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How to Write a Winning Scholarship Essay


"Oh no, not another essay!"

We’ve heard these laments from students each time they learn they need to write an essay to apply for a scholarship. Unfortunately, essays are a fact of life and often it is the essay that sets apart the winners from the runner-ups.

Why is the essay so important? The essay is often the only way the scholarship judges get to learn more about who you are beyond the dry statistics in your application form. It is through the essay that the judges get to see who you are, what motivates and drives you and, ultimately, why you deserve to win their money.

In speaking with scholarship judges and in having judged thousands of applications ourselves, we have found that there are three qualities that every winning scholarship essay shares. As you are writing your essay you should constantly ask yourself if your essay possess these qualities – if it doesn’t you may need to consider a re-write.

Is your essay personal? This is probably the most important question to ask yourself when evaluating your essay. Scholarship judges want to learn more about who you are, where your passions lie and what makes you different from the other applicants. Your essay should tell them something about you that is not found in your application.

Are you writing about a passion? You will write the best essay about something that is close to you and that you know intimately. It's easy to tell when applicants write about a topic that they really care about versus one in which they only have superficial knowledge. Write about what you know and what excites you.

Do you show why you are the most qualified for the award? You don't have to explicitly list the reasons why you should win the award, but it's important to keep in mind why the organization is providing the award and what qualities they are looking for when selecting a winner. Your essay should present parts of your background that match what the organization is looking for in a winner.

While the above questions will help to clue you in on if your essay is any good there are also some red flags you can look for to see if you are making a common essay mistake. While there are literally thousands of ways to write a great essay, there are also common mistakes that students repeat over and over. To avoid these mistakes be on the look out for the following while editing your masterpiece:

Not answering the question. Many applicants write quality essays but don’t actually address the question.

Not having a thesis. There needs to be a main idea to the essay, and if there is not, the essay will often appear disorganized and rambling.

Topic is too broad. A common mistake is to try to cover too much in the limited space of the essay. The essay should be focused which will also allow for detail.

Mechanical errors. Judges view spelling and grammatical errors as indicative that applicants are not serious about their applications. Plus, if you are sloppy in your writing who’s to say that you are not sloppy with everything else you do?

As you write keep asking yourself the key questions that your essay needs to answer. Also, watch out for the above mistakes that often doom an essay. By following these do’s and don’ts you will have a much better chance of writing a winning scholarship essay.