I’ve written common app/college specific essays before, but they all had prompts that allowed me to tell a story. The scholarship I’m applying to is the first one I’ve actually qualified for, and I am stumped. The prompt vaguely asked for an essay that would include my community service and family responsibilities. Are there recommended ways to write essays like this? Tips to avoid simply listing everything at once? Am I allowed to write a story or metaphor that ties the things I did together, or do they simply just want the things I’ve done in an orderly essay. I don’t know where to get started…
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
If you give us the exact prompt and the scholarship name, I could give you better advice. My DD has written a ton of scholarship essays and has been successful at it, so more info from you would help me answer your question.
@itsv
It’s a local scholarship called Dillard’s Samaritan Scholarship and says-
“The candidate’s essay must include in one page or less the following:
A. community involvement
B. responsibilities that support and promote family unity”
@agentaquastar -Ok, so in that in kind of essay, my DD would start with telling them in the first paragraph why she wants to study what she wants to study and then tie that interest into her community service, why she does that community service and what skills she is learning in her community involvement that she hopes to carry into college and then pick a college organization that ties it all together. With respect to part B, pick one to three responsibilities you have and then tie them into specific examples of how they promote family unity in your family or community. My DD has found that scholarship committees really like specific examples and not vague generalities.
Do an outline and on your outline list your activities that would fit to answer the prompt. From there start writing and do a few drafts and be sure to say your essay out loud. It will help you in revising it because the toughest thing about scholarship essays is fitting what they ask in the space they allow (e.g. Give us your life story in 250 words or less). You may not be able to talk about all your community service so pick just the ones that mean the most to you (between 1-3 items).
A couple of other helpful points when doing scholarship applications: 1. Draft a resume no more than 3 pages that lists all your honors, activities, volunteer work, employment and any special talents or internships. If the scholarship asks for a resume or ask you to submit “anything in addition to this application”, then include this resume. My DD’s resume for scholarships is more detailed than the one she used for college applications or internships. 2. Do a really good essay for this application and create a google docs file for it. My DD has applied to multiple private scholarships while in college and it hasn’t really taken much time because she basically reuses her first two essays she did in high school and just tweaks them to fit the prompt. It really helps to save time and since the essays are focused, it makes her application stronger.
I have sent you a dm so be sure to look for it.
Good luck.
Here is a link to an article I usually give my students who are working on scholarship essays. I think it is good advice.