To increase your chances of landing a scholarship and achieving your academic goals, include the essential resume sections listed below:
Resume summary or objective
Your scholarship resume objective is the first thing the committee members see, so make it count. In 2-3 sentences, outline your educational background, 1-2 top accomplishments, and experience highlights. Showcase your academic or professional plans so that the committee sees they align with the scholarship's mission.
Avoid generic statements, such as "Proactive college student focused on professional development and growth". Use specific experience highlights, for example, "Awarded Dean's List for 2 consecutive years".
Work experience section
You can find the Experience section in all scholarship resume examples, so make sure to include it, too. Highlight your relevant experience, including internship experience and part-time jobs. Use metrics whenever possible - you can include the number of academic publications, students you mentored, or projects completed.
List your experience in reverse chronological order so the scholarship committee members can see your most recent contributions. If you don't have paid experience yet, list your volunteer experience, community service, or extracurriculars as experience.
Education
As a student, you should be very detailed about your education. Having a strong academic background is a major consideration for the committee. If you are a high school student, list the school name and graduation date. If you have a college education or a graduate degree, list your degrees starting with the most advanced one. In this case, you can skip the high school information.
Include your academic experience in detail, including a high GPA, Dean's List, and academic awards. Add relevant coursework, research projects, and leadership roles in college. Thus, you will demonstrate leadership and passion for your field to the scholarship selection committee.
Awards and accomplishments
Add this section to quickly draw the attention of the scholarship selection committees to your biggest achievements. Here, you can list the awards you won, such as the literary contest, Honor Roll, National Merit Scholar, or subject-specific awards. If you received recognition at work or university, list them here, too.
List your academic achievements in reverse chronological order and keep them relevant. You can also list previous scholarships as achievements here.
Extracurricular/leadership experience
If you are a high school or college graduate with limited experience, create a separate section for your relevant extracurricular activities and leadership experience. If you were a president of the student club, took a leadership role in a volunteer project, or were a member of an organization at college, including the organization's name, your role, and years of participation. Listing extracurriculars will showcase your leadership skills, willingness to take initiative, and passion for your target field.
Relevant skills
Including key skills is not a must, but they can highlight your areas of proficiency and help stand out from other applicants. Put the Skills section at the bottom of your resume and add 5-10 skills that best reflect your skills and academic interests. Here are the examples of skills for your scholarship resume:
- Communication skills
- Research skills
- Relationship building
- Microsoft Office/Google Suite
- Team leadership
- Time management
- Writing and editing
More tips to create a winning scholarship resume
As you write a scholarship resume, follow these tips to keep your application polished and relevant:
- Read the scholarship description carefully. Read the application requirements to make sure you include all documents. Learn more about the program's mission, values, and expectations from candidates. Thus, you can customize your resume and other documents and increase your chance to win scholarship funds.
- Keep your resume to one page. Most scholarship committees expect you to apply with a one-page resume. Unless they request you to apply with an academic CV (which can take multiple pages), keep your application concise and relevant. It means omitting any irrelevant jobs, projects, and activities that don't match the program's requirements.
- Mind the formatting. Cluttered, careless formatting can spoil the first impression instantly. Make sure that your resume uses a readable font, has sections clearly divided, and looks neat and structured. Or, use our scholarship template - it already uses clean and professional formatting so you can avoid any formatting issues.
- Proofread before sending. Typos and misspelled words won't help impress the committee. Proofread your resume manually or with an online spell checker to catch typos and grammar mistakes. Ask a friend or instructor to look at your resume to hear the outside opinion and fix any shortcomings.