5 Ways to Make Your Scholarship Essay Stand Out

Get Personal and Be Specific

The key to a successful scholarship essay is making it personal, experts say, and including impactful details. An essay that feels genuine and offers insights into who the applicant is on a deeper level will stand out in a crowd of academic essays that may be boring for readers who review hundreds and sometimes thousands of applications.

Katelen Kellogg, The Pride Foundation's communications and outreach manager who helps read essays from applicants each year, says the scholarship essays that stand out to her include "details that paint the picture of their lives." She says the most successful essays are "less about something you do and more about who you are as a person." 

Tell a Story

Think about the structure of the essay, and how the reader can be drawn in by it. The story should feel real and true to your life. "Students need to begin with a hook and share personal and tangible details about their life," Monica Matthews, author of the scholarship guide, "How to Win College Scholarships," wrote in an email. "Simply stating that they have helped others, for example, does not let the judges see the kind of person that they really are. Writing about specific experiences with real-life situations using interesting details makes compelling and memorable essays." 

Tailor the Scholarship Essay to the Prompt

In some cases, it may be acceptable and even smart to repurpose an essay you have already written and use it for another application. But you should exercise caution when doing this. If you plan on doing this, essays should be on topic and specific to the unique question being asked and the organization to which students are applying. 

Don't Tailor Yourself to the Reader

Sometimes you may feel like you need to portray a certain side of yourself in a scholarship application or essay, but this isn't always the case. The only person you need to appear to be is yourself. Personal essays go a long way.  Scholarship committees like diversity! The goal is to stand out and not appear just like all the other applicants. Use your differences to show why you are uniquely deserving of each scholarship you apply for.

Follow Directions

Make sure you're answering the question that is being asked and stay with limits and formatting guidelines. Longer doesn't always mean better; if you are bored writing it, the scholarship committee will probably be bored reading it!