One of the hardest parts of any scholarship application is writing the scholarship essay. This is the point where your writing skills are put to the test. The admissions committee will pay more attention to your scholarship essay, as it demonstrates your individuality more than your educational achievements. How can you make your scholarship more attractive and easy to read? This article will be guiding you through the entire process of drafting a great scholarship essay. We will also provide you with templates to help you with your writing.
What is a Scholarship Essay?
A scholarship essay is an essay that students are usually required to submit along with their scholarship application. It is the most important part of any scholarship application. A scholarship essay can either help you get or lose the opportunity to get a scholarship. A well-drafted scholarship essay should make your application stand out and give the committee a sense of who you are, your goals, and what makes you the perfect candidate to receive the scholarship.
How to Write a Scholarship Essay
In as much as all scholarship applications are unique to the applicant’s experiences, there are some general guidelines that one must follow when writing:
Explain how the scholarship funds would back your goals
You are requesting the scholarship review committee to invest in you. They have to have some guarantee that their investment goes to the right candidate. Explain how your education will play a critical role in your career and your goals after graduation.
Focus on the main purpose of the scholarship
When drafting your scholarship essay, bear in mind what the scholarship is for and who will be awarding it. Gear your response to the sponsorship so that it reverberates with the review committee.
Promote yourself
This is your opportunity to make a great first impression on the committee by telling them about your achievements. Explaining to them about your past success will instill confidence in your future success.
Explain some of the obstacles that you have managed to overcome
Show the committee that you are a problem solver and that you can persevere through any hardship. You can mention some difficulties that you encountered in your past, but turn the attention to the achievements you made.
Avoid generalizations
Avoid using generic statements like “I deserve this scholarship because I am a hard worker.” All applicants are hard workers, have good grades, etc. What makes you stand out from all the other applicants? That should be the topic of your scholarship essay?
Remain positive throughout
Use positive statements such as “Well prepared,” “Qualified candidate,” and “Specialized training” when explaining your achievements in a positive light. Even in adverse situations, try as much as possible to show the positive way that you managed to get through such situations.
Plan in advance
Don’t wait until the last minute to draft your scholarship essay. It is always important that you plan. To ensure that you have enough time to draft your scholarship essay, make a calendar with deadlines and requirements for all the scholarships you are looking to apply for.
Know your audience
One of the best ways to give the scholarship review committee what they are looking for is to find out and know what they are actually looking for in a candidate. First, try and figure out what their ideal candidate is and how you fit the description.
Follow instructions given and answer the prompts
Although this may seem like an obvious scholarship essay tip, most applicants make their first mistake before they even begin writing or filling in the application- they ignore the directions and instructions given.
Go through the instructions keenly and make sure you abide by all of them. Also, double-check your work to make sure that you have responded to all the prompt parts and that you have followed the correct essay format.
Choose a topic that you are interested in and more passionate about
The topic you choose can have a great impact on how well your scholarship essay turns out. If you choose a boring topic, it will likely bore the reader too. Choose a topic that interest you and you are more passionate about rather than the one you feel like you should write about.
Create a strong introduction
Since your introduction is the part that will draw the reader’s attention when reading your essay and convince them to keep going, it should be well written and should be the strongest part of your essay.
Keep a good Structure
After writing the introduction, it is important to keep the reader hooked to your essay without too much effort. Create a basic outline to make sure that this happens smoothly.
To maintain a great structure, start by organizing your thoughts. Write down the key points that you would like to cover in your scholarship essay. Next, organize those thoughts into segments starting with the introduction, body, and conclusion.
Don’t use a dreary and boring conclusion
Most applicants use conclusions to paraphrase their entire essay. Don’t fear thinking outside the box. Do something innovative and surprising to amaze the reader. Ensure that your essay remains interesting and is attention-grabbing from start to finish.
Proofread your work
No human is perfect. Even though we would like to believe that our writings are great, always proofread your work before sending it to make sure that it is free of any errors. You can request a family member or your friends to go through your application to correct it. This will also provide you with a different perception of your work, and the second set of eyes can help you catch a mistake that you couldn’t have seen.
Scholarship Essay Examples & Samples
Various elements are usually considered before a scholarship can be granted to the applicants. To make sure that you cover all the elements that one is usually required to include in their scholarship essays, we have free and premium templates to help you out. Our templates are easy to use and customize.
Conclusion
When writing your scholarship essay, the key thing is to show that you know who you are and why you are applying. What are the relevant experiences that demonstrate where you are headed and your abilities? Use carefully selected language and remain positive throughout. Also, emphasize your passion, enthusiasm, and ambition, and remember to believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, why would the scholarship committee judges?