Scholarship troubles

Hi! I've googled time and time again for solutions or answers to this but I just can't seem to find anything that answers my exact question.

My teen sim applied to university and also applied for a few scholarships when he was still at a relatively low level and the scholarships got rejected. In in-game time this was several weeks ago, probably even months.

I've read about there being a cooldown or something, but it really doesn't seem like I will be able to apply for the scholarships again.

Is this a bug or is this intentional?

And is there a cheat to overcome this?

His skill level has greatly increased since he applied. The specific scholarship I want him to get is the E-sports one, and his gaming level is currently at 6. I keep finding posts saying that the sim just needs to have a higher level to be able to apply again, but as he is a vampire I try deliberately to keep his skill levels lower and build them slower because otherwise he'll have nothing to do later on!