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Tips Beasiswa
How To Write A Winning Scholarship Essay
By: Kelly Tanabe
If you think that writing essays for college
applications was an exhausting experience, we’re sorry
to break the bad news to you–there are more to come.
Many scholarship applications require at least one
essay–although they are usually (but not always) shorter
than those for college admissions.
Before you begin wondering if it’s worth the trouble to
apply, the good news is that because you have already
written quality essays for your college applications,
you have some very good recycling possibilities. Plus
this time you have the motivation of writing to be paid
money instead of writing to spend money as you did for
the college application essays.
Similar to admissions officers, scholarship committees
see the essay as a window into the hearts and minds of
the applicants. Because of this, essays for scholarships
should be written similarly to college essays. They
should be original, well-written, honest, and describe
something meaningful about you. Scholarship essays
should captivate the readers and make them care about
the writer. All the strategies that you learned in the
college essay writing chapters also apply to scholarship
essays.
While a scholarship application may give you the luxury
of writing on any subject–in which case you can easily
submit one of your college essays–most give you a much
more focused topic. For example, if you are applying to
an organization dedicated to promoting world peace they
may ask you to write about–what a coincidence–world
peace. If you are applying to a civic group, they may
ask you to write about your volunteer experience. In
these cases you need to demonstrate in your essay that
you are strong in that particular field or area or that
you are the most suitable candidate because you fulfill
the specific criteria of the award better than anyone
else.
This may mean that you will have to write a new essay.
However, since these essays are shorter and it is not
expected (like the college application essays) that you
spend weeks on them, they should be much easier to turn
out. Once you get going you can usually whip out an
essay pretty quickly, especially if you can cut and
paste one together from several previous essays.
The final thing you should keep in mind when writing is
to consider the kinds of people who will be reading your
essay. An essay about how you wished you were born in a
communist country because of your love for Marx may not
go over well for an American Legion scholarship–many of
whose members risked their lives fighting communists. An
essay about the evils perpetrated by big business may
not find much sympathy in a scholarship committee
composed of Rotarians. Keep in mind, at all times, who
your readers will be and make sure what you write will
not offend them.
Source: Supercollege.com
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