Scholarship CV: Template, Examples and How to List

.3% of students in the US get enough scholarships to cover the full cost of university education.

No.

The dot at the beginning of the first sentence is not a mistake.

Wanna join the club?

Start with making a scholarship CV that no one dares to ignore.

This guide will show you:

• Scholarship CV examples that get funds.
• How to ace your scholarship CV objective.
• How to write a scholarship CV to make your application stand out.
• Expert hints and scholarship CV samples.

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Scholarship CV—Example

1. Choose the Best Scholarship CV Format

First things first.

Writing a scholarship CV is relatively easy. It boils down to listing your academic and personal achievements on a CV.

At the same time—

It’s something more than a random list of good memories.

The scholarship CV template in the example above follows this order:

• Contact information
• CV objective/career goal
• Education/academic experience
• Leadership
• Awards and honours
• Societies
• Work/internship experience
• Skills on a CV
• Languages

Depending on your experience, you may consider adding other CV sections, such as:

• Community involvement
• Volunteering on a CV
• Athletic achievements
• Visual/performing arts

Regardless of what scholarship CV template you choose, these tips will help you format it just right:

• Pick the right CV format: the reverse-chronological CV draws attention to your latest achievements. This applies to all sections of your scholarship CV.
• Use simple CV fonts. Aim for the range between 10–14pt. Write simple headings. Embrace white space to avoid clutter.
• Keep it short and sweet. Your scholarship application consists of numerous documents. So, think of your CV as a concise summary. Ideally, fit it on a single page.
• Put a scholarship CV objective at the top.
• Make separate sections for awards and honours, leadership positions, membership in associations, work experience, skills, and languages.

Expert Hint: To make sure the formatting of your scholarship CV stays intact, save your CV as a PDF file.

2. Start with a Scholarship CV Objective That Turns Heads

Your scholarship CV objective—

Must be succinct.

This surefire formula will help you put your best foot forward right away:

1. Introduce yourself.

2. Present your academic background.

3. Mention your honours, awards, and societies.

4. Say what kind of funding you’re after.

5. Explain what research you’d like to conduct.

Here’s what it looks like in practise:

Scholarship CV—Objective

Fresh graduate (1) with a BA in Cognitive Science from UCLA (GPA 3.95). (2) Awarded Dean’s List three times. Member of UCLA Golden Key and Phi Theta Kappa. (3) Seeks funds to pursue a Master’s Degree in Linguistics at UCLA. (4) Plans to conduct cross-disciplinary research on language as a cognition tool, as well as the role of natural language acquisition patterns in the development of AI. (5)

UCLA graduate with a BA in cognitive science. Wishes to pursue academic interests in linguistics. Looks for funding to obtain a Master’s Degree in Linguistics.

The good example makes it clear that you’re a serious candidate with a strong academic background, impressive educational achievements, and a clear vision of your future.

This kind of introduction on a scholarship CV will make the committee members think of you in terms of an investment.

The other candidate may have a lot to offer as well. Who knows?

The thing is, their scholarship CV objective doesn’t sound very convincing in comparison to the good example.

And remember—

They will always compare you to the other candidates.

Expert Hint: Write your scholarship CV objective at the very end. The idea is to summarise your entire CV. But how to summarise something that hasn't yet been created in the first place?

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Nail it all with a splash of colour, choose a clean font, highlight your skills in just a few clicks. You’re the perfect candidate and we’ll prove it. Use the ResumeLab builder now.

3. Write the Perfect Academic Experience Section on Your Scholarship CV

You’re looking for funds that will let you continue your education.

This is great.

But—

You’re up against hundreds of other applicants, all of whom are equally dedicated to their academic pursuits.

So, the academic experience section on your scholarship CV must deliver.

Sample Scholarship CV—Education Section

Scholarship CV Samples—High School

Let’s break this down.

This is what to put in your scholarship CV education section:

1. Graduation date or expected graduation date

2. School name

3. GPA score

4. Thesis title

5. Favourite areas of study

6. Extracurricular activities

Including points 1 through 3 is a must. Without such basic information, you could just as well skip writing your scholarship CV entirely.

On the other hand, points 4 and 5 add an extra dimension to your academic interests, and make you come across as a well-rounded scholarship candidate.

Plus—

This is something you might not be able to provide elsewhere in your application documents, or at least not in such a prominent way.

How far back should your scholarship CV education section go?

• If you’re applying for a freshman scholarship—put your high school education.
• If you’re a university student preparing a scholarship application—add high school education if you graduated in the past five years.
• When looking for a Ph.D. or postgraduate scholarship, include both your BA and MA education. Skip high school entirely.

One more thing.

Your scholarship CV should give prominence to your leadership experience. This is something that all scholarship committee members value.

So—

Don’t mix the leadership positions you held into your extracurricular activities. Instead, make a separate leadership section on your scholarship CV.

Scholarship CV Sample—Leadership

4. Turn Your Work Experience and Skills Into Assets

Yes, your work experience does matter.

It’s obvious you’re not going to show bags of professional experience on your scholarship CV, but it’s not the point.

The point is to show the scholarship committee members—

You’ve got grit.

Well, it’s not easy to combine professional and academic work.

Plus, if you’ve developed transferable skills that come in handy in academic contexts, your value as a scholarship candidate will skyrocket.

CV for University Scholarship—Example

Make sure your professional experience CV section doesn’t go unnoticed.

Use strong CV verbs to clearly communicate your accomplishments and skills.

Go for such words as supported, cooperated, conducted, formulated, or analysed. Don’t use the cliched responsible for formula as it doesn’t communicate much.

No work experience?

Fret not.

It’s a scholarship CV. Work experience isn’t obligatory.

But—

To up your chances, consider adding sections on:

• Volunteering
• Part-time gigs
• Side jobs
• Community service

Resist the temptation of making a laundry list of all your responsibilities, though.

Fish out the things that are relevant to your academic success, and put them on your scholarship CV.

The same applies to your key skills.

Pick out the skills relevant to your academic success, and show them off in a separate section.

Skills to Put on a Scholarship CV

• Written and oral communication
• Problem-solving
• Organisation
• Collaboration
• JavaScript
• SQL
• HTML5

The list should include both soft and hard (technical) skills.

Expert Hint: Put up to 10 strong skills on your CV. Choose only the ones you have a good grasp of, don’t mention the skills you don’t feel very confident about. This way you’ll avoid the so-called presenter’s paradox.

5. List Your Awards, Honours, Leadership Experience, and Others

The strength of your scholarship CV depends on your academic and personal achievements.

Don’t fail to mention any.

Add CV sections listing your awards and honours, membership in student societies, and knowledge of foreign languages.

Expert Hint: Double the impact of your scholarship CV with a cover letter for scholarship. A well-written cover letter can tell a story that neither your scholarship application nor CV can.

Double your impact with a matching CV and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter builder and make your application documents pop out.

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Want to try a different look? There’s 18 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.

Key Points

This is how to write a scholarship CV:

• Select the best scholarship CV template. Choose the template that best serves your purpose, and has all the sections you’d like to include in your scholarship CV.
• Give it a great look. It’s not just about what you show, but how you show it. So, keep your scholarship CV short. With the right CV template, you may be able to fit everything on a single page. Beware of cramming in too much information, and make good use of white space.
• Pay particular attention to the education section. Read this section back and forth. Make sure you’ve included every detail that makes you stand out.
• Add the professional experience section to your scholarship CV. This is where your work and internship experience should go. No professional experience? Focus on your volunteering work, part-time gigs, side jobs, or community service.
• Boost your scholarship CV with your extra strengths. Your skills, leadership positions, awards, languages, and membership in student societies and associations do make a difference. Don’t fail to show them off.
• Write a cover letter for a scholarship that will make you stand out from the crowd. 

Questions on how to write the best scholarship CV? Want to share advice on how to write a CV for a scholarship? We’d love to hear from you. Leave your comment below.

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