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The Quick and Easy Guide to
Writing for College Admissions & Scholarships
Competing for College Resources
Getting into a college program or being chosen to receive scholarship awards will require more than just listing facts and figures on an application. Most scholarships and admissions applications ask the applicant to describe their goals, plans, values, strengths, weaknesses, understanding of their place in the community and/or a myriad of other topics of interest. Along with the interview process, this written component gives the admitting or granting organization a better view of the applicant as a person. As in any competitive writing, the writer must demonstrate an understanding of his or her audience and the application process. But for scholarships and admissions, the writer must also articulate an understanding of self.
Preparing to Write
Prior to starting the application, there are two important steps the writer should take to prepare.
1) Self-Assessment
Brainstorm for elements of your life that are relevant to the college or scholarship that interests you. As with all brainstorming, do not limit yourself at this stage - you will organize, categorize and choose the details that best fit your application later. Some areas to consider include the following:
- Accomplishments. Consider all your major accomplishments, not just scholastic. The admissions officers or scholarship judges will know your academic history from transcripts and other sources. They will NOT know about your extra-curricular activities or your accomplishments within your family and community, unless you share them. Along with listing your accomplishments, you should briefly describe how you achieved them and what you learned that can be applied to other areas of your life (like college).
- Barriers. Identify barriers you have faced and overcome, as well as those you continue to face. These challenges may be physical, emotional, financial or societal. Your audience may ask you share with them how you face adversity. You may be asked to describe successes or failures. Think about your strategies for dealing with past and future challenges.
- Personal Characteristics. You will need to be able to describe yourself to others as part of the application process. Consider your significant skills, talents, traits and values. Also think about how these developed as you have grown and matured. You should be able to discuss how these may affect your future choices and activities.
- Personal and Professional Plans. The readers of college and scholarship applications will, of course, want to know what your plans are. Choice of academic major or concentration, interest in research or other academic activities, plans for extracurricular activities both on campus and off campus (sports, music, etc.) are some examples. Your career goals will be relevant, as will plans for leadership within your community. Even more personal plans for family, hobbies or individual achievement may be important.
- Life-changing Experiences. While academic history, talents and abilities, and future plans will all be considered, you also will need specific events or actions to point to that provide a vivid snapshot of who you are. Think of times when you experienced an "epiphany" or life-changing experience, and ask why it was so poignant. Consider how these moments have influenced and will influence your life.
- Other Influences. Obviously, not every choice made in life comes from a crisis or epiphany. Think about what else has influence you - relationships, role models, participation in activities or groups, observations made about life, philosophies, art, literature, etc. These may be more subtle and more difficult to identify, but can provide insight both to you and your audience.
Sometimes it is hard for writers to be objective about themselves. Try interviewing or surveying those who know you (family, friends, instructors, employers, etc.) to get an "outside" view of who you are. It may also be helpful to describe yourself in the third person - "he" or "she", rather than "I."
2) Audience Analysis
Whether granting admission to a college or scholarship funds, the readers of applications are looking for someone who can be successful in collegiate pursuits and represent the values of the college or foundation. As the applicant, it is your job to persuade the audience that you are that person. To do this, you must consider what you reader wants to see in your application. This will vary by college and scholarship. Likely considerations include the following:
- Academic Achievement. Determine requirements for GPA, academic standing, academic major or concentration, specific coursework, letters of recommendation, research, tutoring or teaching activities, publications, academic honors or awards, etc.
- Extracurricular Activities. Some organizations look for participation in school government, clubs, arts and/or sports. Activities that add to a school's recognition within the community or that provide financial support to the school, such as fundraising, may be especially noted.
- Financial Need: This includes proof of limited financial support or eligibility for government and private support. Financial need may be a primary or a secondary condition for eligibility, or may not be considered at all.
- Community Involvement. Participation in community activities such as clubs, civic and religious organizations, community projects and charities, local and regional governing bodies all may be desirable. Some colleges and scholarships require official affiliation with specific groups. Others look for general involvement within the local community.
- Identity or Affiliation. There are admissions and scholarship programs that target specific populations, often based on ethnic or religious affiliation. These applications often ask not only for proof of affiliation but also a statement of identity, clarifying what it means to the individual to be identified with that population. There may also be a required commitment to "give back" to that affiliated community, either while in school or after.
- Merit. Some organizations seek out individuals who have attained a high level of success within a specific field of endeavor (academic or otherwise). Other groups look to provide opportunities to those who have overcome hardship or adversity. The key here is that applicants must demonstrate individual achievement.
- Ideals and Values. All college admissions and scholarship organizations are looking for a demonstration of ideals and values from applicants. Some merely want applicants to show that they are serious about their education. But some are looking for specific values or philosophies to be part of an applicant's personal statement. Sometimes this requirement is clearly spelled out in the application guidelines. Other times, you may have to research the background of an organization for a clearer picture of their values and mission.
Each college or scholarship will have a specific set of criteria for eligibility and selection. Of course, you should review the published materials provided by organizations, but you should also look for additional information on the college or foundation, past winners, mission statements and other relevant background. It is usually appropriate to contact the admissions officer or scholarship contact if you have questions about the application. The more you know about your readers, the better you will be able to match your profile with theirs. Of course, this only will work if you have done a good job of assessing both yourself and your audience.
Written Submissions
Applicants generally will be writing about themselves in one or more ways:
- Completing an application form with factual data (financial information, academic history, etc.)
- Submitting a general, comprehensive personal statement, usually in essay form
- Responding to specific questions or topics from the school or scholarship body, usually in essay form
- Submitting a formal letter specifying interest and summarizing qualifications
These elements should be treated as parts of a whole, rather than separate submissions. Try to develop a thesis or theme from your self-assessment and audience assessment that you can use throughout your application. This will help the reader recognize your main message, that you are a top applicant for consideration.
Most readers of admissions and scholarship submissions will only spend a few minutes reading the personal statements and essays. This means you must know what the reader is looking for and provide it as quickly and as clearly as possible. Obviously, this also puts constraints on length, paragraphing, word choice, etc. Only include relevant information that the reader will care about and do not repeat basic information available in other parts of your application.
Resources such as FastWeb and Purdue's OWL can provide a list of common personal statement questions asked for admissions and scholarship applications, as well as samples of personal essays. Also, many colleges and scholarship foundations provide profiles and even essays from past winners.
Suggestions for Writing Personal Statements and Responses
- Show "who you are." You should be able to describe yourself and all background relevant to your audience. While you should not attempt to tell everything about yourself, you will want to draw from those elements of your background that will appeal most to the reader.
- Demonstrate that you will be successful. Whether granting acceptance to a college program or access to funding, the reader wants to be assured that you will be successful in your academic endeavors. Use your submission to show evidence of previous success, clear and realistic goals, and quality work through the written essay itself.
- Develop a thesis or theme. Keep your message clear and consistent throughout your application materials. An effective thesis or theme will help the reader understand who you are and better your chances for a successful application.
- Give strong supports for your thesis/theme. For any personal or responsive essay to work, the writer must back up the thesis with details, examples and other evidence. In this way, you both "tell" (thesis) and "show" (supports), making a much more effective case for your qualifications as an applicant.
- Customize your submissions. While reviewing successful essays and applications can be useful, you want yours to stand out as original while fitting within the organization's "ideal profile." To do this, you must target each college and scholarship as you write your statements and responses. (Of course, you can material for multiple submissions. But choices of emphasis and content should be made for each individual application.)
- Keep your submissions interesting. Just listing accomplishments or plans is not enough to keep the reader interested. Involve the reader in your essay or response by giving details and examples. Narrative language works well to tell the story of who you are and how you got where you are now. Strong descriptive language also can make your supports more "real" to the reader.
- Avoid controversial topics. With rare exceptions, you should avoid writing about religious, political and social doctrines unless you KNOW that the topic will be acceptable to your audience. (There are, for example, academic programs focusing on social justice or similar topics, where some political "taboos" could be appropriately addressed.) If you do write about controversy, acknowledge counter arguments to avoid sounding arrogant to narrow-minded.
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Proofread your application. Read through your application for completeness, clarity and effectiveness. First proof for content, then proof a second time for mechanics. Use your audience assessment to check your essay and responses for relevance.
Formatting Your Submission
As in any competitive writing, your written submissions must be formatted correctly and without errors in grammar, spelling and other mechanics. Make sure to complete all questions and provide all required information. Note any length requirements or restrictions for essays and responses. For personal statements, make sure to use correct essay or letter form. (For more information on writing essays, see the Quick and Easy Guide to Essays.) Give yourself time in completing your application to proofread your submission and revise as needed. You may want to have someone else read it for help with problem areas.
Organize and deliver your application as requested, meeting all content requirements, deadlines and requests for supplemental material, such as transcripts, letters of support, etc. Incomplete applications are usually eliminated from consideration, so make sure you have all required material with your application.
Additional On-line Resources
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Written By: George Knox © 2017
E-mail: [email protected]