how to format scholarship essay

how to format scholarship essay

Tips for Writing an Effective Scholarship Essay

1. Introduction

The scholarship essay should be taken very seriously. The fact that this essay could be the difference between whether or not you receive the award means you should put all of your effort into crafting this piece. A good way to approach it is to imagine that this is really the first impression that you are giving to somebody who doesn’t know much about you. You want that impression to be one of intelligence, organization, articulation, and most importantly, suitably impressing. An essay with all of these qualities will surely stand out amongst the essays of other candidates.

Scholarships are a very important part of financing your education, and the scholarship essay is your chance to prove how you are the best candidate. An essay is the logical choice to come up with a convincing case to prove to decision-makers why you are the right candidate for the award. It should show your knowledge, experiences, ambitions, and ideas to obtain the fund. Instead of facts, we are no longer looking at the essay for a place to list your achievements; it should be a story that gives the committee an understanding of the type of person you are and what motivates you.

2. Understanding the Prompt

In writing the essay for a scholarship, understanding the prompt is very important. This is because any essay must be given a direction and instructions. If you do not follow the given directions, your essay will be thrown out of the window immediately. To fully understand and comprehend the prompt, you must examine and dissect the prompt. By doing this, you will build a frame of the context your essay should be written in. Then, you must switch the prompt into a question that needs to be answered. More often than not, the prompt is a general question that you must answer. This process will also help you find what the prompt is asking for. Once you have done that, look at the keywords stated in the prompt. Usually, there will be around 5 words at minimum. These keywords will tell you what to focus on in your essay. For example, if a scholarship were to ask about an achievement you are proud of, how would you relate this to others, and how do you believe this achievement will be helpful in the future, the keywords would be achievement, relate, and helpful. This will help you organize your essay and ensure that you have answered the question.

3. Structuring Your Essay

Here is where you need to elaborate more. Do not simply tell the board, “I need this scholarship to help fund my education.” They want to know how and why it will help you achieve your goals. Think about “what are the benefits of going to college and how will the money help me to accomplish them.” This is also the place to justify any criticisms or changes you have made in your life direction, such as poor grades in the past, making a career change, etc. Be sure to have a clear beginning and conclusion to your essay. This is ironic because up until now we have only written under a 500-word limit, but this is where you need to be concise! This means no elaborate stories or flowery language. You want to make sure the board has a clear message and an easy time following your point. A well-organized essay that is easy to follow will be the one they remember!

Coming from a poor family, I have had to struggle to work my way through college, and I have not had an opportunity to know many people. When I think of the person who has had the greatest influence on me, I think of my father. Here is where you have a chance to briefly highlight who you are, where you plan to go in your future, and what the scholarship will enable you to do. This is where you need to make a clear link between your goals and how the money from this particular award will help you reach them.

A well-written scholarship essay can be the most important part of your application. Before you begin writing, check the essay questions and what you need to address. For example, in “Describe a person who has had an influence on you and discuss the influence.”

4. Showcasing Your Achievements

The question: “Where did you shine in the past?” can be answered in a number of ways, but today, the surest way to demonstrate achievement is in the academic area. Whether the question is phrased in either of the aforementioned ways, the point is asking what you consider to be your most important accomplishment. The odds are high that it is some form of success in the scholarly world, which is why your academic self will need to be directly addressed in your response to this question. Start by creating an outline including a thesis statement, main ideas, and a conclusion. This will help you organize your thoughts and ensure that you touch on all of the main points. See the Writing Center’s handout on outlining if you need a sample. Next, you will need to decide the content of your essay. Defining your goals, or why are you doing this? This essay will exhibit your writing abilities and that you are capable of following directions. But its primary job is to show that you have the potential to succeed at university-level work by providing concrete examples of your past experiences. Step two in preparing your essay is to create a list of your accomplishments. It is essential that you be able to provide concrete examples, and that means you will need to brainstorm many ideas. A caution: a failure at this point can be fatal. If you rush or neglect to brainstorm, you may end up with a bunch of mixed-up ideas that do not actually answer the essay topic. Starting too late or working too much on the assignment is a common mode of this negligence. So, create a calendar with benchmarks. A good rule of thumb is that you should spend about 1-2 hours brainstorming, 2-3 days drafting, and 2-3 days revising.

5. Conclusion and Final Proofreading

Now you’ve written a complete draft of your paper. Set the draft aside for a day or two. Then, reread it. Reread the draft in a few days. If it’s sound to you, then chances are it is ready to send. If possible, get your friends and family to read and critique it. If they have suggestions to make it clearer, more convincing or more lively, then you should probably revise the draft once more. Once you and your family and friends are satisfied with your paper, make sure to run it through the spell-checking and grammar-checking tools on your word processor. If there is still time, set your essay aside for a little while. After a day or two, re-read your essay. Still sound good to you? If so, you’ll want to make the final proofreading. If possible, print out your paper and proofread with a pen or pencil. Then type it again. This will help you catch errors that your eye might otherwise skip over. It will also ensure that your essay is double-spaced and every page is numbered. Finally, read each word slowly and carefully. This should take you at least one hour, probably more. After reading your essay at a slow pace, it should sound more convincing and more satisfying than an examination of your SAT scores. Good luck!