It really does depend. My oldest applied to a school that had a special application if you wanted to be considered for additional scholarships. She filled that out and then was invited to interview for the top full ride scholarship. Another school she applied to had a separate application for each of their top scholarships. It was hard to decide what to apply for, and if I recall, one involved a project. My son just got a (surprise) letter in the mail that one of the schools he was accepted to has invited him to apply for their full merit scholarship (which we didn’t even know existed). For that he will have to submit an essay and appear in person for an interview on one of two days. Fortunately this university is only about 2 hours away from home.