what to write about

Don’t trash-talk the scholarship committee.

March 26, 2008

Back when our scholarship committee was switching our scholarship over from postal mail to e-mail, I made a joke on one of our websites about the U.S. Postal Service. I know, I know – you’re thinking, “That’s impossible! How could you possibly find something negative to say about the U.S. Postal Service?” I don’t remember [...]

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Don’t write or ask the committee or granting institution for advice on how to write your essay.

March 26, 2008

About once a day, someone calls our office asking about our scholarships. “What do you mean by this question?” they ask. “How should I write this? What are you looking for me to say here?” The answer is always the same: Write it however you like. The company or institution giving the scholarship is going [...]

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When you’re talking about your future plans, be specific, and speak in terms of how they’ll benefit others.

March 26, 2008

A rule of thumb in scholarship essays (and life, if you will) is that it’s better to be specific than to be general or vague. Society is accustomed to using vague labels for people and what they do: student, businessman, housewife, factory worker, etc. These labels are convenient for the normal conversations that fill our [...]

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Don’t knock your peers.

March 26, 2008

When they’re trying to show the scholarship judges what hardworking and focused young people they are, a lot of our applicants end up disparaging their peers in order to make the point. We get a lot of statements like: “While the other kids in my class were out(fill in the blank here: partying, horsing around, [...]

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Avoid references to perfection.

March 26, 2008

Some of the most tired, overused phrases we see in essays is that of “striving for perfection,” “perfecting my skills,” etc. Leave perfection alone – you’re never going to achieve it. No one ever does. And even if they did, no one would recognize it. This may seem like nitpicking, but there’s already too much [...]

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Stay on topic.

March 26, 2008

In other words, exclude any unnecessary information that has nothing to do with your essay. Everything in your essay should be relevant to the topic at hand. We receive bad examples of staying on topic every day. They’re the essays that start like this: “My name is Jane Doe, and I was born in Hershey, [...]

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Common high school activities: Don’t talk solely about participation in them.

March 26, 2008

This is an important tip that you’ll rarely hear, but it’s true. Common, high school activities are not going to set your essay apart from the competition. The Internet has opened scholarship opportunities up to thousands of applicants who wouldn’t have been there 10 years ago. And that means the less unique your essay is, [...]

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Show some industry.

March 26, 2008

Talk about what you’ve actually done – not just the groups you’ve joined. Sure, you were in your church’s youth group. And you can put “Four years in my church youth group” in your application if you want. But if you do that, you’re not telling me much. Since I haven’t been to your church, [...]

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Don’t be preachy.

March 26, 2008

Scholarship essays are certainly about self-expression, and lots of applications ask open-ended questions about how you, the forward-thinking leader of tomorrow, might solve today’s problems. That gives you full license to come out with your ideas on how to change things, and in so doing, you’ll probably find yourself pointing out the flaws of society [...]

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Be careful with sensitive political issues.

March 26, 2008

We almost didn’t include this tip, but it’s one that every applicant needs to hear. Unless the scholarship you’re applying for is sponsored by an explicitly liberal or conservative organization, you have almost no chance of winning if you write in a partisan way about controversial issues like abortion, affirmative action, the Iraq war or [...]

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Be careful talking about religion.

March 26, 2008

See above. Same reason, times 10. I’m not going to repeat everything I said above, but one thing I will: I didn’t write this book to tell you how to say what’s on your mind; I wrote it to tell you how to win. It’s fine to have religious convictions and no one can ever [...]

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Don’t dwell on your GPA – it’s not a point of distinction.

March 26, 2008

Nothing angers the high-ranking students (and their teachers) more than this one, but Uncle Josh has some bad news for you, and you’re not going to like it. However, you do need to accept it because it’s true, and I know it’s true because I write the scholarship checks and your teachers don’t. Are you [...]

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Don’t forget your family.

March 26, 2008

I know that we miss some incredible stories every day when our applicants write scholarship essays and mention absolutely nothing about the role they play in their own families. Let us say this clearly: your role in your own family is not as important as your school activities – it’s more important. Hey, let’s be [...]

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Don’t forget what you do out of school.

March 26, 2008

This is closely related to the above item about family responsibilities, but a little different. Here, we don’t mean taking care of your family or working to do so; rather, we’re talking about outside interests of any kind. Maybe you’re interested in cars or nature or the environment or politics — something they don’t have [...]

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Don’t beg.

March 26, 2008

A popular phrase around my house, and maybe yours too, was: “It never hurts to ask!” The phrase would be uttered concerning a great variety of things, but to keep it simple here, it was usually when I wanted something that someone else had and was too timid to inquire about whether I could have [...]

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Don’t be a complete downer.

March 26, 2008

I debated including this one because, to be honest, a lot of people have had a lot of rotten things happen to them in their lives. More bad than good, unfortunately. And sometimes those things are worth explaining to the scholarship committee if it means you can show them how you’ve overcome these obstacles on [...]

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Don’t quote pop-culture icons.

March 26, 2008

We’ll talk more about quotes as this book goes on, but here’s a good start. If you’re going to use a quote, do yourself a favor by not extracting your quote from the pages of Us magazine. No Madonna, no Tupac, no Michael J. Fox, no Arnold (even though he’s the governor now). It’s not [...]

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Don’t start your essay with “I deserve this award because…”

March 26, 2008

Even if the essay question is “Why do you deserve this award?” it’s still a weak introduction. Take your time and introduce yourself and your ideas to the committee in a creative way.

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Don’t draw attention to your negatives; instead, don’t refer to them at all.

March 26, 2008

Have I mentioned that scholarship applications are the place to put your Best Foot Forward? Sure I have. They are the pre-college equivalent of a job interview. Usually there’s one scholarship available and lots of applicants, just as there’s one job opening and lots of applicants. Your job is to convince the people doing the [...]

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Don’t assume the committee knows your subject of interest as well as you do.

March 26, 2008

You may have deep, intricate knowledge of a particular subject. Maybe it’s current environmental issues, maybe it’s international news, or maybe it’s baseball. You may be tempted to demonstrate your specialized knowledge in a scholarship essay, but be careful. The committee may be old and wise, but they still may not have anywhere near the [...]

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If you mention a hardship, be sure it’s really a hardship.

March 26, 2008

If your parents were killed when you were a baby and you were raised in an orphanage, that’s a unique hardship. If you were raised in suburbia and had to share your 2,600 square-foot house with three raucous brothers, that’s not. If you had to get a job at age 8 to help your family [...]

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If you mention a hardship, say you don’t want special treatment (even if you really do).

March 26, 2008

Those who read scholarship essays and choose winners know this: there’s a fine line between a story of a person overcoming a hardship and a “sob story.” We think one of the differentiating factors is when the writer, either directly or indirectly, suggests that they do not want special treatment or consideration because of their [...]

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Use creativity in your writing, but not your format.

March 26, 2008

There are people out there, lots of them, in all fields and walks of life, who will give you a great many variations on this theme: If you want to stand out in life (or break through certain barriers, or win the big contest, or get that big job, etc.), then you’ve got to be [...]

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Have you done something unique? Bring it up!

March 26, 2008

If there’s one theme of this book, it’s that scholarship applications these days are beset with sameness. By and large, there are tons of kids who sound exactly the same writing the same old stuff and claiming the same achievements. That’s a little depressing, so let’s turn it around: Uniqueness wins scholarships. Are you an [...]

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Discuss your social organizations in terms of the service work they do.

March 26, 2008

This is more applicable to college students than high school students, since there’s really no high school equivalent of the Greek system of social fraternities and sororities. Simply put, social fraternities and sororities are primarily social organizations, but they also do a lot of charity work. Socializing is fine and dandy — everyone needs to [...]

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Committees like stories of overcoming adversity.

March 26, 2008

Scholarship essays are as unique and varied as the people who write them, and the winning essays even more so. But if there’s a common theme that judges seem to like (and seem likely to throw money at), it’s the theme of someone overcoming adversity in order to succeed in the end. Doesn’t everyone like [...]

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Committees like it when you’ve helped people.

March 26, 2008

Maybe it’s just human nature, but it does seem like most scholarships end up going to those students who, whether through school, a job, or work outside the classroom, spend time helping other people. Sure, it’s still possible to win plenty of scholarships if you don’t volunteer, but just take a look at the scholarship [...]

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Committees like passion about something, anything.

March 26, 2008

If you’re not passionate about your subject, it’ll show through in your writing. Passion brings the best writing out of you and those competing with you for the scholarship money. Therefore, if you have the choice, it’s best to write about something that you feel strongly about. Your most compelling writing will follow. There are [...]

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Avoid emphasizing commodity accomplishments.

March 26, 2008

We call things like honor roll and, for college students, the dean’s list, “commodity accomplishments.” We don’t mean to discourage them – we were on them when we were students – but they’re commodities. They’re a dime a dozen. As mentioned earlier in our previous statements about GPA, nearly everyone who applies for our scholarships [...]

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What to write about? Ask friends what’s impressive about you.

March 26, 2008

How do you know what to write about on a scholarship essay? If you’re the shy type who doesn’t know how to blow your own horn, then you’re going to find the scholarship application process painful, and especially so when you find out you didn’t win any scholarships because you were too timid to tell [...]

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