how to answer scholarship essay questions

how to answer scholarship essay questions

Tips for Writing Scholarship Essays

1. Introduction

During high school, I volunteered at the local hospital. This was an eye-opening experience into medicine that truly captivated my interest. Seeing the day-to-day operations of healthcare shocked me. I would be taking garbage out of rooms and often saw waste bags that looked suspiciously like biohazard waste. I always wondered if these employees knew the risks associated and often found myself helping them and explaining what I had learned in science classes. This always got me into trouble when they would ask my supervisor why I was asking so many questions and if it was okay to use a hypodermic needle on me. This type of volunteer work led me to be interested in healthcare and medical research.

Scholarship essays are built around the themes of leadership and drive. I have built my life around acquiring these skills through service to others and work in the medical field to fund my education. Throughout high school and college, I have been involved in various forms of volunteer work. Service to others has always been one of my strong points and interests.

2. Understanding the Essay Prompt

Understanding the essay prompt is the most important phase in the essay writing process. This step is skipped by many students, however if done properly, it could be the foundation for creating a stellar essay. Go through the essay prompt several times before writing the essay. There are two ways to approach this. First, analyze the essay prompt. Write down the key points that you would like to discuss in the essay. This includes key traits of your personality which you would like to focus on. A second approach is to do a free write. Free writing may help you brainstorm. In this case, begin by writing what you would like to write about. Let the ideas flow and do not place any restrictions on yourself. Once that is done, begin writing about yourself. Who are you? What makes you the person that you are today? What events have shaped you? What are your significant achievements? By answering these questions, you will be led to your most admirable attributes; at that time relate those traits to the essay prompt. Keeping the audience in mind is important. Remember the mission of the scholarship prompt. What are they looking to find in the candidate? By understanding what the prompt is asking for, you can guide the direction of your essay. Above all, stay positive. Scholarship essays are not the time to play it safe and stay humble. They are a mini sales pitch of you. Trying to be anything that you are not will only hinder the process. Once you have brainstormed the prompt, take some time and think about it. Let the nature of the essay marinate. By understanding the essay prompt, you will have a better idea of what you need to address in your essay.

3. Crafting a Strong Thesis Statement

Limiting your thesis statement is a great idea. You do not want to have the whole essay stated in the thesis, but you should give the reader a taste of what is to follow. A well-thought-out way to limit your thesis is to use it in the form of a question. Using the question “How can I be an asset to my community?” is a good limit to what will follow in the essay. You should avoid fleshing out information and deepening the question; leave that for the body of the essay.

Your thesis statement should state your reasons behind your essay along with listing the supporting ideas. An example of this could be “I believe that my strong work ethic and my willingness to help others make me a good candidate for this scholarship.” Here, you would want to open the essay with a point that supports the thesis, and this idea of helping others would be reflected in your concluding paragraph.

The thesis statement is the most important part of your essay because it is the first impression that the reader gets. It is a sign of how you plan to develop the essay and is a statement for the reader about what you have learned and what you will prove. A strong thesis statement states the essay’s subject, makes an assertion concerning the essay’s subject, and informs the reader about what to expect and what to avoid.

4. Supporting Your Claims with Examples

You must support every claim you make in your essay. When you state that you possess a specific quality, provide an example. Show that you are in role with the person who possesses this quality. For example, if you state that you are a good leader, you should be ready to tell a specific situation where you portrayed your leadership skills. Think of examples to specific instances in your life to support the quality you have chosen to feature. An example is often more valuable than an explanation. Try locating a brief story that relates to the claim. Story is a wonderful vehicle to assist people understand life lessons. In your case, a life lesson you discovered that is conveyed through a story may be powerful. Stories can also help to make a paper more personal and less academic. With a story in mind, search an example from your past that will make a good story and enable you to illustrate your specific quality. If you have trouble brainstorming, try asking the people who know you best what they consider as your best quality. They may be able to think of a specific example or time when you demonstrated that quality. An outside opinion is often helpful in bringing refresher your actions and behavior.

5. Conclusion and Final Tips

Try to make it a little more personal. Scholarship essays, in particular, can be very difficult. Use an outline if you find that helpful. You might have a lot of ground to cover so you’ll need to do some brainstorming before you start. Consider doing one anecdote about yourself per paragraph. Always bring the essay back to identifying your long-range goals. Strengths and difficulties – may be written in regards to the “About Myself” portion of a scholarship application, and should be tied in with long-range goals. As with any written proof, they should be well written and in accordance with correct form and style. A lot of scholarship committees conduct blind readings, and essays written in fancy fonts or colored inks are often detected. So it is best to stick with something clear and easy to read. Always follow standard grammar and writing rules. This may require you to write or rewrite portions of your essay. The more personal the scholarship, the more likely your passion will show through, resulting in the positive level of spirit needed to impress the committee. This is especially true if the scholarship committee receives a list of your credentials anyway. Lastly, always have someone else read your essay before you turn it in, and take a deep breath. Writing a great essay is not always the easiest thing to do, but with some discipline, process and thought, anyone can write a great essay.