Declined Scholarship in Resume

[danago]

At the start of the year i applied for three university scholarships, all of which were awarded based on academic merit, the submission of an essay and an interview. I recently received a phone call from the university informing me that i was selected for all three scholarships, however because of conditions placed on the awards, i could not hold more than one simultaneously.

The decision was not difficult as one of the scholarships involves a cash prize that is almost triple of the others, and also provides me with an internship over the summer holidays, however i am not sure how i should treat this when it comes to my resume. Would i come across as too arrogant if i mentioned scholarships which i was offered but chose to decline? I haven't got much relevant work experience at this stage so these prize offers will fill in some gaps, however i am not sure how employers would perceive it.

I appreciate any opinions!

 

[Pengwuino]

In my opinion, I wouldn't even put on scholarships that aren't a big deal which sounds like only the ones you accepted was.

 

[danago]

In my opinion, I wouldn't even put on scholarships that aren't a big deal which sounds like only the ones you accepted was.

I do agree that the two i declined were not a big deal, however surely it would be beneficial for somebody like me with minimal relevant work experience to still mention small scholarships? I have had a few jobs throughout high school but none in an engineering environment, and i have won a few academic awards, but some of them from high school which i feel are a bit outdated.

If i graduated as the top student from MIT, was the CEO of a successful company and won a Nobel prize, then sure, i would not hesitate to exclude these particular scholarships, however i am yet to win my Nobel prize Any reason you wouldn't mention smaller scholarships?

 

[cristo]

Sure, I don't see why not to include them.

 

[Choppy]

Any reason you wouldn't mention smaller scholarships?

Yes. You did not receive them.

Accepting one made you ineligible for the other two, so unless I'm misunderstanding something in your post, you were NOT awarded these scholarships, you were offered a choice between the three.

On a resume it's generally not a good idea to talk about stuff that you would have done if you were qualified. This would likely place you in a position of back-pedaling in an interview, which you probably want to avoid.

 

[danago]

Yes. You did not receive them.

Accepting one made you ineligible for the other two, so unless I'm misunderstanding something in your post, you were NOT awarded these scholarships, you were offered a choice between the three.

On a resume it's generally not a good idea to talk about stuff that you would have done if you were qualified. This would likely place you in a position of back-pedaling in an interview, which you probably want to avoid.

I interpreted Penguino's post to mean that in general i should not mention smaller scholarships, regardless of whether i declined or not. Maybe i misinterpreted?

As for my specific situation, i don't know if i would really feel right mentioning them anyway, partly because of the reason you mention, that i don't want to be back-pedaling in an interview. I guess the main reason why i thought about including them was because i could use it to help my resume stand out against other students' by using clever wording to mention them without being outright deceitful and implying that i accepted the scholarship.

 

[hikaru1221]

I think being awarded then accepting & being offered then rejecting are mostly the same. The only difference is that you eventually get something from one scholarship. But being offered a scholarship implies some characteristics about you that many others don't have.

I believe interviewers don't care whether you accept the scholarship or not (though most of the time, they assume you did). What they look for are those characteristics. The name of the scholarship alone in many cases doesn't help. It only helps when they select some to interview from a thousand applications. The rest is for you to show.

Besides, I think you're over-worrying. Interviewers are supposed to understand the interviewees by means of interviewing, and that's their job. They shouldn't make any assumption about you before you get to stand in front of them.

 

[AlephZero]

I would just include the one you accepted.

If you were writing a resume about a career in industry, nobody would say "I applied for 3 jobs and got 3 offers but I could only accept one of them". A resume is about what you actually did, not what you might have done instead.

 

[hadsed]

Well I've seen this with some really impressive resumes. Alex Wissner-Gross I think, put all the fellowships he was offered but wrote declined after them. So when listing his awards, he'd write something like:

Gates Fellowship 2008 (declined)

Or something like that. Doesn't have to be a big deal, just make it discrete.

 

[Pengwuino]

I would just include the one you accepted.

If you were writing a resume about a career in industry, nobody would say "I applied for 3 jobs and got 3 offers but I could only accept one of them". A resume is about what you actually did, not what you might have done instead.

Ah beat me to it! Come to think of it, would it look silly to say you did work at University A, but also declined admission to University B, C, and D? I think so. I think outside of having declined a Fields Medal, it probably would look more like fluff.

 

[berkeman]

At the start of the year i applied for three university scholarships, all of which were awarded based on academic merit, the submission of an essay and an interview. I recently received a phone call from the university informing me that i was selected for all three scholarships, however because of conditions placed on the awards, i could not hold more than one simultaneously.

From my perspective as a person who interviews candidates for R&D positions (and we are *very* selective), I think you should list all three. I would consider that very impressive if I saw it on a resume. You might even include what the criteria were for the scholarships (academic performance, essay, personal interview). Then you can mention the part that you won all three competitions, and chose to accept the XXX one because you could only hold one at a time.

I'm impressed that you won all three -- even winning one is impressive. Keep up the good work!

 

[Ryker]

Personally, I agree with Aleph Zero and Pengwuino, and think it's silly to put on your resume scholarships you didn't actually hold.

 

[physics girl phd]

Well I've seen this with some really impressive resumes. Alex Wissner-Gross I think, put all the fellowships he was offered but wrote declined after them. So when listing his awards, he'd write something like:

Gates Fellowship 2008 (declined)

Or something like that. Doesn't have to be a big deal, just make it discrete.

This would be the way to treat it if the award you declined was something BIG. Say you declined a Fulbright in order to accept a Rhodes. That's a big deal because they are both highly prestigious, so you'd write something like:

Rhodes Scholarship 2010
Fulbright Scholarship 2010 (declined to accept Rhodes)

But it sounds like your other choices were small potatoes. So don't do this sort of padding.

 

[danago]

Thanks everyone for your opinions, i really do appreciate it! I have been thinking about it, and perhaps i am worrying too much. Most of the other students haven't won any awards or scholarships, and many have never done relevant work experience, so i guess that after finishing my 3 month internship i will have a relatively decent resume regardless of whether i mention the two smaller scholarships.

 

[SbF5]

Stick with what you accepted. Don't open doors that don't need to be opened. You want to talk about your experience; not paths you didn't take unless they are really relevant somehow like other posters have said.

 

[Mapes]

Folks, a scholarship is not a "path." It is not like a job offer, which is an opportunity to perform. A scholarship is guaranteed funding. It represents recognition of outstanding performance and promise. Three scholarships means that three organizations offered to pay one's college expenses. It is not uncouth to mention: Scholarship A; Scholarship B (declined); Scholarship C (declined). As someone who has hired engineers, I see nothing wrong with noting that multiple organizations offered to fund one's tuition. In fact, I use it as an indication that the candidate has distinguished herself with excellent academic performance and with the effort and perseverance to apply for multiple awards.

 

[SbF5]

In a job interview situation, I would prefer to spend the limited time I have talking about things I accomplished.

If a resume is so weak that it needs filler like scholarships you didn't accept, you need to find ways to plug the wholes with research or volunteer work, etc...you want to stand out, not just cover a piece of paper with filler. I'd rather see a completed research project, for example, than a million declined awards.

 

[flemmyd]

i would just do what other people are saying:

Scholarship A
Scholarship B (declined)
etc

obviously, this doesn't have to be the focal point of your resume/CV.

In a job interview situation, I would prefer to spend the limited time I have talking about things I accomplished.

But you DID accomplish something. The scholarship is proof that you got good grades/did good research/whatever.

I'd rather see a completed research project, for example, than a million declined awards.

Who get's awards (whether or not they're declined) if they haven't done something to earn them?