Comparison · MeritPlaybook vs Going Merry
Scholarship strategy vs scholarship platform
Going Merry helps you apply. MeritPlaybook tells you where to aim.
Going Merry is a free scholarship platform that lets students submit a single application to multiple awards. It claims roughly 5 million scholarships in its database and integrates directly with some college financial aid offices for institutional awards. For finding and applying to scholarships, it works well and costs nothing. MeritPlaybook does not host scholarship applications. It delivers a personalized strategy document for $249 that analyzes how each scholarship interacts with institutional aid at your specific target schools. If your student has a 3.8 GPA, a 1420 SAT, and six schools on the list, Going Merry can surface awards they qualify for. MeritPlaybook can tell you which of those awards will stack at Ohio State but get displaced at Tulane. Families who need both discovery and strategy should use both. They solve different parts of the same problem.
What Going Merry does
Going Merry operates as a scholarship marketplace and application hub. Students create a single profile, and the platform matches them to scholarships they can apply to without writing separate essays for each one. Some partner colleges push their own institutional scholarships through the platform, giving students access to awards they might not find through a general search.
The platform also offers FAFSA filing assistance, walking families through the federal aid application. Revenue comes from institutional partnerships with colleges, not from student fees. This means the product is genuinely free for families, with no premium tier or gated features.
Where the two products diverge
Going Merry solves the application friction problem. Finding scholarships is time-consuming, and applying to each one separately is worse. A single application that routes to multiple awards saves hours.
MeritPlaybook solves the strategy problem. Knowing which scholarships to pursue, which to skip, and how each award affects your institutional aid package at each school on your list requires analysis that no platform provides at scale. A family with a student targeting USC, Baylor, and the University of Alabama needs to know that Alabama’s automatic merit scholarships reduce with outside awards over $2,500, while Baylor’s stacking policy is more favorable. Going Merry can help you apply to both school types. MeritPlaybook tells you what will actually happen to your aid package.
Side-by-side comparison
When Going Merry is the better fit
Choose Going Merry when:
Your student needs to find and apply to scholarships efficiently, and budget is the primary concern. Going Merry’s single-application model saves significant time when a student is applying to 10 or more external scholarships. If your school is a Going Merry partner institution, you may also see institutional scholarships surfaced directly through the platform.
Families in the early stages of the college search, before finalizing a school list, benefit from Going Merry’s free discovery tools. Once the school list is set and the question shifts from “what scholarships exist” to “which ones actually help at these specific schools,” that is when a strategy product like MeritPlaybook adds value.
Frequently asked questions
Is Going Merry really free?
Yes. Going Merry is free for students. The company earns revenue through partnerships with college financial aid offices that use the platform to manage institutional scholarships. There is no premium tier or hidden cost for families.
Does Going Merry tell you which scholarships reduce your financial aid?
No. Going Merry helps you find and apply for scholarships, but it does not analyze how outside awards interact with institutional aid at each school on your list. That stacking analysis is what MeritPlaybook delivers.
Can I use Going Merry and MeritPlaybook together?
Yes, and many families should. Use Going Merry to discover and apply for scholarships through its single-application system. Use MeritPlaybook to know which of those scholarships are worth pursuing at your specific target schools and which ones might reduce your institutional aid dollar-for-dollar.
Does MeritPlaybook help me apply for scholarships?
No. MeritPlaybook does not host applications or submit forms on your behalf. It delivers a strategy document that tells you which scholarships to pursue, which to skip, and how each award interacts with institutional aid at your target schools. You still apply through the scholarship provider or through a platform like Going Merry.
Want to see how stacking analysis works in practice? View a sample playbook, read the scholarship displacement guide, or start your student’s playbook.