common scholarship essay questions

common scholarship essay questions

Tips for Writing a Winning Scholarship Essay

1. Introduction

There are two primary motivations for writing any scholarship essay. The first is to persuade the selection committee that you are the most deserving candidate for the award in question. An article on writing essays will be of limited use if it fails to persuade its readers. It is meant to convince that you deserve to continue your education in their scholarship program. Direct your writing to your average reader. If you are over the word limit, try to edit as best as possible; if it is not possible, consider breaking it down into 2 articles. The committee will see a glaring error and will appreciate your dedication and tenacity in applying for their scholarship. Your scholarship essay convinces the readers to know more about you and analyze who you are as a person and as a student. Reading the essay should allow you to get an insight into who you are as a person, prior to being an active student. Use this opportunity to be personal, i.e. provide your own insights and ideas slated by proper analysis. It is also a chance to show your creativity and to prove you can be an independent thinker. If you can write an essay that is appropriate and thought-provoking as to entice an adult to want to discuss your opinions and thoughts even further, then you have achieved your goal. Remember to type or print neatly and legibly. And remember to have your English teacher read over your essay. It will definitely make your job easier.

2. Understanding the Scholarship Essay Questions

Just hit the apply button and the scholarship essay will be in our hands. A few minutes of brainstorming won’t solve the purpose. The first thing to do is to understand the purpose of a scholarship essay. The sole thing of writing an essay is that the aim of the writer is to convince the judges regarding his personality and his unique thoughts in the form of writing. So the person who is giving away the scholarship wants to know whether the student is setting his goals into the right field. Read the essay statement again and again. Each time ask yourself one question: what exactly does this essay want? What is the main agenda? Keep it in front of you while writing the essay. Think about it for a while, let it sink in your thoughts. This will provide you a sub-conscience on what is to be written and will further help you to mold your thoughts into a coherent and a lovely essay. Then make a cluster of all the things that you need to understand. Let’s put up an example, an essay says that you have been an HR manager for 3 years. A company is having two employees who have a conflict. What would be your intervention? Prepare an essay on this. So the things that you need to understand are: – The job of an HR manager. – Characteristics of conflict. – Various interventions for resolving a conflict. – The rights and wrongs during a conflict between employees. You can jot down these points on a paper and it will greatly help you to understand what you need to write and will further help you to produce a meaningful essay. Another way to understand what the essay requires is to talk to some of the employees who are already working in that specific field that the topic refers to. This will give you practical knowledge on the topic. Gather as many views on the topic in reference. The more you talk, the more you will understand. Highlight the key words in the essay statement and find whether any of the past experiences, whether personal or academic, has an exact link to the key word. If all of the above things fail, then take the easiest route: ask the person or the organization who is giving away the scholarship on how should you approach writing this essay.

3. Crafting a Compelling Personal Statement

Think, write, rewrite. Before you start, think about your passions, dreams, and aspirations that this scholarship will help you achieve. Write about what you want to do, not what you have done. Allow your mind to run freely and creatively. Then, start writing. Now write. Let those ideas and inspiration be the guide to showcase why you deserve the scholarship over other candidates. Re-draft, re-draft, and re-draft. “Just let go. You’ve done the hard work, it’s just a matter of getting it right.” Heed the personal statement length. Often and perhaps typically, the personal statement is the first round in the long arduous process of sorting through applications, so what you choose to write is crucial. Length requirements vary, so do check; however, most require concise to moderate lengths. Usually, a two-page, double-spaced document is sufficient to showcase your intellect as well as your life experiences that make you an excellent candidate. Typically, personal statements are limited to 1000 words, so be sure to write the maximum without being superfluous. Bear in mind that those reading your application will be sifting through many others… and it wouldn’t hurt if it’s interesting.

4. Highlighting Your Achievements and Goals

If you have done a good job in “selling” yourself, your objective will be much easier, as the answer will create the link between your preparation and the company in question: “How to achieve your career goals.” This may well be the point of your current activity and the specific opportunities provided by the prospective employer, but it can be wider in the skills and knowledge acquired throughout your degree and lifetime up to this point. You should focus on future objectives only if they are relevant to the job in question. Short-term goals are the most meaningful, suggesting to the potential employer that you know exactly what you want to be doing. Essentially, you should aim to show how you have used your previous experience to prepare for the future and the way this fits in with the company’s aims. Step four is an often optional and sometimes painful part of the process where you must analyze whether your plans and give a realistic overview of your career options. This can be hard to do if you have a very clear plan, but it is essential for those with more creative career goals who may require some adaptability from their first job. Completing this step will give you a comprehensive answer to the question, whether for an essay or interview, providing you with a clear and concise image of your goals.

5. Concluding with Impact

Remember those annoying papers and essays you actually tidy up and put away in a nice case while writing your college application? You have just spent countless hours working diligently to write what you think is the perfect essay. The question you must ask yourself is, will my paper show my personality and potential? You should not be content with any word or sentence that simply satisfies you. It is your college app and the colleges to determine whether your essay exhibits maturity, intelligence, and creativity. After writing your body paragraphs, it is time to conclude your essay. Oftentimes, you may get adhered to a very dry, formal conclusion as you attempt to hurriedly finish up your essay. It is important to follow these suggestions to leave a lasting impression in your conclusion. The conclusion should be a brief summary of what you have written in your body paragraphs. You should quickly restate your thesis and tie each of your body paragraphs together. You should conclude with a direct comment on the specific situation the prompt addresses. This should all be done within an absolute maximum of three sentences. It is also a good idea to pose a question to specifically ask what exactly the reader has learned from your essay. This will prompt them to analyze and understand your essay in hopes that they will get your intended message. Potential employers and colleges are notorious for skimming through resumes and applications. This will force them to give your essay a second look.