Scholarship Applications

Warm days, cool nights, crunchy leaves. Autumn. The season of apples, pumpkins, football games and...scholarship hunting. Now is the time to look for and apply for scholarships whether a junior or senior in high school or a non-traditional student looking to enroll in college.

If you need information on different ways to pay for a college education, see "Scholarships and Financial Aid" in my 2007 blog file.

Once you've found the scholarships you are interested in and qualify for, apply! But there is more to your application than simply filling in the blanks. Here are some tips for an application that merits a review and may garner the award.

1. Fill out the application completely,leaving no blank spaces, and preferably typed not handwritten.

2. Use correct spelling and proper grammar.

At the acknowledgment of either a missing section or incorrect spelling, the reviewers generally put the application in the rejected pile.

3. Follow the directions. For example, if the application requests that you put N/A to questions that do not apply to you, write in N/A. Do not leave it blank!

4. Avoid writing long lists of accomplishments, service and awards. List only those from the last three years.

5. Quantify and qualify service or volunteer work. Students who are LDS perform a lot of service and much of it comes from opportunities during Mutual. Be specific and keep track of the number of hours you rake leaves, sing at nursing homes, babysit, etc. For example: 15 hours of yard work in community.

6. Find a way to let your personality and who you really are stand out. This is the most difficult part of the application. Most of the students applying for scholarships are very similar to you! They have GPAs, ACT, and SAT scores that are the same or better than yours. They have participated in extracurricular activities, worked at part-time jobs, and served in the community.

So-how do you set yourself apart from the others? In a recent scholarship competition I read one application where the student listed that he was president of the Beards and Jenga Club at his high school. This student was already on the list to be interviewed from our initial review of the applications but that response piqued an additional interest.

The board interviewed this student and awarded him one of the scholarships. He created the interest on his application and then continued to inspire us in the interview by sharing things about his education, his school participation in extracurricular activities, his service in the community and himself (his interests and his family) that were not listed on his application or on his resume. (Note: The Beards and Jenga Club was open to all students who couldn't grow a beard and enjoyed playing Jenga.)

My nephew tried this in a recent job application for a lab assistant. One of his accomplishments was that he had never burned off his eyebrows or eyelashes. Now I don't know if that statement is the one that got him the interview, but he did get an interview and eventually the job.

7. Be honest. This is the most important part of the application process. Lies and deceit will always be found out and will cost you more in "peace of mind and self-respect" (For the Strength of Youth, p.31) than the amount of the scholarship award you might receive.

Good luck during this fall's scholarship hunting season. Go ahead and wear your orange hunting vest if you'd like.