Just as when applying to colleges, scholarship applications may require that you to send in your grades, academic achievements, test scores, and ambitions for the future. As such, scholarship essays offer you the chance to speak to these accomplishments and ambitions. Here you can shine and win over the organization granting the scholarship.
Both grants and scholarships may require an accompanying essay with the application, although there are some rare cases of scholarships and grants that don’t require essays and are easier to obtain. Be cautious of fraudulent scholarships or online scams associated with “easy to obtain scholarships”, as they are becoming increasingly common online.
While you should be sure to do this before you start writing, you should also do this after you’ve written the piece. Simply double check your work against the requirements set by the scholarship organization, and make sure you’re following the instructions to the letter. Essays that don’t follow instructions will most likely be thrown out first, and you don’t want your hard work to go to waste simply because you forgot something in the instructions.
Your scholarship essay is going to be your primary (and sometimes sole) form of communication with the organization granting the scholarship. That’s why it’s so important to communicate directly and clearly through your essay in order to attract their attention and garner their support. Here are some additional tips to help you better communicate your intentions through your scholarship essay:
Outline
Brainstorming is an important step to ensure your idea fits with the prompt and properly expresses what you are trying to communicate through your essay. You also want to make sure that you express what is meaningful and relevant about yourself that can help your essay stand out from all the others.
If you have a friend, relative, mentor, or peer that has editing experience — or that is simply a voracious reader — ask them if they can take a moment to look over your piece and make comments or suggestions. You may be surprised at what they find that you missed!
If you’ve decided to pursue your education through an online bachelor’s degree or master’s degree program, it can be even more important to communicate effectively through your scholarship essay. It is entirely possible that you will never meet your collegiate benefactors or professors in person, and will only communicate with them via your writing online.
To write a successful scholarship essay, consider the layout and structure, as well as the content, carefully. Individual institutions may provide specific instructions for formatting. If not, follow these guidelines:
Once you have finished writing the essay, you will need to proofread it very carefully to ensure there are no grammar issues or spelling mistakes. If you can, ask someone in your family or a friend at school to read through it also – sometimes a fresh set of eyes can find mistakes that you can’t see. As you proofread, also consider how well you have addressed the prompt and ensure that you have stayed on topic throughout.
The scholarship essays are read and carefully considered
You will often be provided with a prompt that you must address in the program essay. Read the prompt carefully and consider what you think the prompt is really asking (what is it that they are trying to find out about you from this essay?). Plan a response carefully and ensure you stay on topic throughout.
Scholarship Recommendation Letter Samples and Templates
You will, however, want to ensure that you include certain information in your scholarship essay, no matter the prompt. You must ensure that you highlight clearly your experiences and interests that match to the mission of the funding organization and field of study. It is also worth taking the time to do some research about the funding organization.
A good start is to look through their website and try to find their mission statement. Every organization tends to have a few key buzzwords that they use to define their missions and values – if you can include these in your essay, you are likely to catch their attention quickly!
To write a good scholarship essay, you need to ensure that you stand out from the thousands of other applications that are submitted. To do this, you have to “wow” the reader
Writing an essay for school is one thing, but writing an essay to help you pay for college is another. Financial stability is on the line when it comes to scholarship applications, so writing a winning essay is key to impressing those granting the scholarships you’re applying for. Here are some tips to help you better prepare for your scholarship application and essay.
Although the terms “grant” and “scholarship” often refer to a similar idea — student financial aid that doesn’t require repayment — they are two fundamentally different awards. The key difference lies in how they are awarded, and where the funds are originating from.
Both grants and scholarships may require an accompanying essay with the application, although there are some rare cases of scholarships and grants that don’t require essays and are easier to obtain. Be cautious of fraudulent scholarships or online scams associated with “easy to obtain scholarships”, as they are becoming increasingly common online.
But how can you take advantage of this $49.3 billion dollar (and growing) pool of grants and scholarships? Scholarships require either proof of academic excellence or that students meet a financial threshold, as well as completion of an application and, usually, a scholarship essay. Just as some colleges and universities require an entrance essay to apply, many scholarships also require an essay along with the application.
Grant vs Scholarship
Your outline should read like a barebones argument for why you deserve this scholarship and how your idea relates to the prompt given. Once you start writing the essay in full, you can fill in more of the details needed to explain your point, or to describe yourself and your situation.
For many people, it can be hard for them to revise their own work because they hold biases about their writing or are unaware of personal mistakes. Asking another person to review your work may help you refine your essay even more. Additionally, having another person read over your essay can help you determine the clarity of your point: do they understand the flow of your piece, or are they confused by any information? Does the context you provide make sense to the overall idea, or does the reader still have questions?
As important as FAFSA is for most students, there are other options available to help students pay for their college education: mainly scholarships and grants. The best thing about these options? They don’t require repayment plans.
Whether it’s a scholarship essay about yourself, a creative writing scholarship, or an essay about why you deserve the scholarship, the sample scholarship essays below can help you better understand what can result from following a scholarship essay format or applying tips for how to write a scholarship essay.
New York University College of Arts and Science $39,500 Scholarship by Ana
North Coast Section Foundation Scholarship for $1000 by Christine Fung
Why? Combining essay prompts will not only save you time, it’ll actually result in a better essay.
Scholarship Essay Example #1
Prompt: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Millennium Gates Last Dollar Scholarship and $3,500 in Outside Scholarship Essay Examples by Famyrah Lafortune
These students earned thousands in financial aid and I’m sharing these sample scholarship essays so you can learn from what they did well.
So guess what? You can totally use the resources linked above, in particular the free guide.
Step #3: Decide if you want to include a specific thesis that explicitly states your central argument—in this case what you want to study and why. This thesis can be at the beginning, middle, or end of your essay.
Step #2: Put your moments (aka the “scenes” of your mini-movie) in chronological order, as it’ll help you see how your interests developed. It also makes it easier to write transitions.
Chances are you’re not applying for just one or two scholarships
Three “Why Major” Essay Examples
Create an outline that works for all the potential overlapping prompts.
Provide specific evidence that gives us a sense that your work mattered. I’ll show you some ways to do this in a minute.
This approach still answers the prompt. And if you’re not sure which approach the scholarship provider is looking for or would prefer, don’t be afraid to reach out to them and ask. (Your readers are nice people and they want to help you submit a great application!)
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