The Big Picture
The primary goal of a scholarship essay is to persuade your readers that you deserve the award, that the scholarship funds are a good investment in your future, and that the award will help you to achieve your goals.
Common Essay Topics
There are many ways to write an essay. The strongest essays match your story to the scholarship’s purpose, values, and readers’ expectations.
Common topics include:
- Overcoming adversity & challenges
- Noteworthy skills, experiences, & goals
- Academic & professional goals
- Values or experiences aligning with scholarship / organization
- Shared experiences with that of the person memorialized
Getting Started
- Research the scholarship, funder, and any person memorialized by the award; use that context to choose details that match the funder’s values, goals, or legacy.
- List the skills, experiences, qualities, or goals that make you a strong fit for the scholarship.
- Evaluate your list: what does it show about you, how does it connect to the scholarship’s goals, and why would those connections matter to the reader?
- Choose specific examples, details, or stories that show your strongest qualities in action.
Writing the Essay
- Plan ahead; write in stages and take breaks so you can return to the draft with more clarity.
- Read like a skeptical reader: look for places to add detail, clarify, emphasize an idea, and delete irrelevant details.
- Rearrange for impact; try moving the “so what” point earlier and choose the strongest structure for your story.
- Draft freely before the word limit; then revise down to keep the strongest details and cut what you do not need.
- Present your strengths confidently, using specific examples or brief anecdotes instead of a list of accomplishments.
- Be genuine; let readers hear your voice, understand your motivations, and see what a resume cannot capture.
- End memorably with a strong sentence, clear insight, or vivid image of the future you are working toward. What do you want your reader to remember about you?
Tips
- Avoid clichés and over-generalization. Many other people use similar types of stories to structure their essays. To stand out, be specific. Use description and detail to help your reader visualize your story.
- Show don’t tell. Don’t tell the reader “I want to help people” because anyone can say that. Instead, describe your specific reasons for wanting to help or paint a detailed picture of you in the future as such a helper.
- Explain what your experiences reveal about you; connect them to your goals, future success, and ability to keep moving forward… You need to persuade your reader not just that you deserve a scholarship, but a scholarship will help you to achieve your goals. Example: Everyone experiences adversity. What does adversity say about you and how you will succeed?