Padding Your Application
After looking at the scholarship description and printing out the application, where do you start? Simple. Start filling out the blanks. Your name, address, information, etc. Below I’ll detail some hints and pointers I picked up throughout my scholarship application process.
TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE
When an application asks for personal information, you may ask, “Why do you want this information?” Particularly, scholarships that ask for your social security number cause the most concern. There are plenty of reasons an application might ask for your social security number: to verify your eligibility, to confirm your identity, to award a scholarship to the rightful recipient, etc. According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, “Giving your number is voluntary even when you are asked for the number directly.” One tip that I learned was to fill in the space with XXX-XX-1234, only listing the last four digits. It is always safer not putting it because you never know what they’ll do with that information, especially scholarship organizations you are wary of.
THE ART OF COPY AND PASTE
After you’ve filled out scholarship application after application, you’ll have written the same information over and over again. Make a separate document with this information so you can reference it when you are filling out an application. Constantly update this log with new information as you receive scholarships, accumulate more volunteer hours, work more hours, and achieve more accolades. It’ll save you plenty of time when you apply to other scholarships.
PERCEPTION VERSUS REALITY
After you’ve listed all your honors and achievements and written about yourself, review it and decide if it gives a committee of judges a complete and fair picture of you. My advice is to never underestimate yourself. The true test is in how you present yourself. By applying to a scholarship, you possess certain abilities, gifts, and talents that will allow you to impress the judges. When listing honors and achievements, don’t cheat yourself. Be modest, but also be fair to yourself. If you don’t tell the judges, how else will they know? When it comes to listing received scholarships, there are two schools of thought. One holds that the less received, the more likely the judges will consider you because someone who has already received a scholarship should give others a chance. The opposing perspective holds that by listing received scholarships and honors it will pad your application and cause it to float to the pile of the elite because those achievements reflect that you are scholarship material. For me, I went either way and really chose depending on the audience. Feel free to choose according to how you think the judges would react. It always helps to apply to “application commodities” like the National Honor Roll, Who’s Who Among American High School Students, and the National Society of High School Scholars. They just give you more honors to fill up the space.
EXTRA INFORMATION AND SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
Sometimes you will come across scholarships that allow you to express any unexpected or special circumstances (i.e. death in the family, natural disaster, physical disability). If this applies to you, take advantage of this space! It is your opportunity to tell the judges the hardships you have had to deal with and overcome. It allows you to express something about you that you can’t describe through honors and achievements. In fact, it will only make those accolades that much more impressive. Use this golden opportunity to push you over the edge into the winners’s circle. It will paint a complete picture of who you are for the judges in their decision making process.
Filling out an application can be long and laborious; but, if you can figure out the method for doing it efficiently, you can fill out any application in no time. Use these tools to guide you through your first few scholarships. Like anything else, practice makes perfect. Choose different scholarships to apply for so you can diversify your portfolio and resume. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
