5 Ways to Make Your Scholarship Essay Stand Out

Experts advise that writing a scholarship essay is not like writing an essay for a high school class. Students seeking scholarships, a type of non-repayable financial aid, must frequently compete with hundreds of other applications and, in some cases, for a very limited number of grants.

Qualifying for scholarships would be a breeze if it weren’t for the essay, which frequently pushes us to focus on ourselves, who we are as individuals, and what we’ve attained in our careers. While it can be the most difficult aspect of the application, it is also the most significant.

The scholarship essay is your great opportunity to build a case for yourself and show the jury why you deserve to win. It allows you to express your individuality and what you are most passionate about in your life.

Your scholarship application might inform, but your scholarship essay can inspire. Scholarship committees read thousands of articles, so standing out from the crowd is important.
Fortunately, you don’t need excellent writing skills to pull it off. You can easily take your scholarship application to the next level if you keep a few scholarship essay tips and ideas in mind.

Let’s figure out in this article what are 5 ways to make your scholarship essays stand out among others.

5 Ways to Make Your Scholarship Essay Stand Out

As a student, writing a scholarship essay might be stressful. Instead of gaining a grade, you are writing to collect money to possibly help pay for your higher education. When starting down this path, it is critical to maintain calm and compose your essay well before the deadline.

Because too many scholarship applications demand an essay, you’ll want to know how to create one that satisfies the scholarship board and that you’re the suitable one to receive the available funds!

If done correctly, your scholarship essay can serve as a window into your life. These essays, just like your personal statement for college admission, should provide readers with a sense of you as a diverse person, more than what your GPA and test scores can indicate.

1. Make it personal and specific

According to a specialist, the secret to a great scholarship essay is to make it genuine and add impactful information.
An essay that feels real and provides better insights into who the candidate is will stand out in a field of academic writing that may be uninteresting for readers who review thousands of applications.

Include your name and the scholarship for which you are submitting your essay. Some companies will provide many chances, so identifying which scholarship you are considering is critical.

Then, inform the scholarship committee briefly about your educational goals and the career you intend to follow. It helps the committee get a sense of who you are.

2. Tell Your Story

A great essay attracts the reader from the first sentence. Experts advise considering the format of the essay and how it can fascinate the reader. The story should be authentic and relevant to the student’s life.

Many scholarships are awarded based on an applicant’s uniqueness. Putting your hobbies and viewpoints on paper will help you write a great essay. Share the events and activities that distinguish YOU.

Credentials are important, but a touch of personality can elevate your essay to the next level. Using humor or sharing a fun yet relevant experience will help your essay shine. Nobody wants to look disengaged, yet a little personality will help you in the final round.

Write as if you were speaking to an expert in a formal setting, not your best friend on WhatsApp.

Based on the topic, you might be able to get away with starting with a hilarious remark to attract people’s attention. However, avoid sarcasm, emoticons, text abbreviations like LOL, and slang.

3. Consider Your Audience

Consider the organization that is funding the scholarship before you start writing. What are the company’s goals? What traits do the members have in widespread? The audience you are writing to should influence your word choice, tone, and theme.

Though you choose an unsuitable style for your audience, you may be disqualified unfairly—even if you are an excellent choice for the scholarship itself.

Knowing what the scholarship committee is asking for is the best way to accomplish it for them. Identify who their ideal prospect is and where you fit within the picture. However, be wary of exceeding their expectations.

4. Consider reusing a previously written essay

Many scholarship submissions share the same essay topic. Some scholarship providers even employ Common App prompts or allow you to want your case. It suggests you can copy and paste your writing into several applications.

Scholarships may also employ similar essay themes or provide queries raised in the same manner. You might be able to improve an existing essay rather than draft a completely new one.

When you rewrite the other’s content, you can add already existing data that sometimes can cause a big problem. In such cases, paraphrasing tools will help you out. Tools like QuillBot and paraphraser.io are well-known tools available online.

Don’t give up your voice or uniqueness to fit the bill. Rather, consider your talents and how you might leverage them to be the ideal candidate. Although solving an obstacle generally results in personal growth, if you have an essay for one of these topics, you can usually modify it to work for the other prompt.

5. Last but not least, proofread

As much as we’d like to pretend we’re perfect, we all make mistakes, so it’s critical to proofread your essay. Reading your article aloud is an excellent method to identify errors.
. We all know how important it is to check our writings through spell and grammar checks. Even still, grammatically incorrect papers are still being submitted. This point should be emphasized until that happens.

Otherwise, outstanding applications may be disqualified due to spelling errors. Even if you have spent a significant amount of work on your essay, it may appear unprofessional if it is grammatically wrong. You have a lot to contribute. Ensure that your piece stands out for its quality rather than its flaws.

Have someone else do it for you after you’ve proofread your writing several times. Requesting assistance from a family member or friend can provide you with a new angle on your work, and an additional set of eyes can detect a mistake that you overlooked.

Conclusion

Scholarships can contribute greatly to your educational expenses. These general guidelines will get you started. If the scholarship you’re looking for has specific questions you must answer, pay attention to them.

You can often adjust the methods above to the questions given for a scholarship essay. Finally, have someone else read your essay before submitting it, and take a deep breath. You can’t go wrong if you write your story one sentence at a time.