Scholarship essay writing: preparing your facts

When you sit down to write your scholarship essay, you want to ensure you have prepared your facts. Having all the facts means knowing what the judges or scholarship committees and panels are looking for in the essay, and how you can best present yourself.

Be Yourself

In your scholarship essay, your facts should explain who you are. You shouldn’t pretend to be anyone other than who you are. Don’t try and be too wordy or sound overtly academic if that is not your style. Stay true to you. Judges won’t appreciate a stuffy and formal piece. They want your personality to shine. Be genuine and write about unique experiences that truly reflect who you are. Judges prefer knowing what you think, not what media topics have argued for years.

Be Creative

You want to introduce yourself and the important facts about you in a creative way. Illustrate to the judges who you are via personal experiences. You will be more highly regarded as an applicant if your scholarship essay takes a small piece of your life and shows the reader how this small piece will lead you to success in the long term. If the essay topic poses a question, don’t hesitate to respond in a thought provoking manner. A scholarship committee is much more likely to respond well to an essay that shows you have a desire to find ways to share your intellect or your positive traits with the world or the community at large.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Many scholarship essays ask a question to which your essay must respond. In these cases, remember that one size certainly does not fit all. Study the question before you dive in and ask yourself how the question (and the answer to it) can prove your motivation, highlight your achievements, or prove your ability to solve problems. Let your answer reflect your background while describing an event in your past that led to your answer. For example, if you have a particularly strong stance on immigration policy because your father spent 8 years getting his paperwork done for immigration legally, then include that in your essay. Answer the prompt about whether illegal immigrants should be given citizenship with your particular viewpoint and the story behind that viewpoint.

Editing and Proofreading

Lastly, don’t let your scholarship opportunity go out the window because you forgot to look over the paper and remove any errors. Look for plural subjects and singular verbs or fragmented sentences. Make sure there is no tense shifting. Sloppy essays won’t be given the time of day.