Choosing Your Scholarship Essay Format

When you are getting ready to write an essay for a scholarship you may be a bit flummoxed on what type of format to put it in. This can actually be decided for you if you read between the lines on the essay instructions. There are also a few things to consider such as the type of thesis statement, heavy or light research and should it be in first, second or third person writing. Let’s go over a few ways that you can determine which format your essay should be in.

  1. If you can get access to the essays written by past winners of the scholarship then you will be better informed. You can take a look at a few of them and see what style they used. This can be a great way to determine which style to use.
  2. Follow the directions on the essay instructions. Sometimes the instructions will tell exactly what format to use and sometimes they will not. Either way, follow the instructions for every little step because if you do not, then you will not be considered for the scholarship.
  3. If the directions are not much help then assume that the standard format is the way to go. This is an easy format and it just consists of at least three paragraphs. In the first paragraph you will include your thesis statement. In the last paragraph you will bring it all together. It should restate your thesis statement and how you got to that conclusion. The middle paragraph(s) will expound on the thesis statement.
  4. When the format of the essay doesn’t matter there are still some things to do and not do. First, make sure that every single word is correctly spelled. If a scholarship committee sees just one misspelled word they will throw the essay out. Neatness is a plus too. Make sure that every question is answered with a full and complete sentence. Do not add anything to the essay that was not specifically asked for. Do not repeat your qualifications in the essay as this information will be redundant since it is already on the application.

By following the above guidelines you should have a better idea of which way to go with the formatting of the scholarship essay. The good thing is that if you got this far, you don’t have very much farther to go. Good luck and keep on writing!


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