How To Write Scholarship Essays That Would Stand Out

Anybody can write a scholarship essay but you need to do better than that. You need to write a scholarship essay that stands out from the others; it's easy to say, more difficult to actually do. Remember that they do not give a scholarship to everyone who writes an essay. It is a competitive situation. The people who decide on giving out the scholarship will be looking for certain things. Here are some tips to help you increase your chances of writing a scholarship essay that seriously stands out.

• Don't hide your mistakes.
• Do answer the question.
• Talk about the whole person.
• Make sure you are a person and not a number.
• Proofread your essay.

You will almost certainly be required to submit details of your previous academic work. This may include some poor or average grades. You are much better off talking about this situation rather than trying to hide it. For example, if you did do poorly in a particular subject, you could explain why this was so. It could've been something to do with your health, a family crisis or simply a lack of understanding of the topic. Talk about your failure is much as you do about your success.

There might well be a question for you to address as part of your scholarship essay. Do not make a fundamental mistake of writing a wonderful essay but not answering the question. It does matter how talented you are as a writer and how good your academic success in the past has been, if you can't answer the question, you fail.

It's most important that you explain your extracurricular activities. Of course the institution wants to give a scholarship to a bright and academically sound student. But they also want to have someone who has outside interests, someone who enjoys doing things other than simply studying.

It is most important that you come across as a person and not just as a number. Give yourself a personality in writing your scholarship essay. Make yourself come alive. Add a personal touch with perhaps a touch of humour or wit.

And finally one cannot stress enough the importance of checking and editing your work before you send it off. If you have even one spelling or grammar mistake in your scholarship essay, you are sending a message which says I can't be bothered or I simply aren't good enough.