With more and more students looking for ways to fund college, scholarships have become increasingly competitive. Making your application stand out is essential. Here are seven steps that can help.

1. Type, don’t handwrite. A typed application always looks more professional.

2. When asked for references, get them from folks who know your academic potential and personal strengths. Letters from neighbors, family friends, etc. are not what most scholarship committees want.

3. Nobody wants to work harder than necessary, so make the scholarship judges’ job easy by making sure all of your documents are well organized and readable.

4. Provide all requested information. Don’t be verbose, but do be thorough and complete.

5. Get everything in at least ten days before the deadline. It will make you appear responsible and ambitious.

6. Clip all of your documents together (neatly!). Do not, under any circumstances, use staples. Then, put your packet in an attractive folder which is unlikely to get destroyed in the mail.

7. Mail the folder in a large envelope so nothing will have to be folded and everything will arrive looking crisp.

There are no guarantees, but these seven very simple tips can help separate your scholarship application from some of those not as carefully assembled. And, every little edge you can get may make the difference for you. Best wishes.