UG scholarship on law school application resume? Forum

[JJDancer]

Is it ok/should I mention a merit scholarship I had for UG? It has a name and covered 50% of tuition (max available). It was awarded before starting UG (I think to top 2% of applicants from high school) but had certain requirements to maintain it (which I fulfilled every year).

I dont have a separate awards/honors section on my resume because I can't think of anything else to put there lol

so Under my edu
I have my UG and major
Cumulative GPA
Concentration
under it should I list "Awards: _______ scholarship" or "Awards: __________ scholarship (50% of tuition -- or any other describing factor about it?? that it was merit based (or is that assumed?) or anything?

Thanks all!

[voice of reason]

Yes, certainly include the merit scholarship on your resume. Something like so:

Alfred E. Neuman merit scholarship, 1/2 tuition for 4 years
or
Alfred E. Neuman merit scholarship, $80,000 tuition grant (i.e. calculate the total value of the award)

[Dany]

I have a separate 'Awards/Honors' section on my resume, and I have scholarships listed as:

-XYZ University Presidential Scholar: four-year, full-tuition merit scholarship
-George O. Bluth Award: merit scholarship for outstanding performance in economics major

You can do the same under your Education section. You should definitely mention it, but don't say 'Awards:' if there's just one. Just list the scholarship name, maybe bold it, and put a short description (something like "Four-year, half tuition merit scholarship.)

Also, while I agree with most of the above, I probably wouldn't list an actual dollar amount. Generic terms like 'half tuition' are probably less tacky/braggy.

[Pleasye]

Hopefully this doesn't hijack the thread but it's related...what about a scholarship for 1,000 that you received for 2 years (freshman & sophomore year)?

I don't have many (read: pretty much none) awards/honors to include so I guess that could factor into the decision to put it on or not...

[Dany]

Hopefully this doesn't hijack the thread but it's related...what about a scholarship for 1,000 that you received for 2 years (freshman & sophomore year)?

I don't have many (read: pretty much none) awards/honors to include so I guess that could factor into the decision to put it on or not...

Definitely put it on there! If it has a name, list it, if not, put University of XYZ Merit Scholarship (2007-2008; 2008-2009) or something to that effect.

Like the previous poster, if you don't have any other awards or honors, list it under education so it's not orphaned.

[JJDancer]

Hopefully this doesn't hijack the thread but it's related...what about a scholarship for 1,000 that you received for 2 years (freshman & sophomore year)?

I don't have many (read: pretty much none) awards/honors to include so I guess that could factor into the decision to put it on or not...

It seems that just about any scholarship is fine to put on there. Does it have a specific name?
I think as long as its merit not need based then you can/should list it.

I think people said its not generally good practice to list the dollar amount so maybe something like

"Awarded two year merit scholarship" unless it has a name. Not sure what would be an acceptable way to show how MUCH it was for..?

Also if its not one from your UG but rather one you applied to on your own - that's fine too.

EDIT: The way eskimo did it indicating the years looks nicer
You could just put 2004-2006 or something like that.

[Dany]

PS: I kind of love resume writing/editing, and though I'm by no means an expert, I generally know what works and I'd be happy to offer resume help to anyone so ask away!

[JJDancer]

PS: I kind of love resume writing/editing, and though I'm by no means an expert, I generally know what works and I'd be happy to offer resume help to anyone so ask away!

Thanks for your help!
I don't know how to fit this all on one line (but need to or else my resume will be 1 page, and 1 line lol)

I have this under my education section as a bullet point
+ Awards: Totally Awesomelicious Scholarship (200X-200Y) merit based covering half of tuition, Dean’s List two semesters

Is there a better way to phrase this (THERE HAS TO BE, it's just not coming to me right now...

[Dany]

PS: I kind of love resume writing/editing, and though I'm by no means an expert, I generally know what works and I'd be happy to offer resume help to anyone so ask away!

Thanks for your help!
I don't know how to fit this all on one line (but need to or else my resume will be 1 page, and 1 line lol)

I have this under my education section as a bullet point
+ Awards: Totally Awesomelicious Scholarship (200X-200Y) merit based covering half of tuition, Dean’s List two semesters

Is there a better way to phrase this (THERE HAS TO BE, it's just not coming to me right now...

Could you just cut out the years? If it's half-tuition, I think it's obvious it was a four-year deal. Would that shorten it enough?

[JJDancer]

Thanks. Your way is perfect

[Dany]

Could you just cut out the years? If it's half-tuition, I think it's obvious it was a four-year deal. Would that shorten it enough?

Well right now it fits but I just think its awkwardly phrased? And is it ok to write Dean's List two semesters
Do I need to indicate how many semesters it was? (It shows on transcript). It would have been more semesters but my school has a minimum credit policy for DL and I was taking fewer credits at the time (but still full time).

What about:

Awesome Scholarship (200X-200Y): half-tuition merit award; Dean's List (Fall 200X, Spring 200Y)

[acadec]

-George O. Bluth Award:

You're awesome. Keep doin what you're doin.

[LSU Undergrad]

I was wondering this as well.

So should I give details about the scholarships? Or will admissions take the time to go to the school website and see for themselves what the qualifications are?

For Example:

Scholarship X- Awarded to top 10 entering freshman, Covers full tuition + Room and Board
Scholarship Y- Awarded to top students entering Y School of Mass Communication

I don't know, that seems kind of pretentious to me.

Is this worth anything as a "soft?"

[Dany]

I highly doubt they'll take the time to look up anything, so it's your job to spell it out for them. There are, however, subtle ways you can make it less pretentious. Instead of "Top 10" just say "Full tuition, room and board scholarship awarded to 10 incoming freshmen per year" or something like that. Leaving out the superlative "top" makes it less braggy and more matter-of-fact/quantitative, in my opinion.

Same with the second one. Maybe just "merit scholarship for the school of Mass Communication." Leaving out things like "top" doesn't detract at all (because it's fairly obvious that only top students receive these scholarships) but it makes it sound more professional, I think. You want your resume to subtly say you're the best, without saying "I'M THE BEST!"

These individual scholarships aren't necessarily a great soft, but your resume as a whole is. You want it to be detailed, show you off, be informative but concise, and show your previous accomplishments. Scholarships and awards are a part of that. A full awards/honors section, coupled with good leadership, EC's, etc. on a professional resume can only help.

BTW, I don't mean "great soft" as in Rhodes Scholar, Olympic medalist, etc. I just mean that law schools want to see well-rounded, accomplished applicants, and your resume is a large part of that, since PSes will
Usually be more narrative and only cover one topic.

[Pleasye]

The scholarship has a name (I think it was just the name of the organization that gave it to me) so I'll put that on there. Do you guys think its okay that I don't put any indication of the amount on there? (I just don't want to make it look like I got some huge scholarship when it wasn't much).

Thanks so much Eskimo and JJDancer! and Eskimo...I will most likely be back to ask for more resume help! haha

[Dany]

The scholarship has a name (I think it was just the name of the organization that gave it to me) so I'll put that on there. Do you guys think its okay that I don't put any indication of the amount on there? (I just don't want to make it look like I got some huge scholarship when it wasn't much).

Thanks so much Eskimo and JJDancer! and Eskimo...I will most likely be back to ask for more resume help! haha

Yes, just leave the amount off. For large or small amounts, it just looks less tacky with no dollar amount.

[Pleasye]

thanks I definitely don't want to look tacky