FAQ

If possible, submit your application at least two months before the start of the term for which you will use the scholarship.

• Application Deadline: If possible, a minimum of two months before the start of the term for which you will use the scholarship
• Scholarship Recipients Notified: Within two months after application
• Scholarship Checks Issued: Before start of your education program

The following factors may be considered when selecting recipients:

• iMasons is committed to finding and developing the most under-tapped source of talent in our field – women. We will make every attempt to make at least 50% of our awards to qualified women applicants. We also are committed to making opportunity available to all under-represented populations;
• Apparent likelihood of entering and being successful in the digital infrastructure field;
• Academic, work, military service, and/or life achievements and records;
• Financial need.

Decisions of the selection committees are final and are not subject to appeal. No application feedback will be given.

• The amount of the scholarship award is determined by the education program you are applying to. The amounts are shown on the list of eligible programs.
• Students may apply per course for professional courses and annually for university courses. Require GPA of 2.0 or equivalent to continue.
• The scholarships may be applied to tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment billed through the school and required for your course load at qualified training and education programs. Checks are typically mailed to the student, made out to the institution, unless other arrangements are made.

• The award does not automatically renew – applicants must re-apply each year. However, preference will be given to prior recipients to provide consistent support to achieve the educational objective. The number of total years/awards per student will be limited based on the number of years/terms needed to complete the educational objective (ie. students pursuing a BS degree may only be awarded scholarships for 4 years).

You should list your first choice on the application.

You may update your final school choice on the My Profile page. If you are chosen to receive an award, it will be your responsibility to make sure your college is updated at least 30 days prior to the check issue date stated in the award notification so your check can be issued accordingly. This will not update any application or acceptance forms; however, all awards are issued based on the My Profile page.

Allow five to seven business days after uploading documents for your online status to update. You may monitor the status of your application on your home page at https://aim.applyISTS.net.

• Started: items are needed or are being processed. To see the items, click the grey or yellow ‘Started’ tile next to the application title.  This will open another box listing all required items and the current status of each.
• Complete: all required forms and attachments (if applicable) have been received and your application will be considered for the scholarship.

You may also monitor the status of your attachments and recommendations (if applicable).

• Not Received: the attachment has not been received.
• Not Started: the form has not been requested or started.
• Requested: the form request has been created, but the form has not been started.
• Processing: the attachment has been received and is being reviewed.
• Rejected: the attachment was not accepted and has been rejected.
• Accepted: the attachment has been verified and accepted by ISTS.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to monitor the progress of all application requirements to make sure the application is complete. The status Complete will display on the home page when all forms have been submitted and all documents have been verified.

There are two situations where your attachment might not upload:

• You upload a file with the same name as one that has already been accepted.
• You upload a file with the same name as one that is waiting to be processed.

Example: You upload your school transcript file and then try to upload the same file with the same name for your test scores requirement because your scores were on it. You simply need to rename the file in order to upload it again so that it may be processed as your test scores.

You may create a .zip file containing more than one file as long as everything included is in an acceptable format (i.e. .pdf, .tif, .png, .gif, .jpeg, .jpg, .bmp and .xps.)

To use this format, follow the steps outlined below:

1. Create a new folder on your Desktop, name it the document type you will be uploading. For example, Test Scores, Transcript, or Financial Documentation.
2. Move all the pages you wish to upload into the new folder.
3. Right click on the document from your Desktop:
   • PC Users: select “Send to,” followed by “Compressed (zipped) folder.”
   • Mac Users: select “Compress ‘[folder name]’.”
4. Your new .zip file will be located on your Desktop, ready to upload.

Official transcripts must be obtained through your high school administration office, or your college registrar office. These transcripts are normally printed on official letterhead and/or state that they are official. These may contain a signature.

Note: Your official transcript may come to you in a sealed envelope, stating it will become unofficial if opened. When scanning or copying your official transcripts, a watermark may appear noting they are now unofficial. Despite any watermarks or sealed envelopes, you may open the envelope if needed to upload the document. These documents will still be considered official for our purposes. When scanning or copying, you do not need to include a copy of the sealed envelope.

Unofficial transcripts may be accessed through your school’s online student portal. These pages must still be converted to one of the acceptable file formats. There are free tools available that will allow you to save various documents (including web pages) as a PDF. Unofficial transcripts must contain your name and the school name and contact information.

DO:

• Upload in the correct file format.
• Only upload the requested documents.
• Black out any Social Security numbers on the documents you are uploading. This is not required, but advised.
• Return to your Home page to verify your documents have been accepted.

DON’T:

• Upload a Microsoft Word™ document (.doc, .docx) or any other format we don’t accept.
• Upload more than the requested documentation.
• Assume your documents are correct and accepted once you have uploaded them.
• Upload a document stating you are mailing your documents.
• Assume the required document does not pertain to you. If the application states the document is required, your application will remain incomplete if you do not provide that document.
• Password protect your uploaded documents. Password protected documents will be rejected.
• Upload any file that has a viewing expiration date.

The required supporting documents must be uploaded to your online application by the application deadline. If you do not follow the upload instructions exactly, your application may not be considered. Documents that meet the criteria required for the scholarship application, and are uploaded by the deadline, will be processed and considered on time.

• Notifications are sent to recipients and applicants not selected to receive an award via email one month before the start of your education program. For recipients, an Acceptance link will be displayed on the home page following the notification.
• Add donotreply@applyISTS.com and contactus@applyISTS.com to your email address book or “safe senders list” to ensure these important emails are not sent to your junk mail folder.
• Do not ‘opt out’ of any email sent from donotreply@applyISTS.com or contactus@applyISTS.com. You may not receive vital information regarding your scholarship applications.

Note: Your email address will only be used to communicate with you about your scholarship applications or other opportunities administered by ISTS for which you may be eligible to apply. We will not provide your email address to any third parties.

What are my responsibilities if I am chosen as a recipient?
You must enroll as a student in the fall of the year in which the scholarships are awarded, continue the entire academic year without interruption unless approved by scholarship sponsor, deliver your scholarship check to the proper office at your institution with its attached instructions, and notify ISTS should your check not arrive within 30 days of the issue date.

Checks will be issued before the start of your education program to each recipient’s mailing address and made payable to the institution on the profile page.