Scholarship Guide: Essays... Yes or No?
Write a cause and effect essay and have an English teacher help you edit it and evolve it over and over. Most scholarships ask you for this kind of essay so you can shorten it or lengthen it and use it over and over. There are a few essays you should write and be able to use them over and over.
No matter what the essay is, short or long, have at least one person read through and edit it. You don’t want to immediately lose out on a scholarship because of a spelling mistake.
Write something original to yourself, and appropriate for the prompt.
Here are 3 things you may want to avoid in your scholarship essays:
Spitting Back the Essay Prompt
Can you imagine how boring it would be to read the same opening sentence over and over again? There’s no need to include this for any reason. Trust me. Scholarship providers know what their scholarship prompts are and don’t need to be reminded.
Using Quotes
Don’t get me wrong, an obscure quote can work well in an academic paper, but in general you should avoid using them in scholarship essays. Why? Chances are the quote you will choose is going to be used by several other students, which means your ‘original’ essay isn’t so original anymore. If you must use a quote, use one of your own. That might actually get someone’s attention!
Introducing Yourself
Unless the scholarship essay instructions specifically state that you must include your name in your paper, don’t start your essay by introducing yourself. It may actually disqualify you from advancing. Many scholarship committees conduct blind readings. This means a reader cannot have any information pertaining to you. Even if the scholarship prompt asks you to share some information about yourself, refrain from starting your essay in this fashion. Instead, begin with something memorable from your life that will leave a lasting impression with your reader.