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Tips for your Scholarship Essay

Fri, 03/04/2016 Chai Fook Tien
Tips for your Scholarship Essay How often have you stuck with a TV series that did not catch your attention after the first episode? Unless you have nothing else better to spend your time on, it is highly unlikely for you to continue on after a lacklustre start.

That is what your scholarship essay is to the people who are assessing your application. Your ability to capture the attention of your reader can make a difference in your application success. Here are some tips to help you write a winning scholarship essay!

Have a Plan

The first step towards crafting an essay is actually knowing what you want to achieve. You will need to have one central point or theme that you want to convey, and keep it in mind throughout your entire writing process.

If you just write blindly without a goal in mind, you risk your essay coming across as unfocused and purposeless. So come up with an outline of what you want to convey to your reader – that way, you will be able to see the path you need to stay on and avoid veering off topic.

Do Not Beat Around the Bush

As Shakespeare once said, "Brevity is the soul of wit". The people assessing your application have countless others to look through, so they will not want to spend extra time trying to understand your essay. Therefore, it is important to make sure that your essay is clear, concise, and easy to read. Just get to the point quickly and cut out anything that adds nothing of value.

Distance Yourself

What looks good to you now may not look so good when you look at it the next morning. Sometimes you just need to take a break from writing and return to it on another day.

Once you are done with your first draft, close the file (and be sure to save!) and just pretend it does not exist for a few days. Come back once you feel like you have forgotten about it, and you will be able to review it with a fresh pair of eyes. You will discover all the mistakes and issues that you would not have noticed during your initial proofreading phase.

Tell Your Story

The most important thing you need to know about writing an essay is that it is about you. The underlying question to every scholarship application is "Why should the organisation invest in you?" - with special emphasis on the word "you".

Your essay should be a personal story about yourself, and how you believe you are a good fit for the scholarship provider. The only way to truly write a winning scholarship essay is to be honest and showcase your individuality. So dig deep within and write from the heart!

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