Writing an academic CV for scholarships: presentation templates and ways to highlight achievements

🔄 Cập nhật lần cuối: 08/10/26

Besides essays and letters of recommendation, your academic CV for scholarships is the document committees often read first to get an overview of you. A clear, informative and well-organized CV helps readers grasp your strengths in just a few minutes. The article provides guidance on structure, presentation templates, and how to highlight achievements.

How is an academic CV for a scholarship different from a CV for a job?

According to the guidelines of university career centers such as Marquette University and UC Davis, a CV (Curriculum Vitae) is a complete record of academic history - used when applying for graduate degrees, scholarships, research positions and grants. Resumes are usually 1–2 pages and focus on professional skills, while academic CVs have no hard limit on length.

For college or high school students, an academic CV is usually not too different from a resume – the important thing is to arrange the most relevant content first.

Items needed in an academic CV

Required item

• Contact information: full name, professional email, phone number, city. No need for date of birth, marital status, or photo – unless the program requires it.
• Education: school, major, time, GPA (if good), thesis/dissertation name and supervisor.
• Research experience: projects, roles, methods, results.
• Work experience: position, organization, location, time – with 2–4 bullet points of achievements.
• Awards and scholarships: name, awarding unit, year, competition level if known.
• Skills: foreign language (with IELTS/TOEFL scores), software, analytical skills.

Optional items (if any)

• Scientific publication – full citation, bold your name.
• Presented at conferences (posters, reports).
• Experience as a teaching assistant and guide.
• Extracurricular activities, volunteering, leadership - see how to select in the article Extracurricular activities and personal projects.
• Certificates and supplementary courses.
• Reference person (if required by the program).

Suggested academic CV presentation template

The order below is suitable for academically oriented master's candidates; You can reverse the position of items depending on your strengths:

1. Header: NGUYEN VAN A – email | phone | LinkedIn/Google Scholar (if available).
2. Education: Bachelor of Economics, University X, 2018–2022 – GPA 3.6/4.0 – Thesis: “…” (guide: Dr. …).
3. Research Experience: Research assistant, project “…”, 2021–2022 – collected and processed 400 household survey data using Stata.
4. Work Experience: Analyst, Company Y, 2022–present.
5. Honors & Awards: Academic encouragement scholarship (4 semesters); Third prize for student scientific research at school level.
6. Leadership & Activities
7. Skills & Languages: IELTS 7.5; Stata, R, Advanced Excel.

(The lines above are just an example of the format.) Note that some European programs require the Europass form – always check the application instructions.

How to highlight achievements in an academic CV applying for scholarships

Strong verb + number + result

Instead of “Join the English club”, write “Coordinated 12 workshops, attracting more than 300 student participants”. Each bullet point should start with a verb (design, analyze, lead, build) and end with a measurable result.

Relevant first, complete later

According to the UC Davis Career Center, put the most relevant content first. If applying for a research scholarship, the Research section is right after Education; If applying for a government scholarship, promote leadership, promote Work Experience and Leadership.

Synchronized with essay and recommendation letter

What you tell in essay There must be traces in the CV, and vice versa. Send your CV to the writer letter of introduction so that they can provide accurate evidence.

Explain the context

The foreign board may not be aware of the domestic award. Add a short note: "awarded to the 5% of students with the highest results in the department". For GPA, if the scale is different from 4.0, clearly state the scale - see more With what GPA you have, you have the opportunity to hunt for scholarships.

Common mistakes when writing an academic CV

• Bright, colorful fonts – Marquette guidelines advise avoiding distracting “flashy” fonts.
• Date format is inconsistent (at 09/2021, at Sep 2021).
• List responsibilities (“in charge of…”) instead of achievements.
• Giving information that is too old and irrelevant (level 1 and level 2 achievements when applying for a master's degree).
• Exaggeration or misrepresentation – all information can be verified.
• Save the file as “CV final final.docx” – name it “HoTen_CV_TenHocBong.pdf” and export to PDF.

Frequently asked questions

Should an academic CV be written in English or Vietnamese?

Write in the program's language, usually English. School names and awards should be translated in Vietnamese.

Do you need a portrait photo in your CV?

Most scholarships in the UK, US, and Australia do not require photos. Some Asian countries or specific scholarship forms may require this – follow the instructions.

Final year students who don't have much to write yet, what should they write?

Focus on education, subject projects, theses, activities with clear roles, foreign language and information technology skills. One quality page is better than three spread pages.

How long is a CV?

For undergraduate and master's candidates, 1–2 pages is usually sufficient; PhD students with many publications may be longer. If the scholarship has a page limit, strictly adhere to it.

Conclusion

A good academic CV for scholarships is one that is easy to read, has data, and tells the same story as the essay. Take the time to prepare carefully from the beginning, you will be able to reuse it for many documents. When everything is done and you're ready to go, consult air tickets to study abroad or contact hotline/Zalo 090.1800.918.

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