Earning one of the countless scholarships available for high school and college students requires proving you are a worthy candidate. In order to apply for a scholarship, students typically must write a statement that describes their accomplishments and goals. To stand out above the rest, emphasize your uniqueness, leadership experience, long-term goals and community service.
Highlight Your Uniqueness
A key characteristic to set you apart from other candidates is individuality. Purdue University's Online Writing Lab advises you to write about unique elements of your life, such as culture, traditions or hardships. Show how these distinct characteristics have shaped your values and aspirations. Avoid clichés such as "every cloud has a silver lining," "leaps and bounds" and "never a dull moment" – these only make you sound like everyone else. The University of Arizona suggests using "vivid personal experiences as supporting details."
Follow the Leader
Showing that you are a capable, confident and fair leader increases the success of your candidacy. Leadership implies independence, organization and courage – all positive attributes for a scholarship candidate. In your writing you can provide examples of circ*mstances in which you have held leadership roles, including clubs, organizations, movements, conflict resolution, academics and athletics. For example, you may have been the captain of the basketball team or you may have organized and led a protest at your school. Explain what you learned from your leadership experiences, and why you are a good leader.
Show That You're Goal-Oriented
State your short-term and long-term goals and explain what you have done and what you plan to do to realize them. Writing about past goals you have achieved helps to communicate a track record of successful achievements, motivation and dedication. If you failed or faced obstacles at any point in these past experiences, you can use them as an opportunity to show your persistence and resilience. You should use this as an opportunity to convey to the scholarship panel how their funds will directly help you to accomplish your objectives. For example, you could write that you will use part of the scholarship funds to attend a model United Nations conference which will help you get into graduate school in the field of international relations.
Service-Driven
A valuable quality that enriches your candidacy for a scholarship award is being socially conscious and community-driven. You can write about your volunteer work and other ways you have served your community, such as helping the elderly, doing beach clean-ups and providing free childcare. Emphasizing your service experiences highlights your compassion and commitment to others. You should show the scholarship committee if they invest in you they are investing in a person who contributes to the betterment of society.
FAQs
A strong work ethic and commitment to the tasks one takes on. Resilience in the face of adversity. Commitment to excellence through prominent achievement both inside and outside the classroom.
What makes a scholarship applicant stand out? ›
Many scholarships are based on an applicant's individuality. Putting your unique interests and perspectives on the page will go a long way toward creating a memorable essay. Share the experiences and activities that make YOU unique. You don't have to limit the experiences you share to only your senior year.
What skills do you need for a scholarship? ›
Scholarship Winners Demonstrate Leadership and Communication Skills. Scholarship committees are looking for people who can communicate effectively and who showcase their leadership potential. Leaders are not only confident in their own abilities, but they know how to work as part of a team as well.
What should I say when asked why I deserve this scholarship? ›
Use specific examples from your own life
These examples should be tailored to the scholarship awarding organization. Don't just write what happened, but rather, extrapolate a meaning from your examples and illustrate what they demonstrate about you and how you've learned from them.
What makes you unique sample answers for students? ›
I believe that my diverse background , passion for learning , and ability to adapt to new situations make me stand out . Additionally , I pride myself on being a creative problem solver and a strong communicator , which allows me to bring a unique approach to any task or project .
What makes a highly successful scholarship winner? ›
Successful students are well rounded. They participate in extracurricular and community activities. They write about these activities in college and scholarship essays in a descriptive manner. They try to benefit others as well as themselves with the extracurricular and community activities in which they are involved.
How to answer tell us about yourself in a scholarship interview? ›
The best approach to this question is to briefly pitch yourself as a scholarship candidate. You don't need to go over your whole life story, but you should succinctly discuss how your experiences uniquely qualify you for the scholarship.
What is expected from a scholar? ›
Real scholars question everything they hear or read.
They never take information at face value, and try to make sure the information that they're working with is true. If something seems off, it just might be! Even things that seem right may be wrong, so make sure you're working with the facts.
What makes you a good candidate for this program essay? ›
I would try to set yourself apart from others, bring up things you are really good at, what you could bring to this program to make it better, ex: your willingness to learn, your new ideas. Include any extracurriculars that concern the thing you are applying to.
Why do you deserve this award sample answers? ›
One of the reasons why I deserve this award is because of the passion, sacrifice and discipline shown throughout my lifespan as a student. My classmates always referred to me as the smart guy who demonstrated lots of respect towards school, did the assignment on time and would show affection for every class.
First, a scholarship can help you pay for school. It can allow you to focus on your studies and not worry about working a part-time job to pay for tuition. A scholarship can help you get into a better school. If you're looking to attend a prestigious university, a scholarship can give you the financial means.
How do you write a 500 word essay for a scholarship? ›
The format of a 500-word scholarship essay is similar to a shorter essay. Each paragraph is about 75-125 words, and it consists of 3-5 well-written sentences. If you are writing a story or personal anecdote, the formatting can be more like a novel than a news article.
