Avoid laundry lists.

Laundry lists are not essays. Essays are coherent papers with a beginning, a middle and an end. If you simply crank out seven paragraphs listing the activities you’ve been involved in, and for how long you’ve been involved in them, and the offices you held, etc. –- that’s not an essay. It’s just a big list in paragraph form. Not only is it not an essay, it doesn’t tell the committee very much about you, the person.

Rarely will a scholarship committee reward you for simply listing your activities in paragraph form, regardless of how extensive that list might be. Even if it’s an impressive list, there are thousands of students a week who send in lists just as long and impressive. A list alone isn’t worth much. You’ve got to use your essay to breathe life into the list and let the committee know who you are and why you deserve their money!


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