Scholarship Essay -- Realistic versus Interesting

Paying for College
1

Hey.

I’m an incoming freshmen, and I am working on a scholarship prompt which, after working on for a while, doesn’t seem to make much sense. The prompt is:

1,000 to 1,500 word essay detailing how an education from your college or university will help you achieve your goals. What drew you to this particular college or university? Where do you see yourself in the next five years? How do you plan to get there?

In my case, I’m majoring civil engineering, and I would ultimately like to do something research-oriented, perhaps related to fluid mechanics and/or coastal engineering. I’m enrolled in Stony Brook, and there seems to be plenty of research opportunities.

The problem is though, in 5 years from now, with only a Bachelor’s degree, I’m most likely going to have some job in some field related to engineering – I don’t know what, and it probably won’t be something worthy to write an essay about. It would be a job to gain experience so that, after a Master’s, I could do something I would be really passionate about.

The other option is to write about a possible dream job, like say doing cutting-edge research in Brookhaven National Lab. Of course that’s very unrealistic both because it’s extremely precise and probably won’t happen in 5 years.

So the question is this: should I align myself with the prompt is asking (how I will achieve my goals, how Stony will help me get there) or show that I’m actually realistic about my future?

2

What drew you to Civil Engineering? Is there a problem you would like to solve?
For example, with Coastal Engineering? Like do you see yourself on the dunes watching Superstorm Mario hitting Long Island but not washing away the beach because of the engineering you have done? Or modeling how storms impact rivers?

Or you are in a Master’s program doing research on in conjunction with ookhavien?

I think being interesting is the way to go…be more specific and paint a picture of where you want to go, not just that you are an entry level civil engineer working on parking lot flooding.

You should still be able to show how Stony Brook would get you there…“having interacted with Professor Khosronejad in my fluid dynamics class, I started talking with him about summer research possibilities on river modeling…”

3

I think you are being too literal on the ‘5 years’ thing. Pick a specific thing you like about Stony Brook - a program, a lab, a prof - and how you’d like to use that 4 year degree to go into research, work on a ship, work on coastal erosion or building something. They do not expect you to know exactly what you’ll be doing in 5 years.

If the scholarship is for students at all levels, from hs to grad school, they will expect a different type of answer from a first year than a grad student.