Nayreth Garcia
Content Writer At Gradehacker
You have the dream to start college; you have prepared yourself for it, but there’s a minor inconvenience… You need financial help. So, you decided to search for different scholarships you can apply to, but you have no idea how to write a scholarship entry essay.
According to ThinkImpact, there are around 1.7 million private scholarships, and in the past year, a report came out that said that 58% of students used scholarships to help pay for college.
It’s completely normal, and you shouldn’t be embarrassed since it can be difficult for some people, especially if they don’t have the ability to be good writers. If you feel confused or have essay questions, you can read our article: 5 Common Essay Mistakes and How to Avoid Them to get some inspiration.
Here at Gradehacker, we are determined to help non-traditional college students get the most out of their college education and make their lives easier. With our knowledge and experience, we’ll guide you to get the best opportunity to receive a college scholarship.
Starting Your Essay
The first thing to do: Evaluate your essay style. There are several ways in which you can go about writing a winning scholarship essay. Some of these are conventional, and some are unusual. Each of them has its own benefits.
For instance, in conventional scholarship essays, the writer presents a polished, appealing image of themselves to the reader. For example, a topic for a traditional essay could be “The Book that Made Me Want to Become a Journalist,” and explain why that book made a lasting impression on your life and why.
For unusual essays, you will need to present well-researched arguments about a specific topic, give real examples, and articulate, concise ideas. For example, you can write about a traumatic life experience you had, but that information needs strong support to make it reliable. Although traditional scholarship essays contain a lot of personal information, they still display a very high level of credibility and follow the rules of scholarship essays.
Developing Your Topic
When selecting essay topics, you must pick something that will be sufficient for the scholarship award you want to win and make sure that the topic you choose is adequate for a college essay and meet the scholarship criteria.
Analyze the topic to see the proper depth you need. Once you select it, provide a brief presentation of the subject. This will ensure that the committee reading your essay knows about your personality, creativity, and ingenuity. Be very careful with the tone and words you use since that will be one of the things they evaluate before they choose a winner. Then select a name for the essay, for example, “The Opportunity That Saved My Life” or “The Life Lesson that Made Me a Better Person.”
The Introduction
If your essay is not going to be about your life, you should find a subject you have some knowledge of and start with a powerful statement: a statement where you’ll show that your essay is based on something you know about.
Show your knowledge with examples. If you are a non-traditional student, you can talk about something you worked on or continue working on. Make sure to include some of your life experience, as this will help people get a feel for your tone. For example, if you are writing a scholarship essay on the importance of education, you can add an anecdote of your student life, whether in high school or college. Here are a few steps from Top Universities that we think are going to help you:
1- Start with a compelling introduction: The scholarship officers will only take a quick look reviewing your essay, so you need to start with an engaging paragraph that will keep them interested. The introduction has to be clear and catchy about what your essay is about so it can get the reader’s attention immediately.
2- Use your inner voice: Essay readers are looking for originality, so don’t structure your essay based on what you saw in other people’s essays, trust in your originality and beliefs. Trust your instinct and who you are.
3- Avoid clichés: Looking at some essay examples to get inspired is great. However, many students tend to be influenced too much by the examples and use numerous clichés to impress the reader. Remember that you need to distinguish yourself from the hundreds and thousands of students who also are applying.
4- Give good examples to support your ideas: A scholarship essay is basically a glimpse into how your mind works and how you view the world. But to make it reliable, you need to have something that supports your information. Don’t rush yourself, take the time you need to find out how you can make your essay question relate to your personal qualities and start writing from there. That way, when you want to express a specific idea you will have the support of your information with more details to develop what you want to say.
5- Stick to a clear essay plan: Yes, creativity can get you an extra in your writing, but a creative essay is not always organized. You will probably have a limit of the number of words, so create a plan before you start and organize it into three main parts: (introduction, body, and conclusion) and choose the main ideas you want to express.
The Body
This is the most essential part of your essay. This is where you will talk about the subject you chose. You need to find a writing tone to make the person reading feel and understand exactly what you are trying to say.
Let’s set an example; let’s say you choose to write about the complications of your life since you became a parent at a young age, and the title of your essay is “How My Son Made Me a Better Person.” Since this is probably a very common topic for scholarship essays and more people have experienced what you are going through, you need to make a difference.
So, here’s some advice: start writing down the moment you actually felt your son ‘saved’ your life and made you change the way you see things. Try to put your feelings into words. That way, you can create an impact or emotion for the person evaluating your essay application and have more chances of winning that scholarship award.
Conclusion:
The conclusion is the final part you have so the readers can finish with a big impression of you, so make sure to leave them in awe. You want to connect to the emotional hook but also want to summarize everything you’ve talked about in the body of your essay. In other words, you want to say to the person who is reading: “Here are the main topics from my essay and here is why it matters to you and to me.”
To make your conclusion better and not just going round and round on your topic sentence, think about why everything you wrote mattered to you and why it should matter to the person evaluating you. Overall, in your conclusion, you want to explain the significance of your topic while incorporating the essential points.
Are You Prepared To Start An Awesome Essay For Your Scholarship?
The possibilities are always there, and the fact that you want to pursue a degree, whether it’s in nursing, administration, or computer science, here is the motivation you need to write a standout essay to win a scholarship. Don’t feel frustrated or get stuck on only one scholarship; try to send your essay application to as many as you can. Here’s a list of the Best Scholarships for Non-Traditional Students
If you are struggling with this type of writing, you might need to look at your problem differently. Asking for help is always an option, and here at Gradehacker, we have a great team of experts that can help you with your essay. You can visit our Essay Writing Service page and find out what we can do for you. We genuinely hope this article can give you the inspiration you are looking for to start writing that essay you need in order to win a scholarship. If you need a little more help, here are some articles you may be interested in:
