WORDS that can make you
MONEY
How to Write a Winning
Scholarship Essay
Presented by Brian Goedde, Washtenaw Community College
Ann Arbor District Library, March 4, 2014
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

What is in a Scholarship
Essay?
• Your personality
• What makes you unique
• What the award committee should know about you that is not reflected in other application materials
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

The Big Challenge
The big question you face in writing your essay:
Q: How do you set yourself apart from the applicants when you all want the same thing?
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

A: Draw from Stories from YOUR Life
• Inspiring and/or defining moments
• Obstacles or challenges overcome
• How you realized your uniqueness
Your LIFE EXPERIENCE
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Material you can draw from: Extracurricular
Activities
• Leadership positions, volunteer and paid positions, sports, community activities and involvement
Be sure to mention:
– What you did specifically
– What you gained, how it created who you are
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Material You Can Draw
From: Other Defining
Factors
• Interests, Enthusiasms, Responsibilities
• Travel and its influence
• Experiences that changed you
• Dreams, aspirations, motivations
• What captures your imagination or stirs your passions
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Your Motivations
Be sure to show how you are:
Persistent
Passionate
Committed
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Now let’s take the components of the essay and address each of them
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

What is in a Scholarship
Essay?
• Your personality
• What makes you unique
• What the award committee should know about you that is not reflected in other application materials
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

What is in a Scholarship
Essay?
• Your personality
• What makes you unique
• What the award committee should know about you that is not reflected in other application materials
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Imagine the award committee…
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Complete this sentence:
From the rest of my application, I appear to be someone who…
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Complete this sentence:
I also want them to know that I…
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

What is in a Scholarship
Essay?
• Your personality
• What makes you unique
• What the award committee should know about you that is not reflected in other application materials
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Complete this sentence:
I bet I am the only one applying who…
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

What is in a Scholarship
Essay?
• Your personality
• What makes you unique
• What the award committee should know about you that is not reflected in other application materials
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Make a List:
Five adjectives that your best friends would use to describe you
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Now for some nuts ’n’ bolts :
DOs and DON’Ts
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

DO:
Answer the question the scholarship
essay prompt asks
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

DO:
Make sure you fit the criteria of the
scholarship
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

DO:
Talk about how the scholarship will HELP you to:
• explore your interests
• cultivate your passions
• achieve your dreams
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

DO:
Address questionable aspects of your transcript or other materials
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Answer:
What questions might the award committee have?
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Answer:
What good came out of these “questionable aspects”
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

DO NOT:
Do not write too little or too much
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

DO NOT:
Do not be controversial
Do not use informal speech, like “txtng”— LOL!
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

DO NOT:
Do not doubt yourself
and
Do not bluff
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Re-imagine the award committee…
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

They are going to say,
“YES!” to your essay.
…why?
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

They are going to say,
“NO!” to the essay on the next slide
…why?
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Hi my name is Brian Goedde and this is my awesome personal statement I will write my first book next year I really, really, really need money!
I had some hardships in school. I hated my classes because my teachers didn’t like guys.
NEways, I don ’ t think I could really write a whole book but I love writing in my journal. Writing poetry is everything to me, but I want to earn a degree so I can get a better job. The Foundation
Scholarship will help me get this degree, a better job, and then I will write my best-seller, and then comes the movie deal.
Thank you for your time.
©2014 Washtenaw Community College

Finally, DO:
Organize
Proofread
Revise
Edit
Treat this as a very important piece of writing. It has, after all, the potential to turn into money.
©2014 Washtenaw Community College