Answering the Question - Tips for Scholarship Essay Writing
The scholarship selection committee has reviewed your grades, checked your SAT score and been satisfied with your extracurricular activities. You’ve passed the first phase of scholarship review. You’ve made it to the essay phase, where your personal paper will be read, one out of hundreds of essays submitted by hundreds of applicants. Will the person reading your essay remember it? Will there be something about it that catches the reader, and makes them continue to think about it? Or will it be another general essay that could fit any scholarship criteria that will be read and placed back in the application, forgettable to the reader?
Stand Out in the Crowd
Your scholarship essay is your chance to give the selection board some insight into you as a person and to show them why you deserve the scholarship they are offering and why they should choose you to receive it. Writing an essay that a reviewer will remember when it comes time to make a decision is not an easy process, but with a few tips and a lot of advice, your essay can be the one that outshines the rest, that makes its reader remember it and come back to it during the next selection phase.
Your first task when preparing to write your essay is to read the question. Not all scholarship essays are the same. Even if you are applying for several different scholarships that ask the same question, you should not submit one essay for all scholarships. When reading the question, take into account the organization sponsoring the scholarship. What is the mission of the organization? Who founded it? What type of a person would such a scholarship likely be awarded to? When writing your response to the essay question, think about why the board chose the question it did and how the scholarship organization’s background and goals influenced the question and the answer they want to see. The scholarship committee is looking for an applicant who has the same ideals and qualities as the organization’s members.
Writing with a Personal Touch
Once you have done some research into the organization, you can begin writing your response. Keep in mind that you still do not want a generic essay, or one that any other applicant may write similarly. Give your essay a personal touch that cannot be duplicated by another applicant. While answering the question, remember the selection board wants to have some insight into you and not just a straightforward, general response. Try to include people or events that influenced or inspired you and how that helped shape your goals and personality. Try to relate the question and its answer to you and tailor it to your individuality.
Use Your Available Resources
Once you have completed the essay, share it with others who can review it and give you an honest critique. A great essay is not written on the first try. Have as many people as possible read through it and give you their thoughts. An English teacher or writing specialist or even a parent are great resources who are happy to help and give useful advice on improving your essay. Once you’ve taken into account the advice and critique you’ve received, re-write your essay, fixing your errors and including new or different information. Share your essay again, and continue improving upon it until you feel it answers the question and does so with your own personal flair that cannot be duplicated by another applicant.
Time is of the Essence
Make sure to leave yourself plenty of time when writing your essay. Don’t start it the day before the application has to be mailed. Take several weeks to write it, being sure to leave plenty of time for others to review it and give you feedback. Leave yourself enough time to rework the essay and modify it. This is the selection committee’s first glimpse of you as an individual. Use it to your best advantage.