Essay Tips for Scholarships and Admissions

Scholarship essays, or admission essays, essays are an art and a skill. When done well, the acceptances roll in, but when done poorly or without understanding, it can be an exercise in futility. Here are some of the guides and necessary essentials for writing an essay that gets results.

In one sentence, this is it: you must have a dream, then you must tailor that dream and tell a story with it.

You must have a dream

This is a non-negotiable. What do you plan on doing when you receive your degree? This is not the time to talk about the books you’ll buy with $1000, but it is the time to tell the reader that you plan on working at a veterinary hospital when you graduate. Specifically, the one in your hometown, where you hope to bring a new standard of care to the clinic.

See if you can write a one sentence, or 20 word max, phrase detailing what your dream is.

Tailor it down

Most essays have a word limit, you won’t be able to explain the intricacies of your elaborate dreams within the limit so don’t try.

Keep the details light. Don’t tell them that you hope to work with a particular breed, a particular clinic, or even the specifics of what you plan to do. Let the reader fill in the blanks.

For example – I hope to work with the local veterinary clinic, “Dogs & Cats”, in my hometown, [name], where I will serve the underserved posseum community that is flourishing in the area and treat rabies.

Now, I did exaggerate but instead of coming along with my dream, you, the reader likely focused on the inconsistencies and foolishness of this dream instead of seeing it as aspirational. Keep the details light and it might sound instead something like this:

When I graduate from [College] with a B.S. in Veterinary science, I hope to return to my hometown where I can bring a new standard of care to the clinics where I hope to bring joy and longevity to every pet family.

Is it trite, yes. But is it much more effective, also yes. This is a dream that is suitable for an essay. However, use common sense, if you’re too vague or aspirational, the readers will think you don’t know what you’re talking about or they’ll get confused, neither of which is good. You must be clear, concise, and aspirational.

Storytelling

I once had a reader recognize me from a scholarship essay that they’d read earlier that year just by hearing my first name. They told me that they were a reader and was able to state my full name to back to me. They told me that they remembered my essays because I could tell my story well. They said that I had a clear vision that the reader could come alongside and dream about with me. That was it. I never used flowery language or abstract ideas. I told them what I planned to do and how I intended to do it and I was clear. Readers are people too, with dreams of their own, and they want to dream with you.

Tips and Considerations

• Email your teachers asking for some suggested scholarships in your field or major. They’re much more likely to be connected to working individuals and know of more obscure scholarships.
• Email your teacher asking if they know of any local or major dependent societies. They often have scholarships which can be amazingly generous. They’ll almost all require a membership but have student discounts. It will be well worth any money spent within reason. I spent $12 on a membership and was able to get over $3000 in scholarships, and I was able to do the same with multiple societies. If you receive a scholarship, it is your duty, within reason, to show up in person, if they’re having in-person events, to pick it up.
• Apply to the obscurer or harder scholarships. Does it require an actual envelope, does it require a hand written note, or does it require something in triplicate? Most students will be turned off by the extra requirements and your field of competition will shrink.
• Write your essays on a word document, never in the application. Always write it on a saved document and copy it over. Once you’ve got a solid essay written, you’ll just need to tailor it to the prompt. Be truthful. For example, one prompt might ask what you’ll do after college and another might ask what you’ll do during. Answer them both truthfully, but a lot of the filler words can be repeated.
• Do a read through before submission. I mean it. Any errors show up as glaring no’s to readers who have read through a bunch of essays already. If there’s even one error that’s aggravating enough they’ll move onto the next submission.
• Be truthful. If you can’t think of anything to write about, take a day to think about it instead of trying to force it. Talk to friends and family and see if you can approach it from a different angle. For example, one time I had an essay asking for an instance when I had shown leadership qualities, and I was drawing a blank. So I talked to my sister about it and instead I talked about when I had secured my club a discount on pizzas every week. I don’t think I mentioned the word leadership once.
• Your dreams will change. I’ve applied to scholarships throughout my years at college and I noticed that my aspirations and dreams changed somewhat each year or the focus of my dreams would shift. The core of my dream remained the same, but the frosting would change color. Each year I was truthful to that version of my dream.
• Set aside a morning, or day, to batch apply. A lot of scholarships have similar timelines and similar requests. Don’t try to apply to a scholarship a day, unless you’re really disciplined, because there will be days when you are busy. The approach I used was to set aside a morning in a quiet place where I was alone and I would be undisturbed. I would set my music to play a downloaded 10 hour track of something for background noise, without any ads, and I would have one coffee or water so I wouldn’t have to stop and use the restroom often. I’d open my computer and get onto all the appropriate sites (about 2-4) and quickly skim through the scholarships available and open in a new tab any scholarships I thought were relevant based on the title. Once all the scholarships were selected I’d batch save them all in a bookmark folder for easy revisiting, marked with the day and open a word document. I’d start with the first tab, read the conditions and first prompt, and write out an entire answer to it. Once I’d finished the first application, I’d close it and move right onto the second and so on. I’d tweak my answers each time, before moving on and a few hours later I’d be done for the semester.
• If you are applying to essays which are not relevant to you, don’t be surprised if you don’t get a favorable response. You must read the conditions and make sure you qualify before putting in the time to apply. Also, people in the industry can tell if you’re an engineer applying to an art scholarship so don’t try it and end up with your name blacklisted from all future scholarships.
• Final Tip. This is going to be harsh but you need thick skin. You don’t know who is going to be reading your essay so is you can get someone to proofread your essays ahead of time, just one version, would be ideal.nThere are two likely scenarios. One, they suggest replacing a few words or changing a few sentences, but all their suggestions are exact and specific. This means your essay is good. The second scenario occurs when they seem to be at a loss for words, they read it and don’t edit (within reason), or a close family member asks if you can start over. This means your essay is bad. You need to listen to your family member, maybe go to the writing center, and start over. I have read my fair share of essays with no through point, with too many details, or just a badly written essay and every time I would suggested they start over and they didn’t and they also didn’t receive any scholarships. Don’t be like them, hear what people might be too awkward to put into words and if they suggest starting over, do it.

Scholarship and admission essays require a lot of skill, effort, and time with no guaranteed return. They should not be underestimated. You can pay for your whole education, or get into your dream school, with them or you can apply each time and get nothing. It’s like a lottery in a lot of ways with bad odds, however, there are some tried and true methods to improving your odds immensely. Good luck and try to get a head start on them.