How to Write The Perfect Scholarship Essay

Scholarship Essay Tips That Will Earn You More Money

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Want to know how to make $100-$5000+ an hour?!

Although that may seem impossible, it’s far from it. The trick? Writing an amazing scholarship essay!

Why apply for scholarships

Some people blow by scholarships thinking “it is only a few hundred or few thousand dollars, what is that in the big scheme of things?”

But, take a minute to think about it. Say it takes you an hour to write a scholarship essay for a scholarship worth $500.  If you are successful and receive that scholarship you just made $500 in 1 hour!

Yes, I know that you likely won’t get every scholarship you apply for, but still, the return on investment for applying for scholarships is very high.

This makes the process of searching for applications, gathering information, and writing those darn scholarships essays SO worth it!

The best way to not become a statistic in the student loan debt crisis is by minimizing the amount of debt you have to take on in whatever way possible.

Trust me, paying off student loans really sucks!

Having a college degree can be necessary for a lot of jobs, and if you are looking for tips on writing a scholarship essay, chances are you need to pursue a higher education to achieve your goals.

But unfortunately, like so many others, you are most certainly being hit with the “how the heck can I afford this” fear.

Some students are able to work part-time (or full time if you are really crazy good at time management and not sleeping) in order to help cover the cost of tuition. Having a side gig in college can be a great thing. (I babysat and taught Spanish lessons all throughout college to help offset the cost of tuition.)

Why Apply? Consider Return on Investment

But the thing is, having a side gig isn’t always possible. And besides, if someone wanted to pay you say, $1,000 for an hour of writing wouldn’t you jump at that opportunity rather than babysit for 100 HOURS to make the same amount (assuming pay of $10/hour).

Receiving scholarships goes a LONG way towards paying for college. You wanna know something cool? Over the course of my undergraduate and graduate studies (6 YEARS of school), I received over $100,000 in scholarships and grants! Talk about a good return on investment for my time!

If you are just dying to know how to increase your chances of receiving a scholarship by writing and AMAZING essay, keep reading. I am about to walk you through the step by step process that I used to make my essays stand out from the rest.

As a special bonus, because this is a subject that is so near and dear to my heart, I will also send you a 100% FREE download of 4 example essays (9 pages of information!) that were awarded a combined total of over $15,000. Using these freebies will give you an even better idea of how to structure your essay to increase your chances of being awarded financial support to pay for your education! (Just make sure your essay is your original work still).

Also, if you respond to your welcome email with a copy of your scholarship essay (in word document form) I will personally look over it and give you a few tips to improve it! Seriously, click that subscribe button. Your bank account with thank you later!

Scholarship essay outline

I went back through a handful of essays I have either written or proofread that were awarded scholarships and analyzed them to determine the perfect essay outline. (Don’t forget to subscribe to our mailing list to get FREE access to my top 4 examples with 9 pages of content covering a range of majors to help you craft your own!)

Before you dive right into the outline I have provided, there is something that you definitely need to remember. When writing an essay, you need to ensure that first and foremost your response answers every aspect of the essay prompt.

You would be surprised how easy it is to get going about how amazing you are and why you deserve this scholarship and totally forget to answer the question!

 If you let this happen, you will almost certainly not get that scholarship.

So, before you even start to think about following this outline, make sure it is applicable to the prompt you have been given.

 You may need to make some tweaks to ensure your essay is appropriate to the particular scholarship you are applying for.

1.Hook Your Reader

You spent so much time pouring your heart and soul into carefully crafting an essay that really shines.

But wait, you didn’t include a hook? Uh-oh. Although everything you have written sounds great to YOU, your job in the very first sentence is to hook your READER and make them want to see what comes next.

This is SO important, because individuals on scholarship committees have to read through tens or even hundreds of essays in order to determine who the recipient should be.

Honestly, if you don’t have a strong hook, they may skim through a bit more without paying much attention to the rest of what you have written.

You definitely do not want this to happen which is why it is so important to have a strong hook.

Here is a hook from successful scholarship application.

“Education is about much more than homework, tests, and grades, it is about developing character and gaining skills that will help us in all aspects of our future careers and lives.”

2. Highlight your qualifications and unique skills

Again, this is your chance to really shine and make the committee member see how awesome you are. BUT, make sure that you present yourself in a positive, but not bragging manner.

Try to highlight your skills while also talking about ways they have enhanced your life or the life of others.

Here is a perfect example.

“Being a member of the Art Club at South Dakota State University since fall of 2016 has also allowed me to increase my involvement in the community through local art shows and painting a mural in downtown Brookings while also furthering my academics as I am pursuing a minor in studio arts.”

The above statement highlights the fact that the writer is involved in an art club. She then indicates why this matters and how it has enhanced her life and improved her community.

 By including the time frame for this involvement (if you have been involved in something for a few years) you show your dedication and commitment over time giving you increased credibility.

If there is anything especially unique about you in terms of merit and dedication, be sure to highlight those things as well.

For example, do you play a sport, participate in school organizations, or volunteer on the weekends? Make sure to mention those things and connect them to the larger pictures of dedication, commitment, and leadership.

3. Focus on how your studies and involvement help OTHERS

People who are giving away money in the form of scholarships are likely doing so because they want to help others.

One way that you can make them feel really good about themselves is by identifying the fact that you receiving the scholarship is not benefiting just you.

Explain in your scholarship essay how you receiving the scholarship to continue your studies in “xyz field will help the larger population. This will definitely improve your likelihood of being awarded a scholarship.

Check out this example from an essay that landed me $1000.

“Supporting my endeavors to become a bilingual speech-language pathologist will therefore, not only benefit me, but also a large portion of the U.S. population which is currently being underserved.”

4. Express the short term and long term benefits of you receiving the scholarship

There is a tendency when writing an essay for a scholarship to just focus on the short term. Because often times, we are really gosh darn worried about the short term problem of “how the heck am I going to pay for all this school.”

Although it is important to highlight the short term benefits of receiving financial support, it is even more important to focus on the big picture.

This shows the selection committee that their investment in you is a wise one for the long haul. You can help them to see that you have a long-term vision that aligns with what they support.

Check these out to get a better idea of what I am talking about.

Short Term Focus: “For me, education has always come first, and receiving this scholarship will allow me to focus on my school work rather than having to work multiple jobs which would subtract from the learning experience.”

Long Term Focus: “Being more financially stable due to receiving this scholarship would also decrease some of the stress often associated with paying for a college education. This stability would provide a platform from which I can select a design career I love and am passionate about right out of school without being dissuaded from a dream job due to having to focus more on salary in order to pay off student loan debt.”

5. Why I deserve This Scholarship

I think this is the essay prompt that everyone dreads. I mean, can we be real for a second? This is SUCH an awkward question to answer.

It is definitely something you need to address with a significant amount of tact. If you answer this question wrong, you could easily turn your reader off leaving them to think you are an entitled little brat.

No one wants that.

The way I approach this question is by putting a bit of a twist on the question while still answering it. I NEVER, EVER say “I deserve this scholarship because…”

Even though they are asking you to tell them just that, saying you deserve something just sounds bad.

Instead, I always indicate why I FEEL I would be a great candidate. I still answer their question, but it is in a much more likeable manner.

Consider these two statements.  

“I feel that I would be a great candidate for this scholarship because of my constant desire to learn more and to be involved in the community around me.

Vs.

“I deserve this scholarship because I have a 4.0 and have been involved with many extra-curricular activities.”

Wouldn’t you agree that the first statement sounds significantly more positive and less entitled than the second? Shoot to word your sentences more like the first.

6. Make sure you answer the essay prompt

I know I said this before we dove into the outline, but because it is so critical to your success, I wanted to make sure to include it again. Don’t forget to answer the prompt!

When I sit down to write an essay, I make sure to list all the prompts I need to include responses to. Sometimes there may be multiple questions they want you to answer, so listing them all out in your outline and then typing your response under each one ensures you don’t miss anything.

7. Include a strong conclusion

Your conclusion is the perfect opportunity to summarize or re-iterate your qualifications and how you receiving this scholarship would be beneficial.

Make sure to have a strong statement to end things. This way, even if they skimmed over your essay, your concluding statement might prompt them to give it a closer read.

Scholarship Essay Examples

Hopefully if you have gotten this far you have been able to see some very specific examples of key points to include as part of your scholarship essay.

Focusing on these important aspects of your essay will truly set you apart from other candidates. I know, because I received over $100,000 in scholarships and grants during undergrad and grad school using these EXACT strategies.

Remember to sign yourself up for access to 4 full length scholarship essay examples that were written on a variety of different prompts/subjects. These essays were awarded a combined total of over $15,000 which will give you a great guide to start crafting your own essay.  

These examples will give you a much better idea of how to produce a cohesive narrative that ties in all the aspects of the outline that I discussed above.

Common Mistakes to Watch Out For

Before you ever submit a scholarship essay, you should always always proofread. A silly grammatical error can be the deciding factor in whether or not you receive a substantial amount of money. It is definitely worth the extra a time to look over your response.

You want to make sure that the work you are submitting is clean and polished. Sometimes, when we read something over and over again, it can get easy to miss little mistakes.

That is why it is essential to use a program like Grammarly! Grammarly is not your average spell checker. It does so much more and is not only a must-have for writing your scholarship essays, but also for your entire college career. The best part?! Grammarly offers a completely FREE program (affiliate link) to make sure your scholarship essay is award-worthy. It checks for over 250 types of grammar mistakes that would be super easy to miss otherwise!

Having an extra set of eyes from a friend or family member, or in this case Grammarly eyes, on your essay can make sure you don’t miss even the tiniest detail that could lessen your chances of being the scholarship recipient.

Also, remember, by signing up for my email list you can not only get some AMAZING scholarship essay examples, but you can also have a chance to shoot me an email with your essay. I will take a look at it and offer some suggestions for improvement.

Regardless of whether or not you decide to have someone else take a look at your essay, make sure you check for the following common errors and use grammarly to double check your work for you.

The Most Common Errors People Make

1. Spelling mistakes. Those squiggly red lines are there for a reason. Pay attention to them and fix those little mistakes for a polished presentation.  
2. Errors in grammar.  You’ll want to make sure you stick to one verb tense rather than switching back and forth between them. Also make sure your subjects and verbs agree and that you don’t have any awkward wording.
3. Punctuation mistakes. Commas are especially notorious for wanting to cause trouble, so be sure to pay special attention to those suckers.
4. Disorganization. Read through your essay and make sure there is a logical flow to what you have written. Don’t jump back and forth between topics. It is also a good idea to use solid transitions between paragraphs for a seamless essay.
5. Not answering the topic question(s). I had to say it again. I can almost guarantee you won’t make this mistake now!

Again, don’t forget to add the super easy to set up the Grammarly proofreading extension to your google chrome browser. If you write a lot, which most college students do, you can also consider upgrading to their paid subscription.

Benefits of the paid subscription are that it checks your sentence structure, gives you tips to enhance your vocabulary selection, and detects plagiarism. These are all SUPER important for college students. Boosting your grades will have significant long term payoffs from landing your dream job to getting even more money for scholarships. Do yourself a favor and get started with Grammarly today for free!

BONUS

How to Budget Like Your Life Depends on It: Life can be super expensive. This is especially true in college when you are paying TONS of money for school and making little if anything. Even if you’re making barely anything or living off of loan money, you need to have a budget. Budgeting in college will result in accumulating less or even no debt along the way (a girl can dream right?). Be sure to check out this article to get ahead financially as soon as possible!

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