how do colleges award for scholarship?

Answer 1

Yeah they usually look at the student as a whole, meaning g.p.a., social organizations, financial support , sports played,and also very important major some scholarships are only geared toward certain majors.
The money is usually directly applied to tuition first, then any money left over (if there is any) is usually used for books and then awarded as cash to the student.

Answer 2

they take a lot of things into consideration. parent's financial status, student's grades, what clubs or organizations the student has been in, and if volunteer work has been done are all factors.