Here are some of the best questions for a high school junior student survey about scholarship awareness, plus practical tips for creating them. If you want to build your own conversational survey in seconds, you can generate one with Specific.
Best open-ended questions for scholarship awareness surveys
Open-ended questions are your secret weapons for discovering what high school juniors really know—and don’t know—about scholarships. These questions are perfect when you want honest stories, motivations, confusion, or barriers explained in the student’s own words. That kind of detail is priceless when trying to bridge awareness gaps, especially given that an estimated $100 million in scholarship funds goes unclaimed each year in the United States [1]. Here are ten of the most insightful open-ended questions we recommend:
What comes to mind when you hear the word “scholarship”?
Describe your process (or any steps you’ve taken) to search for scholarships so far.
What challenges or confusions have you faced when trying to understand scholarship requirements?
How did you learn about the scholarships you’re aware of?
Tell me about a time you considered applying for a scholarship. What happened?
In your opinion, what qualities or achievements are most important for scholarship eligibility?
If you could improve the way information about scholarships is shared at your school, what would you suggest?
What advice would you give a friend who’s just starting their scholarship search?
Describe any fears or hesitations you have about applying for scholarships.
What’s your biggest unanswered question about scholarships or financial aid?
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for scholarship awareness surveys
Single-select multiple-choice questions shine when you need clear, quantifiable data or a low-pressure way to start the dialogue. They work especially well when you’re surveying a large cohort or want to spot quick patterns. Offering a list of options makes it faster for students to respond—and it often encourages even the shy or uncertain students to start sharing. You can always follow up for deeper context.
Question: How confident are you in your understanding of which scholarships you’re eligible for?
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not very confident
No idea at all
Question: Have you already applied or plan to apply for any scholarships this year?
Yes, I have already applied
Yes, I plan to apply
No, not planning to apply
I’m not sure yet
Question: What’s your biggest barrier to applying for scholarships?
Lack of information
Application process is confusing
I don’t think I qualify
No time or motivation
Other
When to follow up with "why?" Use a "why?" follow-up if a student picks a vague or pivotal answer—like “No idea at all” (to gauge whether it’s a knowledge gap or messaging issue) or “Other” (to dig for hidden obstacles). For example, if someone answers “No time or motivation” to the last question, a follow-up could be, “Can you tell me more about what makes it challenging to find the time or motivation?” Sometimes that’s where the real insight emerges.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always add "Other" when there’s even a chance your list isn’t exhaustive. You’ll uncover opinions and challenges you didn’t anticipate—and automated followup questions can probe these for unexpected gems.
Should you use an NPS-style question in your scholarship awareness survey?
NPS (Net Promoter Score) asks respondents, “How likely are you to recommend [topic] to a friend or classmate?” For scholarship awareness, it offers a strong pulse on how approachable the process feels: If juniors aren’t likely to recommend looking for scholarships to friends, it’s often a warning sign that the process is confusing or intimidating. When you compare aggregate NPS results to the open-text answers, you’ll spot patterns: Students who are “detractors” often lack basic information (in fact, 36% of high school juniors and seniors are averse to taking on any amount of debt for college—but most are unaware of non-loan options like scholarships [2]).
Try building an NPS survey tailored to high school students’ scholarship awareness.
The power of follow-up questions
We’ve seen that asking strong first questions is only half of the equation. The power of follow-up questions lies in capturing the “why” behind the initial answer. When the survey can ask smart, relevant follow-ups in real-time—like an expert interviewer—you get context that static forms simply miss. Specific’s AI-developed follow-up logic adapts, catching hesitant or incomplete student responses and always digging just a little deeper.
High school junior: “I applied for a scholarship before but didn’t hear back.”
AI follow-up: “What do you wish you’d known before applying? Did anything in the process surprise or confuse you?”
How many followups to ask? In our experience, 2–3 targeted followup questions per initial answer are enough. Not every response needs deep probing; set a logical “depth” so you move on once you have the insight. Specific lets you tune this setting for the right balance.
This makes it a conversational survey. When a survey can pivot mid-conversation, it feels like chatting with someone who genuinely cares—not just checking boxes. That’s why these are called conversational surveys.
AI survey analysis, response summaries, insights. Even with all this rich, unstructured feedback, analyzing the results is surprisingly easy with AI. You can use Specific’s AI survey response analysis feature to get automatic themes, summaries, and even chat with AI about the findings (see a guide for analyzing responses if you want specifics). Don’t be put off by “too much data”. Machines are pretty good at cutting through noise.
Automated followups are a new game-changer—so play around with Specific’s survey generator to experience how smart follow-ups work in real time and see what kind of deeper insight you can unlock.
How to prompt ChatGPT for better scholarship awareness survey questions
If you like experimenting, crafting the perfect prompt for ChatGPT (or any GPT-based AI survey builder) can save hours and offer higher-quality questions. Try this basic version first:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for high school junior student survey about scholarship awareness.
But honestly, the more context you add, the better your results. For example, describe who will answer, your specific goal, or challenges you know about:
I’m designing a survey for high school juniors to uncover gaps in their understanding of scholarships and financial aid. My goal is to learn what they know, what confuses them, and what barriers stop them from applying. What are 10 open-ended questions I should ask?
Once you have a collection, you can level up:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Then, after reviewing the categories (say, “Barriers”, “Awareness”, “Advice”), follow up with:
Generate 10 questions for the "Barriers" and "Awareness" categories.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey feels more like a text exchange than a traditional form. Each answer prompts a relevant, natural follow-up. This approach is particularly powerful for high school students, who are used to quick, interactive messaging. Instead of just ticking boxes, these students end up sharing the full story—uncertainties, hopes, missed opportunities.
Creating conversational surveys with AI is lightyears ahead of building one manually:
Manual Approach | AI Survey Generator |
|---|---|
Requires expertise or lots of research | Leverages AI’s best-practice knowledge instantly |
Slow to adapt to changing needs | Easy to edit and update via chat (AI survey editor) |
Hard to analyze free-text responses | AI summarizes, categorizes, and distills insights automatically |
Flat, impersonal experience | Conversational, feels like a real dialogue |
Why use AI for high school junior student surveys? Creating a conversational survey tailored with AI means you aren’t stuck with generic templates—you’re getting smart, adaptive questions that meet teens where they are. You’ll capture genuine struggles and misunderstandings (like that huge slice—between 73% and 81%—who don’t even know about subsidized federal loans [2]) and get the feedback that actually helps you drive scholarship engagement.
AI survey examples and conversational survey makers (like Specific) open the door to more honest, actionable, and context-rich feedback from juniors, all while making it easier and less stressful for them to participate. If you want to dive deeply, check out our guide to building scholarship awareness surveys for high school juniors, or see how to create an AI-powered survey from scratch.
Specific is known for best-in-class user experience in conversational surveys, designed to make the feedback process as smooth for you as it is for your students—whether you’re gathering initial awareness or following up for actionable insights.
See this scholarship awareness survey example now
See how a conversational survey can uncover hidden insights and make the process engaging for high school juniors—create yours and discover how easy and powerful collecting feedback can be with automated followups and AI-driven analysis.