How To Write A Unique Scholarship Essay

Introduction.

 

Many institutions offer scholarships to young students who are looking for financial help without asking anything in return but a scholarship essay.

The essay is used in order to give the scholarship providers an idea of the applicant’s personality and what makes them stand out when compared to all the other applicants who want to benefit from the same scholarship.

This is why your scholarship essay needs to be unique. We know that creating a scholarship essay is not an easy task and this is why today we are going to help you with that by providing you a couple of guidelines that you need to follow whenever you want to apply for a new scholarship.

What is the Purpose of a Scholarship Essay?

Even though writing a scholarship essay might be annoying, it’s super important that you do it right. As previously noted, the scholarship essay will help the person who is reading it get to know you.

Not just that, but a smart young student will use the scholarship essay as a way to advertise his/her skills, personal experiences, passion for academics, favorite books, extracurricular activities and much more.

With that said, let’s go ahead and check out what are the Top 10 steps that all young students need to follow whenever they want to write a scholarship essay.

The 10 Steps Guide

#1 Understanding Statement:

 Make sure you understand the essay statement in order to be able to respond to it correctly. For example, if the essay statement is: “A situation where I have demonstrated leadership skills, and how it made a difference in my work”.

Key points that you need to address based on this statement are “leadership” and “difference in my work”.

#2 Understanding Key Points: 

Understand the meaning of the key points. After identifying them, you will need to consider what they mean beyond the initial level. In the above example, “leadership” refers to results achieved under your leadership, not necessarily the responsibilities of the position itself.

Once you understand these you will be able to address them accordingly. The more related examples and points you can make, the more relevant your abilities will look in the eyes of the reader.

#3 Create Story like A Speech Outline

We can not stress enough the importance of an outline. Make notes of possible ideas on what to include in all parts of your essay.

If done well, this will make the task of writing the essay a lot easier as you will have already defined the main aspects of the subject matter of your essay, you need only expand them further. If necessary, write several draft versions until you are perfectly content with the final version.

#4 Know Your Audience: 

Before sending in your application, research on who is giving away the scholarship, what they do and what they stand for. Even better, look for information on other grants and awards they have given in the past. What have they asked for? If the winning entries are published, read them.

In other words, gather as much information about the audience, the evaluation’s that might be reading your essay and decide whether you should receive that scholarship. This will enable you to get an idea of your audience and who might be evaluating your essay.

#5 Use Keywords And Synonym: 

Synonym of keywords used in the essay statement. This will prove that you actually answering the question the statement asked. For instance, references to “leadership” and “difference in work practices” should be included.

#6 Start Off Strongly: 

Instead of talking about yourself and your interest in the specific subject, quote from a relevant source related to the topic.

This is a useful strategy as it allows you to seamlessly link to the body of your essay and the main point you are trying to make. Not only that but you also show off your knowledge of the subject area and willingness to pursue it further.

#7 Respect The Word Count Limit And Any Other Guidelines: 

Sometimes scholarship applications ask for a limited number of words in entries as they are easier to go through, plus candidates have the opportunity of showing their aptitude to keep things on point and not go off on tangents which is a frequent occurrence whenever essay instructions do not go into such specifics.

#8 Make Sure You Are Submitting Your Best Work: 

Most scholarships are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They require an essay to prove your abilities beyond your transcript of records and a short biography. So, before submitting, go through it one last time to make sure it is the best it can possibly be.

It can be the strongest or weakest point of your application and your chances of being awarded a grant can be increased or reduced purely based on your writing an answer to the writing prompt given.

#9 Do Not Wait Till The Last Minute To Send Your Submission:

Here you may also need to consider time zone differences, poor internet connections etc. I have personally spent days on an essay only to be unable to turn it on time because of PC issues.

So, have a backup copy of your entry on a memory card or wherever else is convenient and try to submit at least a few hours before the deadline.

#10 Do Not Quit: 

Because it is taking up too much time and effort. Yes, we would all rather spend our Friday night out with friends instead of writing. But this momentary decision can have a major impact on your future especially if we are talking about a grant that will enable you to attend your college of choice or even a tuition fee waiver.

You will be proud of this accomplishment and will not give the missed Friday night outing a second thought.

How to Format the Scholarship Essay

The last thing that we want to go over is how the scholarship essay should look like.

First off, make sure to use a professional looking font such as Calibri, Times New Roman, Verdana or Arial for example. Below you will find all the formatting guidelines that you will need to use when writing a scholarship essay:

  • Font size 12
  • Avoid the utilization of script fonts, particularly for the body
  • 1 ½ inch margins
  • Double spaced
  • Keep your essay to ¾ of a page
  • Write your name at the top of the page
  • Write the title of the scholarship
  • Optionally, you can provide a title to your essay
  • Sign the paper at the end

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