Because of my financial situation (middle-class but parents push me to be independent at 18), the choice of which college I can go to is heavily dependent on whether or not I get a substantial amount of gift aid, aka scholarships.
If I win a scholarship to a school, how soon will I know? Will it be soon enough that I will have time to deliberate and compare my options?
If the scholarship I applied for goes with my college application form, will I have the scholarship answer along with the application answer?
Stamps scholarships, and some other major scholarships, require an interview. So you will know if you are even being considered for it long before May 1st. With maybe one exception, you’ll know the financial picture before you have to commit on May 1st. The one exception is if you’re an alternate for one of the major awards, and the university is waiting to see if anyone turns it down. The odds of that happening are slim-to-none and I wouldn’t wait on making a decision based on the “what if.”