Writing an excellent scholarship essay can help you get financial assistance for college fees.
When writing your scholarship essay always know that it is your chance to impress the providers. In fact in most cases, if you do not qualify for the desired scholarship, then you may miss out on admission into the school of your dreams.
This then means that your scholarship essay must separate you from the other candidates who are most likely to have the same grades, goals, experience and dreams as you.
This is where a stellar scholarship essay comes in. This essay is your best chance to prove to the scholarship provider why you are the best person to be awarded the scholarship ; it helps the scholarship providers know who you are, what you stand for and your background and aspirations.
Albeit being short and precise, the details in your scholarship essay will determine if you get admission into your dream college or get the not so pleasant regret letter. Coming up with an outstanding admission essay may appear as a difficult task especially if you tend to shy away from essay writing tasks. However, by following these five simple and practical tips below, you too can create an outstanding scholarship essay.
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Read and internalize the instructions
Before setting out to write your scholarship essay, the first thing you should do is to read and understand the instructions set out by the scholarship provider.
This will help you avoid ambiguity and irrelevance since you will be guided on what the essay is expected to include.
Reading the instructions will further help you to identify your audience, which is our next point.
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Identify your audience.
Every scholarship provider has a specific criteria in which he uses to identify the kind of student fit for his scholarship award. You can easily identify these unique characteristics or values by looking at questions or instructions the organization is giving you.
Some organizations may emphasize on excellence at classroom work while others would prefer a student who excels in sports. In other cases, providers seek someone who is willing to go back and serve the community with the acquired knowledge. Once you identify what the scholarship provider is looking for, you can easily position yourself towards becoming the perfect fit student for the scholarship award.
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Organize your ideas.
After you have read the instructions and understood the audience you are writing to, then organize your ideas; think about what you are going to write, then make an outline of the essay.
The unspoken rule in writing an admission essay is to avoid the general points. You may be inclined to write one essay that fits all, especially if you are applying to many organizations to increase your chances of luck, custom writing each essay may seem like such a huge task.
However, as much as it appears to be the easier thing to do, it greatly lowers your chances of getting the attention of the scholarship providers. Instead, take your time, and write your essay addressing each point you have highlighted in your outline.
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Personalize your essay
Your admission essay should speak about you in a convincing way; it is the main purpose of the essay. Ensure that at the end of the essay, the providers feel that you are the student they are looking for. When writing about yourself, endeavor to use very simple and concise language.
Elaborate on your passion, talent and activities in a personalized yet simple manner. It is one thing to say “I participate in poverty alleviation activities” and “I am part of a San Paulo based poverty alleviation youth group that focuses on agricultural innovation to produce food for street families. “
The difference is in the detail. The second sentence shows you are more enthusiastic and informed about the activity and the cause. Try as much as possible to stick to the set outline but give detailed answers for every question. Further, use this opportunity to bring out your unique capabilities and interests. This section of the essays is very important and goes a long ways towards creating a memorable essay both for you and the scholarship provider.
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Edit check your essay.
Once you finish writing the essay, read the instructions again and then read through the essay to make sure that your essay addresses every point as required.
Proofreading your work will also help you pick out any grammatical or punctuation errors.
Unless specified otherwise, a scholarship essay should adopt the following format;
- Length: 2 – 3 pages
- Line spacing: Double spacing
- Font: Times New Roman
- Font size: 12
- Margins: one inch top, bottom and side.
In addition to proof reading your essay, it is always a good idea to seek a second opinion, ask a trusted friend, colleague or even a professional to read through your essay and critique it. Then use the pointers to fine tune the essay to perfection.