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Secrets to Writing a Winning Scholarship Essay


A large part of receiving a scholarship award comes from writing a winning essay that impresses the individual or committee who makes the final decision. This essay needs to be so much more than grammatically correct with no typos or factual errors. If you follow these recommendations, you will greatly increase your chances of making a positive impression and winning the scholarships you need to advance your education.

Understand What a Scholarship Essay Is

Most scholarship essay applications have a specific focus or a writing prompt for you to follow. These help you align your writing with the committee's interests. Recognize that this type of essay is not supposed to be a memoir or list of your accomplishments in the past five years of your life. First, understand proper essay format and use those techniques while writing.

Follow Every Instruction Carefully

Things like formatting instructions and whether to include a cover letter, who to email the package to, and other directions matter if you want a positive response. Some scholarship committees may automatically reject any that do not follow the instructions. Since using a particular font or email format is quite simple, there is no reason to get this wrong.

Choose a Positive and Meaningful Topic

Share your successes and stories of how you overcame hardship or bad situations rather than write to prey on their emotions with a sad story. It is better to show how you have grown, improved, and succeeded because they expect you to do more of the same in college if you get the scholarship.

Add Personal Stories and Flair

Be creative. While grammatical accuracy and proper essay format matter, you should also display your own flair when it comes to writing ability and coverage of a topic. The feel of the language you use contributes to the overall impression that the scholarship essay gives. Remember that you are competing against many other people for the same money, so it is important to stand out. However, a scholarship essay is not the opportunity to try some avant-garde techniques.

Polish the Scholarship Essay Perfectly

Edit, edit, and edit again. When you are done editing, give your scholarship essay a final proofread. Every single word, phrase, and sentence must be 100 percent mistake free if you want to impress the scholarship committee. This is just one more reason why you should start early so you have enough time in the end to give the paper multiple rounds of attention.

If you pay attention to all these secrets for a winning scholarship essay, you will increase your chances of getting important money for your college or university education. There are so many different scholarships available today, and most of them require a writing sample and story from you. Elevate your opportunities by doing your best to impress the decision-making committee with your skill and style.