When I realized I was assigned to write an article on the intricate art of winning scholarship essays, I couldn’t help but smile to myself. In all honesty, I’ve failed more often than I’ve succeeded in the pursuit of winning scholarships myself, so there’s a certain irony to it.
As such, I’m going to tell it to you straight. Winning scholarships is hard and writing scholarship essays can be frightening; and yet, amidst all my failures came times I succeeded. These flickers of light in what was my scholarship-application experience, collectively, turned out to be enough to cover a year of my tuition. So what I’m getting at is don't give up.
Aside from embodying perseverance, keep reading below for a collection of other tips, tricks, and advice I’ve gathered from my own experience and that of others that might be of use to you as you begin or continue your pursuit of creating a winning scholarship essay.
Written by Khadija Farooq
Start Early
Pretty basic, huh? However, as obvious as this may seem, many people tend to leave writing their scholarship essay to the last minute (guilty!). Don’t do it. A high quality essay requires passion, energy, and, most importantly, time. You want to give yourself plenty of chances to brainstorm, make mistakes, edit, and repeat.
Understand the Prompt and Your Audience.
Make sure you’re answering the question asked and understand the expectations. What could be worse than writing a beautifully crafted essay but failing to adhere to the word count? One strategy I would suggest is putting yourself in the scholarship committees’ shoes and doing your research. Try to imagine their ideal candidate and determine what experiences/skills you have that might help you reach that standard.
Learn from Successful Applicants
This a great way to better grasp what works and how you might be able to create your own unique, successful essay. Check out this post for essays from successful applicants who’ve applied to scholarship contests in the past.
Be You
Scholarship committees may be receiving thousands of essays. This means that during the decision-making process, it is important that yours stands out. Now, how is this achieved? Be you! In the sea of applicants writing to earn the same scholarship, there’s only one of you. Show off your personality! Demonstrating emotion and sharing your passions is a great way to go from a faceless author to a genuine individual. Here’s an article on finding your unique writing voice, if you’re interested.
Make Every Word Count
To be impactful, you need to make sure every word is added for a reason and that each sentence flows into the other smoothly. Edit, edit, and edit until you achieve the perfect organization of words, if there was ever such a thing.
Get a Second Pair of Eyes
Try asking a family member, friend, or mentor to look over your essay. Having someone other than yourself proofread is helpful in the editing stage. They might notice mistakes you overlooked.
Don’t Stop Believing
The idea of failure is scary and afflicts many, but don’t let it get to you. Keep applying. There are SO many different scholarships out there that may be waiting for someone just like you to apply. You won’t know unless you try.
Wondering about where to find scholarships? Read this Studentosity article to learn about different scholarship databases.
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