Wendy's High School Heisman

Get in it to win it!

Like everything you do, you’ll want to give your Wendy’s High School Heisman Program application your best effort. Use the following tips to not only reach award eligibility but to make your application shine as well, and you could just be our next Heisman Trophy winner!

Watch the Clock!

• Your online application must be completed no later than 5:00 p.m. Central Time on October 2, 2013. The system won’t let you submit an application after that time.
• It’s best to complete your application early—think early September—to give your reviewer plenty of time to review the application by the review deadline. The deadline for reviews is October 4, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. Central Time.
• Remember, incomplete applications and applications that have not been reviewed won’t qualify for the program.

Don’t forget!

• Choose a user ID and password you can remember. It’s a good idea to record this information somewhere safe.
• You’ll need your ID and password to log on and work on your application and to check your applications’ status.
• Be sure to save you user ID and password until the October 2, 2013 application deadline has passed.

Be prepared.

Gather the information you’ll need for your award eligibility application prior to getting started. You will need:

• Your high school’s name and address. If you are home-schooled, list the school where you participate in sports.
• Your principal’s full name.
• The approximate population of your high school’s geographic area.
• Your high school’s sports division or class.
• Your graduation class size and class rank.
• Your complete transcripts and grade point average for grades 9-11.
• Your ACT and SAT standardize test scores and dates, if you’ve taken these exams.
• Information on Honors, AP, IB, or College Credit Courses offered by your school.
• Details of your academic honors, athletic activities and records, school activities, employment, volunteer activities, and community club or organization participation during grades 9-11.
• Your reviewer’s full name and email address.

Think it over.

• You’ll be asked to complete two short essays about how you learn, perform, and lead and how those experiences make you a winning candidate for the Wendy’s High School Heisman Program.
• Take some time to really think about your answers before completing this part of the application.
• You may want to draft your answers in a separate document and review them carefully before entering them on your application.
• If you will be cutting and pasting text into your application, please read handling special characters on application essays. Note: this is a link within the application itself.

Review your reviewer.

• Your application must be reviewed by a school official by 5:00 p.m. Central Time on October 4, 2013 to be considered for award eligibility.
• To make sure your review goes off without a hitch:
• Ask your reviewer if he or she is willing to help you before entering his or her name on your application.
• Get your reviewer’s full name and email address
• Carefully enter your reviewer’s contact information on your application and double check it.
• It’s a good idea to ask your reviewer to add wendys@act.org to his/her address book to ensure his/her email account accepts emails from the Wendy’s High School Heisman Program.
• One you’ve completed the application, double check with your reviewer to make sure he or she received an email about your application from wendys@act.org. The reviewer should get the email within 24 hours of you completing your application

Tell the truth.

• Be completely honest and accurate when completing your application.
• If you’re not sure about something, such as a grade or award, ask your guidance counselor, coach, or another school official to help you obtain your school records and confirm the information.
• Only document activities and achievements from 9th grade through 11th grade.
• You can’t include standardized test scores for ACT and SAT exams taken before your junior year.
• If you’ve taken the ACT or SAT more than once, only record your highest score.
• When entering your grades, include pluses and minuses, for example B+ or A-.
• Only include information about school-sponsored, sanctioned sports. See the list of eligible sports.
• Don’t include club sports or intramural teams that your school does not sanction or support.
• Do not list school activities that aren’t sponsored by your school, such as Boy Scouts or 4-H.
• Only list volunteer services that can be verified and be truthful and realistic about your hours.
• Don’t forget to type your name at the bottom of your application to certify that the information you’ve entered is true and correct.
• Remember that incorrect or incomplete information can disqualify you from the program.

Watch your language.

When completing your application:

• Use the correct combination of upper and lower case letters, not all upper case or lower case as you might do when emailing a friend.
• For longer responses including the essay questions, complete them in a formal manner by writing like you would for an important class exam.
• Do not abbreviate organization names.

Better safe than sorry.

• The Wendy’s High School Heisman Program will not share your personal, private information with anyone other than our selection committee.
• To make sure you don’t lose information you’ve entered, save frequently while you’re logged in and working on the application. Just hit the ‘Save’ button at the bottom of the application.
• Don’t use your browser’s forward or back buttons to navigate through the application.
• Always use the ‘Exit’ button on the left side of the application’s navigation bar to log out of the application.
• If you have to leave the computer while you’re working on your application, log out before walking away. You can log back in when you come back.
• For security reasons, you will not be able to use bookmarks on pages within the application.

Talk to your parents.

• Ask your parents or guardian to support you in your quest to become the next Wendy’s High School Heisman!
• Parents can help you review your application for completeness and accuracy.
• Remember that if you’re under 18, your parent or guardian will need to give permission for you to participate in the program.