Many people suffer from the anxiety of writing a scholarship essay. Here are some tips that have proven helpful for Scholarship Junkies in their scholarship essay writing:
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Firstly, it is important to know your target audience. Knowing your audience will help you decide the format and content of your essay. If a scholarship you are applying for targets students who have overcome obstacles and adversities, then you probably wouldn’t want to use fluff and big vocab words in telling your story. You would want to tell it from a first person point of view and essentially paint a picture of your life through words. If you were writing an essay for a scholarship that requires a historical research paper, you would want to use more refined vocab and more sophisticated sentence structure while keeping an objective viewpoint. The key here is learning to adapt your style to the type of scholarship for which you are applying.
HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER
Like any good writer, you want to catch your audience’s attention and spark their interest in reading your essay. There are several ways you can do this. One option is to use a short narrative or story, then transitioning into the main point of your essay. Another option is to integrate a quote (preferably not one that is all too common) and then connect it to your main point. An interesting and captivating opening will help you become a more successful writer. In addition to a strong introduction, it is important to circle back to your opening when you conclude your essay. By circling back to your opening, you complete your essay and give it a sense of cohesiveness.
INTEGRATE QUOTES
A good tool to keep in mind is www.brainyquote.com. It has an entire database of quotes at your disposal. When you are writing an essay, you can enhance your writing if you integrate a quote that pads your main ideas. Some Scholarship Junkies like to integrate quotes into their conclusion and then connecting them back to the overall story. Another creative option is to use a quote as a person’s dialogue if you are writing a story. It makes the essay more exciting and unique.
HONORABLE MENTION
When you are writing about yourself or about a certain situation, remember to mention relevant facts and examples. Try not to leave out too much, but don’t overload your essay with irrelevant detail. The more information you include about yourself, the more they see you as a person. Unless you write about it, the judges are not going to know the important details about your life. Just remember to exercise sound judgment in choosing your content and answering the question.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE
The use of being verbs can take away from the effectiveness of your writing. Eliminating passive voice in your writing improves the overall message of your essay and gives the judges an interesting essay to read. Instead of using being verbs, use active verbs that show rather than tell. However, remember that a being verb once in a while is perfectly okay.
ELOQUENT LOGORRHEA (A.K.A. USING TOO MANY FLUFFY WORDS)
Avoid using fancy vocab words that you think will impress judges. If you are using a thesaurus to find a big vocab word, don’t use the word. In reality, your scholarship essay readers would rather you use sufficient vocabulary that makes your essay concise and to the point. Try not to use five words where three will do. Essay readers go through hundreds and thousands of essays so make yours powerful, but with fewer words.
DAILY APPLICATION
Understandably, scholarship applications take time, so you have to make the time. However, if you continue to write and apply the tips mentioned, your level of writing will develop more quickly than others and help you when you get to college. It will help you develop a level of sophistication as well as a diversified blend of writing genres.
ADVICE AWARENESS
Finally, never be afraid to ask for help with your essays. Your counselor, your teachers, and classmates are there to help you. Our Scholarship Junkies always found it extremely helpful to have English teachers read over essays and make comments on them. Be sure to access your teachers and resources (and be respectful by giving them enough time before the deadline).
Writing a scholarship essay really isn’t impossible; it just takes some time to put together a strong piece of work. As you continue your scholarship search, be sure to incorporate some of the tips above to help you organize your writing, but just remember: your story is unique and, as such, you should always seek to find your own way to express your ideas.
