Scholarship Packet 

2 

Writing a Cover Letter/Personal Essay for a Scholarship* ** 

Tips: What to Do with a Scholarship Application Essay* 

1.

Answer the Question. 

Review the question asked by the application. Has 

the student completely answered it? If not, what additional info needs to 
be included? How can it be effectively inserted into the text? 

2.

Be Original. 

Is the essay individual and creative or does it give an 

unexciting narrative?  

3.

Be Individual.

 Scholarship officers want to learn about the student and 

his or her writing ability. Is the essay meaningful and descriptive, about 
the student’s feelings and not entirely about actions? 

4.

Don’t “Thesaurize” the Composition. 

Big words used inappropriately make 

for clunky, unconvincing essays. 

5.

Use Imagery and Clear, Vivid Prose. 

A lot of students who come to us are 

not ease with using imagery so it’s up to us to see that all of the reader’s 
senses are engaged

.

6.

Spend Most of Your Time on the Introduction. 

Expect scholarship officers 

to spend 1-2 minutes reading the essay. The introduction should grab 
the reader’s interest from the beginning. Some things to keep in mind: 



Don’t summarize in the introduction. If you summarize, the 
scholarship officer need not read the rest of your essay.  
 



Create mystery or intrigue in your introduction. It is not necessary 
or recommended that your first sentence give away the subject 
matter. Raise questions in the minds of the scholarship officers to 
force them to read on. Appeal to their emotions to make them 
relate to your subject matter.  

7.

Relate Body Paragraphs to the Introduction. 

The introduction can be 

original but cannot be silly. The paragraphs that follow must relate to the 
introduction.  

 
8.

Use Transitions. 

Applicants continue to ignore transitioning to their own 

detriment. Use transitions within paragraphs and especially between 
paragraphs to preserve the logical flow of the essay. Transitions are not 
limited to phrases like “as a result, in addition, while, since, etc.” but 
includes repeating key words and progressing the idea. Transitions 
provide the intellectual architecture to argument building.