Start Your Career List
About this Step
Starting December of Sophomore year, students who save a list with three or more careers will earn entries into monthly drawings for $500 and $40,000. The earlier you start your list, the more chances you'll have at winning.
How to Qualify
- Login to your College Board account
- Take the Career Quiz
- Search for careers on BigFuture
- Add three or more careers to your list
Dates and Deadlines
Scholarships for $500 and $40,000 are awarded monthly until February of your senior year. Completing any step enters you in the drawings on the first day of every month. Drawings occur on the first day of every month.
Class of 2025 Deadline to Complete this Step: Friday, February 28, 2025
Class of 2026 Deadline to Complete this Step: Saturday, February 28, 2026
Class of 2027 Deadline to Complete this Step: Monday, November 30, 2026
Increase Your Chances
Whenever students whose families earn less than $60,000 a year complete the FAFSA, they’ll earn an extra entry in monthly drawings and have double the chances at a scholarship. Half of all awards are reserved for students who meet the income criteria.
Tips for Building Your List
What’s a career list?
Your list contains the careers you want to pursue. Every individual looks for different things in a career. To help you find what’s right for you, explore over 1,000 careers on BigFuture to understand how much money you can expect to make, what the work is like, and what education and skills you’ll need to be successful.
How can I build a strong career list?
To start, take our short career quiz. It takes just a few minutes to answer questions about how you like to spend your time and what interests you most. After the quiz, you’ll receive a list of 30 potential careers to explore and add to your list. You can also explore careers in different clusters, such as Health Sciences or Marketing.
FAQ
Who's eligible for scholarships from BigFuture?
Students in the class of 2025, 2026, and 2027 are now eligible for BigFuture® Scholarships. They must have a College Board account and attend public or private high school or be enrolled in a home school in the United States, Puerto Rico, or any other U.S. territories. U.S. citizens and residents attending Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools are also eligible. When students complete one or more qualifying steps on their BigFuture dashboard, they'll be automatically entered into monthly drawings for $500 or $40,000 until their senior year. Students can opt out of scholarship drawings here.
What are the deadlines to complete each step to qualify for BigFuture Scholarships?
Class of 2025
- Start Your College List: Sunday, June 30, 2024
- Strengthen Your College List: Thursday, October 31, 2024
- Start Your Career List: Friday, February 28, 2025
- Start Your Scholarship List: Friday, February 28, 2025
- Apply to Colleges: Friday, February 28, 2025
- Complete the FAFSA: Friday, February 28, 2025
Class of 2026
- Start Your College List: Monday, June 30, 2025
- Strengthen Your College List: Friday, October 31, 2025
- Start Your Career List: Saturday, February 28, 2026
- Start Your Scholarship List: Saturday, February 28, 2026
- Apply to Colleges: Saturday, February 28, 2026
- Complete the FAFSA: Saturday, February 28, 2026
Class of 2027
Start Your College List: Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Strengthen Your College List: Saturday, October 31, 2026
Start Your Career List: Monday, November 30, 2026
Start Your Scholarship List: Monday, November 30, 2026
Apply to Colleges: Monday, November 30, 2026
Complete the FAFSA: Monday, November 30, 2026
Are there family income requirements to earn scholarships?
No. These scholarships are open to students regardless of their family income. At least half of all the scholarships will be designated for students whose families earn less than $60,000 per year.
A student may be automatically identified as eligible to increase their chances if they received a fee waiver from College Board for one of our assessments or if they attend a high school where 75% or more of the student body qualifies for free- or reduced-priced lunch. If students haven't been automatically identified as qualifying for extra scholarship entries but feel they qualify because their family earns less than $60,000 per year or they earned fee waivers, they'll be able to indicate they meet these criteria by updating their College Board account. Students who select this option may be asked to verify family income by using a secure document system if they earn a scholarship in a monthly drawing.
Do students have to take a PSAT-related test or SAT to participate in BigFuture Scholarships?
No. The program is open to all students, even those who don't take a College Board assessment. None of the six steps on BigFuture require sitting for an SAT assessment.
Do students have to participate online via the BigFuture website?
There's a mail-in entry option for students who can't participate online. See the Official Rules for more information. We encourage students to use BigFuture to track their progress and stay up to date on the latest information regarding this program.
Can I dispute my activity progress on BigFuture? What do I do if I don’t think my activity on BigFuture is accurate?
It may take up to 24 hours for your activity to be updated in the progress tracker. After that time, if you still feel that your information isn't up to date, please contact Customer Service at 844-298-3554.