Not only are you asking the association, organization or corporation to spend money on a stamp for you, you are also expecting them to spend time on addressing an envelope for you. Your request for information and an application is very likely not going to get a response, or it may even become lost. Instead, send a letter that is somewhat personalized. Include a SASE even if they do not request it. It's POLITE to include a SASE, and you are far more likely to get a response. Make it as easy as possible for them to send you what you want!

Think of it this way: When a firm sends you a survey, are you more likely to fill it out and mail it off if it is pre-addressed and pre-printed with "Business Reply Only" style stamps, or if it has a simple square that says "Place Stamp Here."

Simply put, a letter with SASE is more professional, more serious, and shows thoughtfulness and organization. (Boy, the post office is going to love me!)

YES, it is a greater expense for you. But you may only be sending out 20 or 30 requests, while some of these organizations deal with up to 10,000 requests every year!

Watch the deadlines on the applications. Be sure you send in everything as early as possible. Be organized. Create notebooks or folders for every scholarship you apply for, and get a calendar just for this project.

Resumes. Some applications are going to ask you to include a Resume. If you have been in the work world for a while, you most likely have a resume, and there is nothing wrong with using that one. You may want to reorganize it, so your Educational History information is listed first, but it is not necessary.

What IS necessary on your resume is simple: Honesty, Neatness, and Spelling. This is NOT the time to exaggerate. Write it yourself! This is YOUR resume! Do not waste your money having a "professional" write your resume! It will sound like 95% of the resumes they have ever written. Do not be afraid to let yourself show through on your resume. (No joke, on my resume, under job description for when I worked at Sequoia National Park, I wrote "Chased Black Bears out of the parking lot at night." This is TRUE. And that single line has resulted in more job interviews than everything else on my resume... and I always know whether the interviewer has read my resume or not!)

If you have just graduated high school, or are about to graduate, things to list on your resume include the classes you have taken, the extracurricular activities you were involved in, athletics, clubs, associations, and jobs. List volunteer work. (Treat volunteer work as if it was a job on your resume. Even though you were not paid in cash for the time, it IS a job, and is looked upon very favorably.) List your interests, things you may have learned on your own. Let who you are shine through. In this world, EVERYBODY is interesting and unique. Let that show through!

Have it proofread by as many people as possible. Run the spell checker 65 times on it. Proofread it again! Be absolutely certain you have -ZERO- typographical errors. Check your grammar. BE NEAT. It is not important that your resume be printed on high gloss paper with four separate colors and looks like a page out of a magazine. It IS important that it is accurate, and neat. Easy to read. Lots of white space. Everyone will tell you "never let your resume go over one page." Don't listen to them. It is more important that your resume be easy to read and neat, then crammed onto one page in 8-point type. While a one-page resume is a plus, it is not a necessity.

Remember, "a lot" is TWO words, not one ("alot")! It's "through" not "thru!"

Essays.Much of what I said about resumes remains true here. Be neat. Even if you have to handwrite your essay, make sure it is neat and easy to read. Proofread it. Have every single person you know proofread it. Check the spelling and grammar. Write an original essay for every scholarship that requests one. Do not send the same essay to multiple organizations! You never know if the same people are on the scholarship committees for more than one organization. And the single most important point about essays: DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Quote and credit all sources of information that you may have used in writing your essay.

It is an EXCELLENT idea to write and request specific information regarding the topic of an essay, how many words, etc., BEFORE you go ahead and write the essay. All the free scholarship searches online and the various books out there attempt to give you accurate and current information, but things change quickly, and what you may think the essay topic is about may no longer be true.

Interviews. Be on time! Let me repeat that: BE ON TIME! Dress well, be clean and neat. It is not important that you be wearing the latest fashion or brand new clothes. It is important that you be dressed in a conservative, professional manner. If you would not wear an outfit to a funeral, wedding, or job interview, don't wear it to the scholarship committee interview! Leave the nose ring, 10-inch fingernails and eyeball rings at home. Wear minimal jewelry. If you polish your fingernails, use a mellow, pale color. Carry a small, conservative purse if you carry any at all. If you have a mustache or beard, trim it neatly. If you are a male and have an earring, I suggest leaving that at home also. Do not wear sneakers, jeans, torn clothing of any kind, see-through clothing, or shorts. (High Schoolers: Basically, if after you have dressed and your parents go "Ooohhhhhh!!! Look at how grown up you look!" you are dressed perfectly!)

Bring copies of your resume (if any), your application, your essay (if any), and your transcripts with you. While you may not need them, you may find it very handy to have them with you, to refer to when they question you on something you wrote.

Be ready! Before the interview think about what you intend to say. Don't memorize stock answers to every possible question, but have some general idea of what you are trying to convey.

Be relaxed. Ya right! I suggest "Enya" or "Barry Manilow" (ok, maybe not...) on the car stereo on your way to the interview. Make sure you have had a good night's rest and a good breakfast or lunch before you go.

And finally...SEND A HANDWRITTEN THANK YOU NOTE! After every interview, even the ones you think flopped, send a thank you note! And hand write it! This is a MUST. Not only does it show thoughtfulness, it also is professional, and most importantly, you will stand out of the crowd for this simple act. It keeps your name in their minds. I suggest sending it out the next day or two after the interview. But even sending it the same day is fine. If you wait four or five weeks to send it, don't bother, it will have lost it's impact by then.

A final note. Try to have some fun. This is a major project you are embarking on. It is time intensive, and sometimes nerve racking. Don't beat yourself up because you didn't win anything. You learned a lot through the process, and you are better prepared for next year. You made some friends and improved your research, organizational, and interviewing skills, all important skills that will serve you well throughout your college career, and the rest of your life.

Good luck!!! Let me know how it goes!

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