Ways to Make your Scholarship Essay Unique

Writing a scholarship essay is not as easy as writing an essay for a high school class. Scholars hoping to earn a form of financial aid that won’t require future repayment have to compete with many other applicants for the limited number of awards available. Therefore, scholars can take advantage of expert-recommended strategies that make their scholarship applications unique.

Here are some tips for writing scholarship essays that stand out.

Make the essay personal, and specific

Successful scholarship essay needs to contain details that feel genuine and provide insight on a deeper level of the details of the applicant. The applicant needs to be conspicuous in a multitude of the other applicants’ essays that could be uninteresting to the thousands of applications’ reviewers.

Some scholarships require applicants to submit multiple essays in which they need to describe themselves, their aspirations, and the plans they hope to achieve. Experts who read articles from applicants say successful ones are more about applicant’s overview as a person and less about what the applicant does.

Tell a story that feels real and true

A unique essay should capture the readers’ attention from the opening statement. The structure of the paper should be in a way that draws the reader to it. The essay should feel real, and the applicant needs to share any personal and tangible details about his life. The student should excitingly share their experience to make the essay compelling and memorable.

Tailor the essay to the prompt

There is a need to take caution when a student repurposes an essay he/she had already written and uses it for another application. An excellent article should be on-topic, specific to the essay question asked, and the organization, the student, is applying. As some essay topics focus on asking students about their career goals and plans to achieve them, others require them to describe ways that they have contributed to making their community better. Therefore, an application relevant to one institution may be irrelevant to another.

Avoid tailoring yourself to the reader

The feeling of the need to project a specific image in a scholarship application essay is unnecessary. The student should proudly talk about his/her culture, traditions, and experiences that make the application stand out. Scholarship committees like diversity; thus, a student who is an international applicant or a non-traditional student should not ‘Americanize’ the application. Expand on details about your culture essential and make the reader understand who you are.

Follow Directions

To be a successful applicant, students need to follow the instructions given. Any form of formatting specification and length restriction should be adhered to. The question posed should be answered correctly, and the essay should be within the word limits. A longer piece doesn’t necessarily mean a better composition as it may be boring to the writer and the reader. A shorter one may neither be a better one as it may be too shallow and lack details that make the application more attractive.

Scholarships have very stiff competition among applicants. A student needs to describe who he/she is, the abilities, culture, and goals in a real, specific, unique, and accurate manner that will influence the reader. According to the specifications and directions are given, a well-written essay raises the student’s chances of winning a scholarship.