How to Create an Effective Scholarship Resume

Posted by Trudy Richards on 09/17/2013

 
 



Like many scholarship organizations, TILF asks students to submit a resume of their experience. Since you may not have much in the way of job experience as a high school senior, there are many other topics you can cover. Here are five suggestions:

  • Community Service - Give a brief synopsis of all volunteer activities you’ve participated in during your high school career. Be sure to provide descriptions for organization acronyms and to list the amount of time you’ve devoted to each activity (either in length of involvement or in hours per week, month, etc.) Participating in an annual event once of year for four years doesn’t carry as much weight as donating ten hours of time a week for a semester.
  • Extracurricular Activities - The same rules apply here. Describe your activities, including sports, academic teams, music, or other organizations, as well as the length of involvement. Include both school-sponsored activities and those you do outside of school.
  • Skills and Talents - Talk up your talents. If you play an instrument, speak multiple languages, or can juggle fire, here’s where to share that info.
  • Awards and Honors - This is the place on your resume to brag on yourself. You may have been recognized as student of the month four times or you may have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Either way, let us know.
  • Courses - If you’ve taken any dual-credit classes or any courses that aren’t reflected on your transcript, this is a good place to list those.


And a couple of final tips…

Keep your resume short (1-2 pages max) and customize it to fit the scholarship program you’re applying to. Give priority to those sections that are most relevant to the scholarship for your best shot at the money.

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