BECA Common Application for Local Scholarships

STEP 3:  Upload required documentation, generate and upload a pdf of your application and submit the application electronically. 

Once the online application is complete:

• Combine all of the supporting documents (see below) and scan into a single PDF file. Upload this using the first yellow “Browse Files” button near the bottom of the JotForm Electronic Application.  Name this file with: Last name, First Name, Middle Initial, Supplemental.pdf. You must include these supporting documents: 

  1. The six basic Supporting Documents (scan in this order) then upload in the Electronic Application: 

     • FSS, your FAFSA Submission Summary from FAFSA (only the single page that shows your SAI or Student Aid Index) APPLY NOW! www.fafsa.gov

     • SAT and/or ACT score report(s). (Optional this year) Forms printed from the web are acceptable. Winners will need to provide official reports. 

     • Two letters of recommendation. One from someone at your school and one from someone in the community, strongly preferred, or two from school if you are unable to get a letter from a community person. BECA does not accept confidential letters. SEE ELECTRONIC APPLICATION FOR MORE DETAILS. 

     • A copy of your high school transcript. (or high school and college if a current college student). You can print the transcript from the web. Winning students may need to provide an official transcript to providers. REQUEST TRANSCRIPTS EARLY! SMCPS Instructions. 

     • A copy of your current school year report card, showing grades at the end of the first semester of your senior year. You may print this from the web.

  2. Any essays or other documents requested by the Part B scholarships.  Rotary scholarships request a "Service Above Self" essay. You only need to include one, and may place it at the end of your set of essays in your Supplemental Information that you upload. 

• Create a PDF of the completed JotForm Electronic Application. Create this using the green “First Print-Save Form as PDF” button at the bottom of the JotForm application. Use the yellow “Browse Files” button to upload the PDF you created.

• Submit the electronic  JotForm Application data by clicking the “Last Step: Submit” button at the bottom of your application.

• Note: Even after submitting, you can return to your application and make changes up until 11:59 P.M, March 6, 2026. Any time you make changes, you must create a new pdf of the application, and upload it inside the electronic application. Anytime you make a change, you must use the submit button again. 

*BETA....USE AI to help find the scholarships you qualify for. Here's how: Write a description of yourself and send it to an AI Bot. We used Claude AI. Sometimes it gives a great answer and sometimes not. This is a start, but the only way to know which you qualify is to read over all descriptions yourself. 

FIRST, copy and paste the template below into the AI chat, filling in your information after you paste it into Claude, Gemini or ChatGPT. (it was tested on Claude)

"I am a student applying for scholarships listed on the google doc that I just  copied and pasted in below. Based on my profile below, please tell me which scholarships I qualify for, which ones I clearly do not qualify for and why, and flag any where I may partially qualify but should verify before applying. You should know that Chopticon, Great Mills, and Leonardtown are public high schools in St. Mary's County. St. Mary's Ryken is a private high school in St. Mary's County. Students attending St. Mary's Ryken may live in St. Mary's, Calvert, Charles or Prince Georges County. Financial need is indicated by an SAI of 20000 or less. 

My profile:

• Gender:

• Race/Ethnicity:

• County of residence:

• High school:

• Cumulative weighted GPA:

• I plan to attend: (2-year college / 4-year college / trade or vocational school / HBCU)

• Intended major:

• Intended career:

• Any academy programs completed (e.g., AVPA, TAM, STEM, Finance):

• Varsity sports participation (yes/no):

• Community service involvement ( none, a little, a lot):

• Military family connection (yes/no):

• Is your parent or guardian an employee the Metropolitan Commission? (yes/no)

• FAFSA Student Aid Index (SAI), if known:

• What is your zip code? 

• Do you participate in GEMS/EMBODI?(yes/no)

• Member of Cedar Point Federal Credit Union (yes/no):

• Are you a member of the Farm Bureau? (yes/no)"

SECOND,  copy and paste the scholarship descriptions into Claude-AI. Here is a link to a "flattened scholarship descriptions"  that is readable by Claude .(not available on SMCPS network, so you may need to do this at home) . If this works for you, please write us at smcbeca@gmail.com with any advice that will help other students. Tell us if you had any issues or if the list was accurate.