Want to pursue your higher education studies at an international university on scholarship? If yes, then you must know that writing an effective scholarship essay is your way forward. Applying for a scholarship would be a piece of cake if there was no essay. The reason is that it is the essay which makes the difference and makes your application stand out from the pool of thousands of students. While this essay is the most difficult part of a scholarship application, it is the most important too.
Many students do not get a scholarship because they have crafted a poor scholarship essay. So, as a student, you must know the tips to write a scholarship-winning essay that can stand out. Considering this, in today’s post, I am going to unpack the top tips you should follow to write this type of essay. These tips are the key to your dreams, so read till the end.
What is a scholarship essay?
It is an essay that you submit along with your scholarship application to a university or college for admission on scholarship. This essay highlights why you are a potential candidate for the particular scholarship and how you can contribute to the academic field which you are pursuing. In simple words, it convinces the admission committee members that you are the right with the required skills to award a scholarship.
Best tips to write a winning scholarship essay
Scholarships and grants are free financial aids available to students to pursue higher studies. The best thing about them is that you do not have to pay those funds back to the funding agency. However, earning this huge achievement requires dedication and an effective and convincing scholarship essay, which highlights your potential. Hence, a brief description of the best tips to write this essay and win the award is as follows:
1. Start early
The sooner you start writing this essay, the better essay you will be able to produce. The advantage of starting early is that at the end of the rope, you get an organised and effective essay. In addition to this, when you start early, you get to know about different things about the scholarship which were hidden before. After learning those things, you can incorporate them into your essay and make it more convincing.
2. Learn about the funding agency
This is the most important thing to do. Many scholarships are awarded by private organisations or government agencies. As a student, you must have an idea of the goals and objectives of your target sponsoring agency. Spare a few minutes and review the “about us” page of their website and know what they do. What is their mission? Why are they funding you? Once learned, try to include all these things in your scholarship essay. This makes your essay more convincing and enhances your chances of winning the scholarship.
3. Read the directions of the essay
Tip no.3 is about reading the directions of the essay. These directions are basically the requirements of your essay, which you have to fulfil no matter what happens. The directions of a scholarship are the questions that you need to answer. These also include the word count limit that you must maintain while writing your essay. Following are the questions that funding agencies typically ask you to answer in your essay:
- What is your educational background?
- Why have you chosen this program?
- How this program relates to your previous studies?
- Where do you see yourself after 5 years of this award (if awarded)?
So, these are the questions that you need to answer comprehensively. If you feel that you do not have satisfactory answers to these questions, do not waste time and hire one of the best available essay writing services.
4. Start with an effective hook
The Hook sentence is the most important one in a scholarship essay. It binds the selection committee members with your essay and compels them to read it till the end. In order to create a great hook, think about the things that hooked you previously. It could be a quote from a book or a line from a renowned novel. An unexpected question from the members of the selection committee can also be a good hook.
5. Stay positive and highlight positive things
In your essay, do not dare to talk about the negative aspects of your academic life. This leaves a bad impression and may result in the cancellation of your seat. Always be positive and highlight the most positive things that happened in your scholarly journey. Moreover, every reader of your essay judges it differently. So, you cannot actually know what will happen to your application. So, always be positive.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the above discussed are the 5 top and the best tips you should follow to write an award-winning scholarship essay. If you follow these tips, I assure you that you are going to win the award and continue your studies at your desired institution.
