ANDRC Scholarships Application Procedures and Advice

(April 15, 2014)

Note: The applicant should create a printed copy of this document for their use while applying for an ANDRC Scholarship.

Application Procedures

These procedures are to be used by the applicant of anAmerican Netherland Dwarf Club (ANDRC) Scholarship and his/her designated school official to insure that their application is processed properly.

The following forms were created in Microsoft Word and are set up to allow the applicant and school official to tab and type directly into data input tables. The tables are sized as to the ANDRC Scholarship Committee’s (Committee) best estimate of the maximum space that should be needed for each entry but, if more space is needed, just continue to type and the data input tables will expand accordingly.The Committee does not want to limit the applicant’s or school official’s ability to provide the requested information in any way but,remember sometimes important pertinent information gets lost in the middle of too much other less important information.

If the applicant does not have Microsoft Word software and has opened this document with Apache OpenOffice as directed on the Scholarship Program home page, he/she should complete all of the required forms also using Apache OpenOffice as follows: 1) Place the cursor in every data input area/box and highlight the text (Click, Click here or Click here to enter text) and delete it; 2) After the area/box is blank, type your information into it and continue this process for the rest of the form. Do not type into any other text area/box!Note: The spacing between sections and at the bottom and top of pages will not look as good as they do with Microsoft Word but they are okay.

In addition to the “As an applicant-- I hereby request that you--fill out the remainder of this form” wordage found at the beginning of the forms, the applicant should also include the highlighted application procedures above in the body of the email that he/she sends to the designated school officials as directed in “School Data Form #2” and “Proof of Enrollment Form #3” below for his/her use while completing their sections of the forms.

The applicant should keep a computer copy of all forms that he/she prepares and any correspondence (copies of emails, etc.) related to their application for a scholarship for theirown personal future reference. These forms may be useful if any problems occur during the application process.

Application:

  1. After reading these procedures and the application advice below, the applicant shallretrieve the appropriate application form (Bramhall or Roth/Brown) from the ANDRC website (Website) and print it so that he/she may have a paper copy to work with.
  2. The applicant shall fill in their information in the space provided for all of the numbered sections of the application form.If a section does not apply, fill in “N/A”. Remember to use the advice given in “Application Advice” below when providing information.
  3. The applicant shall apply their signature to the certification at the end of the application and email it to the Scholarship CommitteeChairperson (Chairperson) as directed at the beginning of the application form.Note: Pay special attention to the deadline date. Late applications will not be considered unless there are circumstances outside of the control of the applicant that caused them to be late.
  4. If the applicant does not have, and can not find, access to a computer to prepare and/or email the application form, he/she may contact the Chairperson at the address listedat the end of this document.The applicant shall provide the Chairperson with their name, address and phone number so that the Chairperson can call him/her and discuss how the Chairperson can assist with the application process in a manner that best meets the needs of the applicant and the Committee. The Committee does not want to prevent any qualified individual from applying for an ANDRC scholarship.

School Data Form:

  1. After completing the application process above, the applicant shall retrieve the appropriate school data form (High School or Post-Secondary School) from the Websiteand print it so that he/she may have a paper copy to work with.
  2. The applicant shall fill in their signature, date, and sections 1 and 2 (name, address, email address and phone number) of this form and emailit to the appropriate school designated official requesting that he/she fill out the remaining sections of this form and emailit to theChairperson as directed at the beginning of the school data form.
  3. If the applicant has to contact the Chairperson as stated in “Application #4.” above, he/she shall also provide the Chairperson with the name and email address of the appropriate designated school official and request that the Chairperson prepare and email the school data form for him/her. The Chairperson requires that all school data forms and the required transcript(s) be sent, upon completion,as an attachment to an email directly to him/her.
  4. If the Chairperson has not received the appropriate school data form and/or the required transcript(s) as of ten days prior to the deadline date, the Chairperson will notify the applicant that he/she needs to contact the designated school official to make sure that the documents are sent.
  5. It is the responsibility of the applicant to follow up with the school designated officialto make sure that this form and the required transcript(s) are received by the Chairperson by the deadline date. This form and the required transcript(s) are a very important part of the application for an ANDRC scholarship so the application can not be evaluated by the Committee without them. Applications with late school data forms and/or late transcript(s) will not be considered unless there are circumstances outside of the control of the applicant that caused them to be late.

Proof of Enrollment Form:

  1. If the applicant is selected to be a recipient of an ANDRC scholarship he/she will have to make sure that a Proof of Enrollment Formis emailed to the Chairperson before the actual scholarship money can be paid to him/her and their school to be posted to their school account.
  2. The recipientshall retrieve the Proof of Enrollment Form from the Website and print it so that he/she may have a paper copy to work with.
  3. The recipientshall fill in their signature, date and sections 1 and 2 (name, address, email address and phone number) on this form and emailit to the designated Post-Secondary School official requesting that he/she fill out the remaining sections of this form and email it to the Chairperson as directed at the beginning of the Proof of Enrollment Form.
  4. Again as with “Application #4.” and “School Data Form #3.” above, the recipient may contact the Chairperson and provide him/her with the name and email address of the designated school official and request that he/she prepare and email this form for him/her.
  5. It is the responsibility of the recipient to follow up with the school designated official to make sure that this form is received by the Chairperson. There is no set deadline for the Chairperson to receive this form but the scholarship money will not be paid until it is received.

Application Advice

The Committee has been awarding scholarships for several years. The application process continues to be refined andeach year the committee members are encouraged to provide feedback on the application and selection process in an attempt to improve it.

In previous years there were concerns about possible bias based on gender, or the areas of the country that the applicants were from. To place these concerns at ease, it was decided that the Chairperson would changetheir status and not participate in the evaluation and rating process unless there is a tie.

The Chairperson now receives the applications and blocks out names, addresses, and any other formal names and information in an attempt to conceal the identity of the applicant before sending it out to the voting members of the committee.

This process led to concerns from the Committee that the applications were hard to read because of words or entire sentences being locked out. The following are some suggestions that will help the applicant present their application in the best light:

1)Remember – you are “selling” yourself to someone who probably does not and should not know who you are. You should provide pertinentinformationwithout boring someone with a lot of useless information. An example would be… “I played in the Toledo High School band. We have won many contests including (applicant lists 5 or 6 local, county or regional band contests including their names), and have won two consecutive state titles.” There is too much information in that sentence including proper names. A better way of writing this would be… “I played in the high school band. Our band has won several local, county and regional contests including two consecutive state titles.” The band’s accomplishments have been stated, but only the most important information is stated precisely – playing in the band and winning two consecutive state titles – and no proper names were used that would have to be blockedout.

2)Some sections of the application require you to provide your name, address, schools attended, clubs you belonged to and the like. There are times that proper names will have to be used. However, there are times that not using proper names will benefit you. In addition to the example in 1) above, one such case would be when listing various clubs that you have belonged to – don’t use the proper name of the club. Instead of stating “I have been a member of the Union County 4-H Club for 4 years” state “I have been a member of the local 4-H club for 4 years”. By changing Union County to local, the 4-H club becomes generic and the name doesn’t have to be blocked out making the appearance of the application look better.Anytime you can make a response generic – please do so!

3)Past applicants that have been successful are ones that used good spelling and grammar skills. In order to be successful in college one must say what they mean and mean what they say.

4)Pay attention to details. A bad first impression is as powerful as a good first impression!

This advice applies to both the Bramhall and Roth/Brown scholarships and the ANDRC Scholarship Committee hopes that these procedures and this advice will be helpful to those who apply for an ANDRC Scholarship.

REMINDER: USE A COMPUTER IF POSSIBLE.

For the ANDRC Scholarship Committee

Chairperson

Molly Covert

2300 N Somerset Road

Hudson, MI 49247

Email:

Phone No.: (517) 547-4463

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