Scholarship Essay Tips

Our Final Thoughts

In so many ways, scholarship judges are looking for the same things as admissions officers. As such, the other pages of our website can be used with great effectiveness for scholarship essays too. To rehash a couple of the main points:

Keep your essay topics fairly specific

This will allow adequate coverage of the topic. Overly broad topics are the number one problem according to the scholarship judges with whom we have talked.

Once you have found a suitable and fairly specific topic, do not veer from that topic.

Meandering, unfocussed essays never impress scholarship judges. Utilize a formal outline to help ensure your essay maintains its focus.

Introspection is your friend

Provide the reader with key insights into what makes you tick. Remember that the quotes and encyclopedia facts that work so well for research papers are ineffective for these essays.

Do not use lots of big words

Help make your essay enjoyable by employing more "everyday language". Trust us when we say awkward use of big words will not impress your audience.

Employ attention-grabbing introductions

Do yourself a favor and avoid the drab thesis statement for your opening. Your application and scholarship essays will be read by humans. Whether you would like to believe otherwise or not, we are all easily influenced and biased. The positive bias created by a strong attention-grabbing introduction may be all that separates the scholarship winner from the many runner ups.

Adhere to word limits

No matter what you, the writer, may think, chances are there is some extraneous material a competent third party editor can cut from your essay.

Proofread your essays carefully

No matter what, have a competent third party proof the essays on your behalf. A writer can not, and should not, attempt to edit his or her own essays. (Even professional writers employ editors after all!)