Writing a resume for a scholarship? Read our expert guide

Do you want to snag a great scholarship to finance your college years? Scholarships are a great way to get a helping hand in your education. However, most of the scholarships offered by any institution are highly competitive. If you want to be the student to receive the scholarship, you need to put together a meticulous application, complete with a perfect scholarship-ready resume.

What is a scholarship resume?

A scholarship resume is a resume that you write to apply for a scholarship. While normal resumes tend to focus on work experience and skills, scholarship resumes need to focus on many other things such as your academic background, achievements, awards, extracurricular activities, skills, volunteer work and paid work experience. Your scholarship resume must outline your career goals and show the scholarship committee that you are the best person to receive the scholarship.

Let’s start writing your scholarship resume.

First, list your name

Your scholarship resume, like any other resume, must start with your name. Use a larger font size and bold letters to make your name pop. List only your first and last names and avoid prefixes such as Ms. or Mr. If you want to make a bigger impact on the committee, you can follow your name with your credentials.

Now, fill in the contact information

Now that the scholarship committee knows your name, you should show them how to contact you. List your phone number, email address, city & state, and LinkedIn profile. When you list your contact details on the resume, ensure that you use communication channels that you regularly check.

Then, write a strong summary

Understand that the scholarship committee knows nothing about you. This is your chance to provide a brief snapshot of your personality and career for them. Your summary statement should be impressive. Use 2-4 lines to briefly describe your academic background and achievements. Highlight a few of your strongest skills and mention your career goals.

After that, talk about your education

Your academic background matters a lot to the scholarship committee. Therefore, the education section of your resume must be well-planned. Make separate entries for each of your educational qualifications. Follow reverse chronological order when describing your qualifications. Each entry you make must mention the:

• Institution name
• Title of the qualification
• Your major
• Minor (if related)
• Graduation date (or expected date)
• GPA
• Relevant coursework
• Academic achievements

Mention your work experience

Show the committee that you have a life outside of the classroom by mentioning your paid work experience. You don’t need to mention only the full-time positions. Part-time jobs, temp positions, and freelance work are all valuable for your resume. Follow reverse chronological order when listing your experience. Use bullet points to describe your contribution to each role. Each job entry you make must mention the following:

• Job title
• Employer’s name
• Location
• Relevant years
• Professional achievements

Create an “Awards & Recognition” section

One way to really impress a scholarship committee is to show them how you have been recognized for your outstanding performance as a student/employee. Use bullet points to list awards in your resume. Follow reverse chronological order and highlight the most noteworthy accomplishments. Here are seven types of excellent achievements for your scholarship resume:

• Dean’s list
• Academic awards
• Volunteer awards
• Scholarships
• Publications
• Non-academic awards
• Professional society recognition

Resume Mansion can help you put together an excellent scholarship resume. Our resume writing experts have a ton of experience writing resumes for academia. Visit our website at www.resumemansion.com and start building your resume, right away!