How to write a scholarship application essay: list of helpful ideas

When you are writing a scholarship application essay you need to ensure that the essay you provide is not just a great reflection on your writing skills but that it showcases something important in your life that changed you permanently. The reader wants to know what assets you have to offer the academic institution but they don’t want a list of events that took place in your childhood; they have your resume and transcript for that. So what should you do? You should write your essay in such a way that you allow the reader to experience the events in your past with you and realize how well you can write as they are reading the paper and transported back in time.

If you are unsure of what to focus on for your writing you might consider any of the prompts listed below. They can help you think of a significant experience or an interesting event in your past on which to focus for your application essay:

• A childhood event. Try and recall a time when you learned a lesson for the first time. Think of a childhood event that taught you how important something or someone was and use that for inspiration for your admissions essay.
• Achieving a goal. Try and think about an achievement in your past that was particularly meaningful. This might be a time when you earned a high grade on an assignment that you struggled with or a time when you finally got a job you truly wanted. These are all great events that talk about your characteristics for hard work and perseverance.
• A failure. Try and recall a time when you did not end up performing as well as you wanted. Focus on this experience and the positive or rewarding reflections that came out of the negative situation.
• A good or bad deed. Try and focus on a time when you did not stand up for someone who was facing adversity and yet you wanted to. Or conversely you can think of a time when you did the right thing in the face of adversity.
• A change in your life. Try and think back to a significant change in your life. This could be a new relationship that taught you something deeper than you knew or it could be the birth or the death of someone you loved. It could even be something such as moving to a new town.
• A realization. Try and think back to an experience you had which led to a realization. This could be gaining a deeper understanding of a life situation or comprehending a difficult math question.