Issue with Club Experience Verification

Answers to various questions regarding the SMART Scholarship application process. Includes many tips and statistics.
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Issue with Club Experience Verification

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Hello,

I am applying for the SMART scholarship next year. I will be a college junior when I apply and I want to list my experience as a club vice president of a STEM club my senior year in highschool, but the teacher that was the only sponsor unfortunately now retired and is in care due to dementia. I have the club photo that shows that I was the vice president, but I am not sure who to list as contact for the experience. Should I just list my old teacher i.e will they actually try to contact him? Or should I contact my old highschool? I checked online and the club is not even offered anymore so it's not like I can ask the current sponsor.

Thanks!

Baking Boss

Re: Issue with Club Experience Verification

Post by Baking Boss »

If you’re a college junior you really shouldn’t have being a club member in high school on your resume. Unless it was research, publication, or internship, most high school activities especially clubs such as what you’re referring to were so long ago and don’t give any info on your intelligence or drive today.

PolitelyDisagree

Re: Issue with Club Experience Verification

Post by PolitelyDisagree »

I would think its fine to list generic contact information for the school or contact information for your old guidance counselor. I do not believe they do 100% verification for the applications.
Baking Boss wrote:If you’re a college junior you really shouldn’t have being a club member in high school on your resume. Unless it was research, publication, or internship, most high school activities especially clubs such as what you’re referring to were so long ago and don’t give any info on your intelligence or drive today.
I disagree with this. I understand where you are coming from and I think some reviewers might share your view, however, I have a different view that I think some reviewers will also share. First, this is only 3-4 years old, that's not ancient history. Paired with more recent experiences it would support leadership skills and an interest/drive in STEM. Additionally, because it is older it helps to build the narrative the he/she has a deep interest in STEM, and not one that just popped up when they were a college freshman and needed to find a field that paid well. Obviously, you can;t fill out an application with only HS experiences and hope to get the scholarship and you should 100% prioritized more recent experiences, however, with a fair mix of the two you paint a more complete picture of who you are and how you got here.

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