How to Write a Scholarship Essay + Template 2023

Applying for college takes a lot of effort. All applicants must pass exams, collect all the necessary documents, complete various forms, etc. However, what is often even more complex is to apply for a scholarship and win it!

Due to growing tuition fees, most students decide to apply for financial aid to cover part of their expenses. However, if you opt for a scholarship, you must write an essay yourself or get help from scholarship essay writing service.

. For example, if the topic of your scholarship essay is related to history, ask our history essay writer for help.

What Is a Scholarship Essay?

A scholarship essay is a paper students submit along with their scholarship applications. It is an essential part of your application. This work can either help you win or lose the opportunity to get a grant. In addition, the well-written piece should make your application stand out and give the committee a sense of who you are, what goals you pursue, and what makes you deserve to receive a reward.

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Scholarships often come from individual organizations that strive to support education. Therefore, application essays should often demonstrate the author’s passions and beliefs that align with the organization’s interests. Frequently, people refer to scholarship essays as scholarship application letters.

How are scholarship essays different from college essays? These two types of work have one main thing in common – both must represent you and your opinion or beliefs. But, several distinctive features differentiate the two types:

• Purpose – a college essay reflects your personality, while a scholarship essay often has to show that you share the beliefs and interests of the organization that offers the aid.
• Length – scholarship essays are usually under 500 words. College essays can be longer (up to 650 words).
• Prompt – often, college essay prompts are much broader than those for scholarship essays. Also, many colleges let you choose the topic, while a scholarship organization may ask you to answer specific questions in your text (for instance, “why do you deserve this scholarship?” is a very common topic).

The Outline

A general structure of a scholarship essay should look like this:

Introduction

• A hook that grabs the reader’s attention
• Thesis statement (why do you deserve a scholarship?)

Body

• What has been a significant challenge in your life?
• How did you overcome this?
• What is/are your educational and career goal(s)?
• Why did you choose this particular college or university?
• Why did you choose this field of study?
• How can a scholarship help you achieve your educational goal(s)?
• What are you going to do with your degree?
• How should the scholarship help you achieve your long-term career goal(s)?
• Real-life examples that support the main arguments

Conclusion

• Summary of your key points
• Restate the thesis (how the scholarship can help you reach your goals)
• Express gratitude to the scholarship committee for reading your piece

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The introduction is the first section of your essay. However, your work toward receiving a scholarship essay should start long before you begin to write your intro.

To get ready for the writing process, allocate enough time to it. Quit thinking that you can simply create a flawless essay overnight. Instead, before getting started, ensure that you know the deadlines and have enough time to work on your paper.

Get Familiar With the Prompt

Scholarship essay prompts are sometimes tricky, so read them carefully multiple times to understand what an organization expects from you.

To become eligible for financial aid, submit an essay of about 400-500 words. A submission usually illustrates your perspective on why you deserve this scholarship while answering the following questions:

• What makes you unique?
• How do your beliefs align with the organization’s interests?
• What unique contribution can you make in this particular field of science?

Choose a Topic

At this stage, keep in mind that your essay's main goal is to persuade the organization to sponsor your education essentially. You show them what makes you worthy of their money. Your topic should reflect this purpose. To choose essay topics, ask yourself a few questions:

• What have you accomplished so far?
• What distinguishes you from everyone else?
• What life lessons have you learned?
• What are your strongest traits?
• Have you ever struggled for something? Did you succeed or fail?

Answering these and similar questions helps you generate some ideas. Also, here are a few examples of common scholarship essay topics:

• Why Do I Deserve This Scholarship?
• My Dreams
• The Goals I Must Achieve in 10 Years
• The Doors I Have Opened
• What I Do Best – My Biggest Success
• My Inspiration
• The Person Who Has Influenced My Views the Most
• Destiny in My Hands
• Who I Want to Become in Future
• My Unique Skills

Write a Hook

What is a hook in writing? It is an opening statement with two goals – to grab the readers’ attention and make them want to continue reading. The hook plays an important role in a scholarship essay. The committee reviews dozens of works, which is why it is important to make your paper memorable, and that’s when a powerful hook comes in handy. Here are three effective ways to make your first sentence thrilling:

• ‍Question: What helped me realize that I want to help people?‍
• Quote: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill.‍
• Statistic: ADHD (9.4%), behavior problems (7.4%), anxiety (7.1%), and depression (3.2%) are the most common mental disorders diagnosed in children aged 2-17 years old.

Discover more: STRATEGIES FOR WRITING AN ESSAY HOOK

Now, when you have a hook, begin writing your intro. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Keep it short and clear
• Remember to follow your hook with a thesis statement
• Provide relevant background for the topic without starting your argument
• Provide only helpful, relevant information
• Try to avoid clichés
• Convince the reader that your essay is worth reading

These tips may help you to make an engaging introduction and make your essay stand out.

What Should the Body Contain?

The body of your essay is its longest part, providing the scholarship committee with the answers they want to see. Since we are discussing the scholarship essay sample called “why I deserve the scholarship,” here are some relevant ideas to include in the body of your paper:

• Talk about some obstacles you have overcome in your life, like in a reflection paper about personal experiences
• Highlight your achievements and positive traits
• Speak about your aspirations
• Talk about your motivation
• Share real-life examples that support your statements

The two main tips for writing the body of your essay are to avoid generalization and to make sure that your statements resonate with the interests of the organization that provides the scholarship. Also, use only familiar words to prevent miscommunication.

How to Conclude the Essay

The conclusion of your essay is the most important part of your essay. The ending of work defines whether the committee remembers it or lands in a pile of papers. To stand out from the crowd, you need a powerful conclusion with:

1. Reflection – this type of conclusion is perfect for demonstrating personal growth and presenting your weaknesses as stepping stones.

Example: “I decided to study medicine to help people. It took me a lot of hard work and time to get where I am now, and I don’t want to stop there. I’ve been through numerous ups and downs on my path to this moment. And while I never define my obstacles as ‘failures,’ I mark my success through repeated perseverance through adversity. If I get this scholarship, I will use it to further my education and serve people, which is why I deserve it.”

2. The Future Tense – if your essay is about your past or present experiences, this type of conclusion is the way to go. Tell the committee how your experiences have influenced you and what you want to do with the lessons you have learned in the future.

Example: “Having experienced the problems that exist in my community first-hand has taught me a lot. In the future, I see that my mission is to increase the efficiency of low-income housing development. This scholarship will help me complete my education in construction management and start solving problems that my and similar communities are facing.”

3. The Cycle – aiming to empower your introductory statement, you can restate it in your conclusion. Such an approach is very effective and makes the reader connect more to it. To illustrate, if you started by giving statistics on the number of children who need psychological treatment, bring up the same issue in your conclusion for a more powerful effect.

Example: “So, why do I deserve this scholarship? I have the passion and determination to help children receive high-quality psychological treatment at an early age—to give them the best chance of finding success. You won’t just help me complete my education by awarding this scholarship. You will allow me to improve the quality of life for countless families in the future.”

We also recommend that you read an APA format example and Pride and Prejudice short summary. That articles will help you understand more in essay writing.

Scholarship Essay Formatting

Formatting plays a vital role in writing any kind of paper. No matter how great the content of your scholarship essay is, it is unlikely to do much unless you format it properly. After all, formatting your piece shows the committee that you understand and follow the instructions, which is crucial in college.

A standard scholarship essay format has the following characteristics:

• Times New Roman font
• 12-point font size
• Double spaced
• 1” margins (top, bottom, and side)
• An indent before each paragraph
• Your last name and page numbers (only for long essays) on the top, left side of the page
• Use PDF format by default unless the website requires something else

Follow the prompts above to ensure the appropriate format for your text.

Scholarship Essay Samples

Using our tips sets you on the right track. Still, having a good sample essay at hand is vital for success. So, to make the writing process for your scholarship essay even more smooth and amazing, enter the dissertation service to look at the following samples:

I am a Business Data Analytics major in my 3rd year, and I’m from Arizona. The undergraduate business data analytic degree combines skills, such as applications, technologies, and processes that organizations use to understand their businesses, based on available information and statistics. Business analytics explore the science of big data. Big data entails the transformation of data into predictive and powerful information. This information then helps businesses during their decision-making processes, thus, deriving optimal results and performances. 

This course enables students like me to investigate data management principles, representation, analysis, and statistical modeling. The program provides machine learning, data management, visualization, statistics, business and optimization courses, and various tools and systems training. After completing my degree, I can apply the concepts to discover trends, relationships, and patterns.

As an international student in the USA, coming from a humble background in Haiti, furthering my education proves to be a challenge. According to the CIA World Factbook, Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere — with about 80% of residents living in abject poverty (CNN, 1). Additionally, Haiti, as a third-world nation, Haiti also suffers from social vices, such as corruption and high levels of political instability. Moreover, natural disasters, such as the 2010 earthquake, further weakened the nation’s economy, setting us back in numerous ways.

Scholarship Essay Tips

Here are a few more tips from our service to allow you to create a top-notch scholarship essay:

• Follow a narrative structure
• Add as much personalization to your paper as you can
• Have a detailed outline before you start writing
• Make sure you are eligible for each scholarship you apply for
• Promote yourself
• Provide real-life examples in your essay to back up your arguments
• Keep it clear and concise
• Include transitions between paragraphs to keep the writing eloquent
• Write similar-sized paragraphs
• Tell a unique story
• Carefully proofread and edit your essay before submitting it
• Ask a teacher or a counselor to assess your work

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Generally, the competition for financial aid intensifies every year. Memorizing the professional tips or turning to our service increases your chances of winning a scholarship to your dream college. Luckily, the article review shows various ways to improve your scholarship essay.