Going into detail about all the rules of punctuation would take forever, and frankly, writing a punctuation book would bore me straight into the grave. To be honest, the rules of punctuation are far less well-known that those of spelling and grammar. But if you run your essay by a few people, including an English …
Just like punctuation, this isn’t the place to list all of the rules of grammar. It’d fill a book five times longer than this one. But the more people to whom you show your essay before you send it – and ideally that list includes one English teacher or other grammar wizard – the less …
I’m borrowing here from our forthcoming sister site, givemearesume.com, because the advice applies to the scholarship application process just as much as the job-hunting process. When describing the things you’ve done, use as many strong action verbs as you can. Don’t say that you just “went” somewhere, “signed up” for something or “participated” in an …
Your introduction should be completed in a paragraph, maybe two. Not four or five. Long-form, scene-setting openings are for novels, not scholarship essays. Get to the point quickly and begin to develop the “meat” of your essay right away.
Redundant language is one particular way of writing badly that wastes your writing space and annoys the committee at the same time. There are a lot of commonly used redundant phrases, but some of the most common are “actively involved” (if you’re not active, you’re not involved) “past history” (all history is in the past) …
In a nutshell, this simply means making sure your paragraphs flow well from one to the next. There’s no magic formula for doing it, but you’ll know you’ve done it when the last sentence of one paragraph seems to lead nicely into the first sentence of the next paragraph. Without good transitions, an essay is …
It’s disappointing when an applicant is rolling along with an excellent essay, and then all of a sudden, bang! It’s over. Or at least, we think it’s over. We don’t see a next page, so we assume it must be over. The reason for our confusion is the writer’s lack of a closing. A closing …
That’s cheating. It’s also the equivalent of starting your introduction with “I deserve this award because” – it’s not creative at all. Your closing should speak for itself, without a need to say “in closing” or “listen up, committee, here comes my closing.” It’s a challenge, but you can do it.
Your name should be on the page elsewhere, eliminating any need for you to waste the all-important first sentence of your essay by simply stating your name.
You may know what FBLA or JA or AYBWA is, but that doesn’t mean your committee members do. There are hundreds of student organizations out there these days, and not even the most up-to-date scholarship judge is going to know all of them. Spell out the words of the acronym the first time you refer …
Don’t use acronyms without explaining them first. Read More »
Students who actually do go the extra mile and show their essay to a teacher before sending it often go straight to their favorite teacher, or at least one who likes them a lot. That’s natural, but if that person is your favorite teacher, then he/she probably likes you, too, and may be likely to …
Show your essay to a teacher who doesn’t like you – or at least doesn’t know you. Read More »
Students rarely do this – for now, it seems to be mostly the domain of the high-level business executive who doesn’t like typing. But the technology is beginning to get more sophisticated, and we know that more of you will be using it in the future. Already, we’ll occasionally get an essay that a student …
Every generation uses a great deal of slang, but it’s usually not the same slang the previous generation used. And it’s most likely that the committee evaluating your essay isn’t from your generation. One recent applicant mused about his football career and “leaping for a pick and taking it straight to the house.” If you …
Don’t write about how you give 110 percent, keep your nose to the grindstone, or how a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. In terms of creativity, this is about as bad as it gets – these phrases have been used so many times by so many people that they had …
Sometime long ago, someone started a speech with, “The Famous So-And-So once said, ‘blah blah blah.’” And so began a very, very long love affair with starting speeches and essays with quotes from other people. I can’t completely condemn the practice, because sometimes people do it well. But it’s only well-done if the quote you’re …
Think carefully before using a quotation to start your essay. Read More »
The most overused quote in the history of the student essay is probably MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Second is probably FDR’s “fear itself” quote. Using those, or other ones that have been used thousands of times before you, probably won’t serve you well. Not only is it unoriginal, but it’s a tough act …
If you’re going to use a quote, consider a lesser-known, original quote. Read More »
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.
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 …
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.
