Congratulations! If you’re reading this, it means you’re considering applying for a scholarship—and starting your scholarship essay is a great first move! A successful essay should convey your confidence that you deserve the award, which can be difficult – things like Imposter Syndrome are common and very real. But remember, you started this process for a reason, and we’re here to help.
To begin, it is important to know exactly what your scholarship or award is for. For example, I chose to apply for various scholarships that focused on different extracurricular areas that align with my interests. These areas included performance arts, creative writing, active citizenship, innovation, and entrepreneurship. This allowed me to tailor the topic of my essays to each strand.
Similarly, if you’re applying for a sports scholarship, it’s important that your discussion centers around sports; why you play, how you play, and how these elements apply to the scholarship’s goals. And if you are applying for an active citizenship scholarship, you should focus on your volunteering and leadership experiences. An academic scholarship may discuss your passions for a particular field or subject and how these passions came to be.
At the same time, remember that you are not defined by this one thing. Oftentimes, a really impressive scholarship candidate will be able to show other elements of their personality, too, within one application. Don’t feel as though you need to live and breathe this one thing – just make sure that your essay is framed around it.
It’s likely that you already know the bones of what you want to write about. That is because a scholarship essay starts with you—you are the heart of it. But to fill out your potential topic, you might want to make a list of your achievements. We often say that a college essay shouldn’t read like a resume, but a scholarship essay often needs to include some element of outlining your accomplishments. Take a look at your application form. Is there another place where you can list your awards and achievements? If not, be sure that you are able to fit them into your essay somehow; it’s advisable to mention your most important or impressive ones throughout.
On this note, we encourage our students to be careful of tone—it’s a delicate balance to avoid sounding as if you are presenting your achievements or bragging about them. Instead, work them into the story that you are telling. For example, instead of listing the awards that you won at a science competition, you might speak of the impact the awards had on you or the experience of the competition itself.
Reflect on why what you are doing is important to you. Why is this your passion, and how will you explore this passion further if granted a scholarship? Focusing on what drives you shows that you have the potential for further growth.
Remember that your readers and evaluators are not experts in the subject you are writing about, whether it be sports, performance, art, or volunteering, among other things. Try passing your draft to a friend or Expert Advisor to receive feedback; are they able to fully understand the goal and context?
A scholarship essay is a piece of persuasive writing, and style can be a useful tool. I built one of my scholarship essays around a quote and another around a specific motif. Perhaps you want to ask a question or use another writing technique that draws your reader in. Thinking creatively in these ways is helpful in making your scholarship essay stand out and expand the horizons of your application; oftentimes, great scholarship candidates don’t fit a specific mold.
Treat it with care. Put as much work into your scholarship essay as you would any other important piece of writing. Spell-check and edit as much as you can. Don’t worry about hitting a specific word count at first—write everything then begin to delete.
Finally, be easy on yourself! A scholarship essay can feel like a monumental task. How are you supposed to convince this person on the other side of a screen that you deserve a scholarship when they have never met you?
The important piece to remember is that your achievements– things that might seem totally mundane to you and part of everyday life, can be extraordinary to someone else.
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By Anna O’Connor
Anna is a graduate of University College Cork, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English as a Quercus Talented Student Scholar. After completing her degree, she trained as an actor at Bow Street Academy, Ireland’s National Screen Acting School, and is now pursuing a Master’s degree at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. In 2020, Anna self-published her first children’s book and is currently working on a YA novel. She also studied creative writing, with a focus on writing for young audiences, at Curtis Brown Creative.
As a past writer and Community Ambassador at Write the World, Anna is passionate about helping young writers develop their craft, particularly in personal narrative writing. She enjoys guiding students as they shape their unique stories for college essays, encouraging them to explore creativity and voice.
