Key takeaways:
- Scholarship essays provide an opportunity to showcase your individuality and personal story beyond academic achievements.
- Carefully reading and following all instructions, including formatting and word count, is important to meet application requirements.
- Organize your thoughts before writing to create a focused, authentic, and compelling essay.
Scholarship committees almost always ask applicants to submit an essay as part of their scholarship application. Your transcripts tell them about your academic accomplishments, but that’s only part of who you are. The essay is a way for the scholarship committee to get a better sense of who you are. These scholarship essay tips are sure to leave a lasting impression on the reader.
1. Fully read qualifications and instructions
Don’t just scan through the instructions in your rush to get the essay done. Every scholarship essay has its own specific instructions.
- Take time to read through instruction carefully.
- Make notes of the word count and any essay formatting requirements if applicable.
- Carefully read the essay prompt and see how those prompts may relate to the funding organization’s mission and goals.
2. Organize your thoughts
Answering a scholarship essay prompt requires some thought.
- Start by brainstorming ideas and write them all down.
- Make a list of important points to include in the essay.
- Narrow your big list of ideas and into to just 3-4. That will help the essay stay more focused.
3. Begin the writing process and follow standard essay format
Follow a writing process that works. The standard essay has an introduction, the body split into two to four paragraphs, and a conclusion.
- Use your ideas to first create an outline for your paper to help keep your essay more organized.
- Start writing with a great hook. The first sentence or concept is always the most important in your scholarship essay and help capture the reader’s attention.
- Flesh out your ideas clearly in the body of the essay and let your personality shine.
- Wrap it up with a strong conclusion.
4. Use simple, clear, concise language
Impress the judges with a riveting story using clear language. It’s okay to use grand, multi-syllable words if the context calls for them, but for the most part keep the language simple, clear, and concise. Scholarship committees are more interested in seeing how you use simple words to narrate your story most effectively.
5. Mind the word count
If the essay requirements specify a minimum and maximum word count, stay within those limits. Don’t assume that it’s okay to write more because you have a lot of interesting things to talk about. The word limit is set for a purpose. For one, the committee wants to see if you can follow specific instructions. Secondly, they want to see how you can fit your ideas and make an impression within their stipulated word count.
6. Edit for grammar and spelling
Your essay should be 100% error-free. Grammatical errors and spelling mistakes could cost you an award no matter how impressive your other credentials are.
- Read, re-read, and edit your essay until it’s free from errors.
- Ask someone with strong editing skills to proofread your essay. Grammarly is a free and easy resource you can use to help you double-check your work.
7. Reread, revise, rewrite
Never ever submit a scholarship essay without re-reading it. Experts suggest re-reading your essay multiple times. Leave at least a day in between so you look at the essay with fresh eyes every time.
Ask yourself these questions as you reread your essay:
- Does it answer the essay prompt?
- Are all specifications met?
- Does it have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion?
- Is the message clear?
- Does it tell a positive story about yourself?
- Is the content aligned with the sponsor’s goals and mission?
What do AVOID in your scholarship essay
Knowing what to avoid in your scholarship essay is just as important as knowing what to write about. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
- Be unique. While it’s okay to use AI for help with ideation and review, your essays should be written by you personally. People evaluating your essay may be using AI checkers to determine your authenticity.
- Scholarship essays have a word count limit. Don’t want to waste precious words repeating any details that already show up on your transcripts.
- Avoid talking about religion, or politics in your essay unless it’s been explicitly asked. These are highly controversial topics and if the person grading your essay has a different view from yours, they could have a difficult time being objective.
- Don’t include famous quotes. It’s cliche and overused. Instead, try including a piece of meaningful wisdom or advice you received from a parent, grandparent, or another important person in your life.
- Resist the urge to embellish your essay with emojis, funky fonts, memes, or gifs. You want to appear sincere and professional in your essay and adding these extra elements doesn’t help your cause.
- Don’t use profanity or slang in your essay.
Good luck on winning your next scholarship!
With these handy tips, you’ll be better prepared to create a winning scholarship essay! Good luck.
Looking for more scholarships? Search our free scholarship search tool to see options from different institutions, private businesses, and even federal and state governments. And, learn more about other ways you can help pay for college. Head over to the Citizens Student Hub today to get started.
