not like that you can not personalize the response messages as some are set to default by SmarterSelect. Also, I would like to over 20 matching questions able to be used on the questionnaire feature. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Assistant Director of Education and Leadership Initiatives Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Smarterselect 3/5" November 2, 2018 5.0 Pros Allows multiple users to grade applications and shares great export data! Cons Difficulty in learning the processes to use the functions I need Review Source ML Michelle L. Volunteer Relations Coordinator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Excellent Product" November 6, 2018 5.0 Excellent experience Pros This software offers a lot of great options and is easy to use. Customer Support is excellent and willing to help with any questions within a very timely manner. Cons It took me a little bit to really understand all aspects as it offers a wide variety of tools, but after using it I have no complaints. Review Source kF kate F. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Smarter Select has been an incredible resource and application provider for our program" December 4, 2017 5.0 Pros The ability to contact all the applicants with ease. And the ability to run reports. The admin is also very helpful Cons I sometimes wish I could make changes to our application by entering the whole app at once and not just by section Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Director of Administration Executive Office Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Wonderful platform!" November 13, 2018 5.0 Pros I love the ease of use of SmarterSelect both on the admin side and as a general user. We have used this for employment and volunteer applications as well as award judging. Cons I have no cons at this time. We look forward to moving more of our paper forms to this platform. Review Source LB Lynnee B. Program Officer Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great value for the money" November 2, 2018 4.0 We are a small company with a small budget and SmarterSelect is perfect for us. It works for our purposes within our budget. It might not be the Cadillac but we can't afford the Cadillac. It was hard not having phone customer support in the beginning but they are very prompt on email support except on weekends. Pros Relatively easy to use, prompt customer support, continue to improve the product. Cons No phone support in emergencies, we use SS for both grants and scholarships and find that it is too scholarship-centric. I would recommend it more if it had some improvements for grants. Review Source CA Colleen A. Administrative Assistant Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Grants applications" November 14, 2018 4.0 We are narrowing down applications for awards & the system allows a concise way to look at the information. Pros It was easy to use. I could compare some of the documents & that made it easier to make decisions. Cons Some of the documents didn't import correctly. Review Source AM Amanda M. Administrative Assistant Construction Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "New Scholarship Management" September 12, 2022 4.0 FOr the cost, this product is much more beneficial for our company's needs - while there's a lot more up front work on the employee end, it makes for complete customization Pros Completely customizable forms/programs when it comes to questions but not too technologically advanced to make it complicated Cons More guidance on layout of program/form would be helpful Review Source PM Paige M. Superintendent Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Organizes and all in one place. " June 29, 2021 4.0 Pros One thing I love about this is that it is easy to organize and has all your information in one place. Cons Sometimes it is hard to find a specific document using the search aspect but if you know around a time frame it becomes a lot Easier. Review Source VM Vickie M. Church Administrator Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Need more support and Training" August 29, 2016 5.0 We purchased this under the direction of our Business Office Manager. I had not done my research, however that doesn't mean that this isn't a good product. I believe it is a great product, but there should be some type training, tutorials that comes along with it. I was flying by the seat of my pants, knowing I can figure out most things, this really pushed the limits. I used this to gather the information needed for the scholarships we were implementing this year. I didn't know how much time it would take to make it happen and to see where changes need to be made. The representative was nice whenever I talked with him, he was quite knowledgeable, that really helped me. The assignments for the reviewers, I never could get that.....I didn't do that part. I hope next year, we will be able to get our money's worth, because we could have put that $1000 into the scholarship and had another student. Pros See above Cons See Above Review Source Response from SmarterSelect September 9, 2016 Hi Vickie, Thanks for your review! Please reach out to our Support team and they will be happy to schedule additional training sessions for you AM Aaron M. Director of Annual Giving and Stewardship Fund-Raising Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Robust Program - Tricky to Set Up" November 13, 2018 4.0 We use SmarterSelect for online scholarship applications and grant requests. This has greatly reduced the amount of paper we have to use for these processes and allows for easier of sharing with our evaluators. Pros We can set up multiple applications for scholarships, grants and other programs. The auto-scoring features are very helpful as are the online references. Cons Making changes to an application form or creating a new application can be pretty difficult. I would love to see an "auto-save" feature for editing or creating forms. Review Source MC Mary C. Admin Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Fine, straightforward." November 29, 2017 3.0 Easy to use and helped our unit organize application process. Pros Straightforward, easy to navigate for applicants and administrators. Relatively good value for what the software offered. Cons Lacked some of the more sophisticated functionality of other application processing platforms, especially in terms of reviewer process and recommender submission. Review Source ML Michelle L. COO Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "As new users, we have been thrilled with the ease of use and customer support!" November 16, 2017 5.0 Pros It's incredibly intuitive. With only a small amount of training we were able to figure out how to set up our forms. Cons My only slight criticism would be that the evaluator questions can only be placed mid-application, not in their own separate form. Review Source MF Michael F. Intern Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "I have had a very good experience when using this format. I have found the features to be great!" November 16, 2017 5.0 Pros I like the functionality of this software. It can do so many things and basically everything you would need it to do and so much more. I like how you can add specific fields where later you can pull records for that specific question. It makes it a lot easier to look for things within applications Cons I think that it can be a little confusing at times. It can be difficult to use sometimes if you dont already know how to use the software. Review Source EF Erin F. Foundation Director Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Smarter Select has been effective to manage our scholarship and grant process." August 8, 2017 4.0 Pros Simple to learn, Ability to set up on your own, Flexibility for multiple uses, Low cost Ease of use for volunteers Cons There may be less initial set up support than some of the other soft wares, but overall the cost and relative ease of using it make it worthwhile. Review Source JG Jennifer G. Program Associate Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Reviewing applications within the system and exporting data" November 16, 2017 4.0 Pros Easy to use from the admin and applicant user types. We've been able to adapt it to our meet our application needs. Cons Limited customization and features. Data reporting/exporting is less than sector standard (i.e. doesn't export headers, only allows 40 fields per export). Review Source Response from SmarterSelect November 17, 2017 Hi Jennifer, Many thanks for your review! I'll have our Support team reach out with info about exports because we can export more all the fields in an app (over 100+). Thanks, Robert ME Meagan E. Programs & Policy Sr. Associate Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "SmarterSelect offers a no-frills affordable application system with excellent customer support. " November 28, 2017 4.0 Easily captures and tracks applicants for our program. Relieves a lot of my work load during the application cycle. Pros Excellent customer support - my questions are answered very quickly. Most afforadble product on the market. Cons Functionality is very limited. For those who are not very computer literate, the application system is very difficult to use. How-to webinars are not as informative as I thought they'd be. Review Source MH Margaret H. Vice President Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Carmel Education Foundation " September 4, 2016 4.0 We have had our ups and downs. When the transfer over to the new platform, some of our applications didn't come through because there was an additional space. We didn't realize it until we had rejected several applications. The problem is now fixed. Pros It's fairly easy to use. Support for this program has been wonderful when we have requested it. Cons I dislike having to receive an email in order to get a report. It's just one more step especially when we are running over 80 reports. Review Source AO Abel O. Director Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Easy to use and good features. " November 28, 2017 3.0 Made my organization go from paper applications to completely electronic. Saved a lot of time and resources. Pros The main application design. It's easy, functional and a good value for the money. It's also great for several audiences to use, such as young teenagers and older adults who aren't too comfortable using technology. Cons It's hard to get customer service support when issues arise with the application. Too long of a delay. Review Source EB Ellen B. Relationship manager Accounting Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "I'm a new admin" September 15, 2022 5.0 I have to say that I have no idea how much this costs or who made the decision, but I got the application up and running and overall it was pretty user friendly Pros I was able to figure this out pretty quickly. SOmeone quit and no one knew how to set up our scholarship. the Help chat bot was really great. With the help feature, I coule figure out how to use last year's application and update it. I had to change some questions and that was pretty easy. Cons It took a while to figure out how to toggle between the questions and the form but actually it was OK Review Source DV Dave V. Executive Director Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "SmarterSelect is a user friendly robust scholarship/grant application platform that simply "works."" November 28, 2017 5.0 Pros The software is relatively intuitive and easily navigated. Evaluators seem to catch on pretty quickly Cons Cycle timing has some issues. We have had some difficulty syncing grant cycles to a quarterly process. Review Source AB Ana B. Program Coordinator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Highly Recommended" August 29, 2016 5.0 Smarter Select has been invaluable for collecting applications and making student selections. It is compatible with other software programs we use, saving a tremendous amount of time. Pros How easy it is to collect information and use it as needed - whether it's students submitting an application, school advisors making student selections, creating master lists, or communicating with students. Cons Probably the lack of printing options. Review Source JK Jade K. Operations Admin Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Easy, user-friendly, intuitive" November 16, 2017 5.0 Pros How easy it is to put forms together and how AWESOME the support team is. They get back to me so quickly whenever I have an issue. Cons The only thing that was a bit tricky was making a document downloaded from the application page. It wasn't necessarily a con, but definitely something that can be added for future innovation of the site. Review Source cK cynthia K. Emerson Fellow Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "I still need personalized support for onboarding. Phone calls are so much better " November 16, 2017 5.0 Pros Standardization of info Scalability keeping all my data on one place rather than multiple spreadsheets Cons support is tough. I cannot articulate my problems. Sometimes things are resolved by refreshing or zoom. That might have been a common issue that took me a long time to resolve. Phone call would have been quicker. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.