Yes, this actually happens, and more than you’d expect. We suspect the writer begins bolding certain passages here and there, and then before long, decides to shoot the moon and bold the whole thing. Don’t do it. Boldfaced text here and there adds emphasis to certain words, setting them apart from the rest, but that’s …
Now that computers are omnipresent, this seems obvious; however, we continue to receive a steady stream of handwritten essays. There are exceptions to this rule: for instance, many of our applicants from Africa and other underdeveloped nations have very limited access to computers, and have no choice but to use paper and pen. But even …
Hey, we told you this section was dedicated to the painfully obvious. We wouldn’t write about this stuff if it didn’t actually happen. On occasion, we’ve had essays sent to us that were printed on the back side of personal letters, scratch paper, and other gently-used documents. In one case, the writer scrawled across the …
Don’t print your essay on a used piece of paper. Read More »
I debated including this one in the “painfully obvious” section, because hundreds of people have done it over the years, and it’s not as indubitably boneheaded as some of the other things in this section, like sending your bank account information or having your mom write your essay for you. But submitting your essay in …
Although the appearance of each font will differ, usually a standard size is 11 or 12 point (by way of comparison, this book is written in 12-point Trebuchet MS, and it’s written for easy reading, not essay-style formatting). If you go any bigger than 12, your essay starts looking like a billboard. The only reason …
Ink smudges easily; toner doesn’t. It’s that simple. And the more committee members there are putting their grubby little fingers all over it, the more likely an inkjet-printed essay is to get smudged up and ugly. If you print your essay with a laser printer, it’s got a better shot of staying in pristine condition …
If possible, use a laser printer instead of an inkjet printer. Read More »
OutlawStudent.com is replete with advantages big and small, but this is one of the best, dollar for dollar. After years of administering scholarship programs, I’d say that 95% of all paper essays we’ve received have been printed on “copy paper” – basically, the cheapest and lowest-grade paper you can stick in a printer. For most …
Bolding and underlining are good for the occasional emphasis of certain words, but using them too often is the hallmark of a bad essay. The problem is that boldfacing and italicizing are simply methods of making some text stand out among the other text; if you use them more than a couple of times, then …
We’re surprised at how often some students go to the trouble of laser-printing their essays on high-grade paper and mind every last detail so that the essay’s appearance is near-perfect — but then, at the last minute, ruin it all by scrawling something in pen at the top of the page (usually their name, address, …
Don’t scribble something on your typed essay in pen. Read More »
Scholarship judges know that even the most affordable ink-jet printers can print in every color of the rainbow. But you don’t have to prove it to them by printing your essay in magenta or aqua. Use black, and only black. Remember: Creativity belongs in the writing of your essay, not its appearance.
I’m going to guess that you’ve never thought of this either, because judging by the applications I’ve received in the past, fewer than 1 out of about 500 applicants do this. But you should. Here’s why: When thousands of multi-page essays stack up, it’s inevitable that some are going to get torn apart. Lots of …
