The Essay...
Many Scholarships are Awarded Strictly on the Basis of an Essay
Most scholarships involve some sort of written portion, usually an essay. These essays are important because they communicate your values and opinions to committees and let them know what you think.
Often, these committees are reviewing over a hundred applicants, and the more you distinguish yourself in a positive manner, the better. And make sure that you answer the questions, even if you don't like them. A pet peeve of many committee members is when applicants don't answer the questions that were asked.
Always type your application. While many scholarships do accept handwritten applications, typing them shows that you care about your application and put time into it.
Keep grammar in mind, too. Committee members often list typos or grammatical errors as a surefire reason for rejection. Thus, always read over your essays several times and have other people proofread them.
As a general principle, try to write actively. Using verbs such as "managed," "coordinated," or "facilitated" sounds much more impressive than saying you merely worked in an organization.
Finally, make sure that you leave yourself enough time to write your essays. It's important to plan out what you're going to say and have time for feedback, and writing your essays the night before they're due often won't suffice.
Write a few essays ahead of time...
Some scholarship essays are extremely common, and it would save you time and effort to keep stock answers to these questions on file somewhere, or at least be aware of your answers to them so that you can just pull out those answers and adjust them to fit the scholarship for which you're applying.
Here are some examples of common essay questions:
- Tell us about yourself
- What is your most significant (academic) achievement?
- What are your career (academic) goals?
- How will this scholarship help you achieve your goals?
- Why should we select you for this scholarship?
If you have a choice in the topic you get to write about, always try to select something you are personally interested in. Don’t write what you think the judges want to hear. This will only amount in an essay that reads like everyone else’s, which is not a great way to make yourself stand out.
A second opinion is priceless when it comes to writing materials. Have someone you trust, like a parent or teacher, proofread your scholarship essay and provide feedback. They may be able to catch some mistakes that your eyes missed.
