How to write a winning scholarship essay - Gen Tanabe, Kelly Tanabe 2018
Go beyond the superficial
Essay writing workshop
Knight Ridder Minority Scholars Program
To apply for the Knight Ridder Minority Scholars Program, students must write a personal statement. Many turn to the Knight Ridder website to get background information on the company. For some, this is a mistake.
“You realize they went to the site and cut and pasted material from it into their essay. But it’s clear that they have little idea what these facts mean,” says Jacqui Love Marshall, vice president of human resources, diversity and development.
The students cite statistics about the number of newspapers owned by Knight Ridder or the number of Pulitzer Prizes the media company has won. She adds, “It’s almost the difference between writing a book report by having read the CliffsNotes versus having read the book.”
What’s more important than regurgitating statistics found on an awarding organization’s website is finding a personal connection to the organization.
“When you’re looking at dozens of these essays in the middle of the night you begin to differentiate between someone who put their heart and soul in it, that there is a level of commitment there versus essays that have all the requisite information but not a personal involvement,” says Marshall.
The Knight Ridder Minority Scholars Program is no longer offered, but this profile gives insight into the importance of learning about the sponsoring organization.
Remember to focus on originality. While it is not always possible to come up with an original topic—especially if the question is the same for everyone—make sure that the essay contains originality or that the topic is approached in a novel way.
If you are writing about involvement in a sport, don’t use common topics like how sports taught you the value of teamwork or how you scored the winning touchdown, goal or point.
These are repetitive topics. Using them risks having your essay lost among the hundreds of others that sound similar to yours. It’s perfectly fine to write about common topics like sports, but think of a different angle. Maybe you had a unique experience or can focus on an aspect of athletics that is often overlooked.
be specific. A common mistake in essay writing is to use general statements instead of specific ones. Don’t write, “Education is the key to success.” Instead, give the judges a slice of your life. Show them how education has impacted your life in a single experience or realization.
If you are writing about your desire to become an astronaut you might explain how this began when your father bought you a model rocket for Christmas. Focusing on a specific example of your life will help readers relate to your experiences and ensure that your essay is memorable and (as a bonus) original.
share something personal. While some questions ask about a national or international problem or event, the scholarship committee still would like to know something about you. After all, they are considering giving their money to you.
Some of the better essays written about serious issues like drug abuse or nuclear proliferation have also found ways to incorporate information about the author. One student who wrote about the U.S. arms policy spoke about his personal involvement in a club at school that hosts an annual peace conference. He was able to tie in the large international policy issues with the more personal aspect of what he was doing on an individual level. It was a great policy essay, which also revealed something about the author.
Have a Thesis. It sounds obvious, but many students’ essays don’t have a clear point. Whether you are describing the influence of your father or the effect of World War II on race relations, you must have a central idea to communicate to the reader.
To see if your essay has a central thesis, try this simple exercise.
Ask yourself, “What is the point of my essay in a single sentence?” Here are some answers that would satisfy the question for essays on independence and drug addition, respectively: “Growing up in the country taught me to be independent.”
“Treatment of addiction is the only way to win the war on drugs.”
If you cannot condense the point of your essay into a single sentence, then the main point may not be clear enough. Or worse, your essay may not have a thesis.
expand on your accomplishments. Winning a scholarship is about impressing the judges and showing them why you are the best candidate for a monetary award. Your accomplishments, activities, talents and awards all help to prove that you are the best fit. Since you will probably list your activities on the application form, use the essay to expand on one or two of the most important ones.
However, don’t just parrot back what is on the application.
Use the opportunity to focus on a specific accomplishment, putting it into the proper context. Share details. Listing on the application that you were a stage manager for a play does not explain that you also had to design and build all of the sets in a week. The essay allows you to expand on an achievement to demonstrate its significance.
beware of meaningless facts. Some students approach the essay like a research paper, cramming it with statistics and survey results. You might think that the facts and figures “wow”
judges. While this does display research skills, facts and figures alone hardly make a good essay. In particular, if you are trying to impress a corporation with your knowledge of their sales and global markets, don’t just repeat facts from their website.
You may use facts about the sponsoring organization, but be sure that they are essential to the essay. Don’t repeat statistics without a reason, and don’t think that the more you have the better.