Crafting a Winning Scholarship Letter: A Comprehensive Guide

Scholarship applications often hinge on the strength of your personal statement or essay. It's the most important part of your scholarship application. It’s also the part of the application where the ‘real you’ can shine through. These documents provide a platform to showcase your character, personality, values, and experiences. This guide offers comprehensive tips to help you craft compelling scholarship letters that resonate with selection committees. Writing scholarship essays and personal statements takes preparation and thought.

Understanding the Scholarship and Prompt

Before putting pen to paper, thorough preparation is key.

Researching the Scholarship

Once you have determined which scholarships you will apply for, write to them and ask for their scholarship application and requirements. Remember, on the outside of the envelope, list the name of the specific scholarship you are inquiring about.

Decoding the Prompt

Reflect on the Prompts. Prompts are often quite specific, asking you to write about motivations, experience, or identity. Understand exactly what the scholarship committee is looking for. Even if the prompt is specific, these questions can help you brainstorm ideas and examples to include:

How have your experiences shaped your educational and professional goals, and what drew you to your major?
Reflect on unique experiences or aspects of your identity that influenced your path.
Consider whether any of your life experiences align with the vision of the benefactors. What moments in your life best embody that vision?

Structuring Your Scholarship Letter

Structure is paramount in creating a coherent and impactful essay.

Brainstorming and Outlining

Think before you write. Brainstorm to generate some good ideas and then create an outline to help you get going. An outline helps to organize your thoughts and create a logical flow.

Developing a Theme

Don’t simply list all your achievements. Decide on a theme you want to convey that sums up the impression you want to make. Write about experiences that develop that theme.

The Power of Storytelling

Show, don’t tell. Use stories, examples and anecdotes to individualize your essay and demonstrate the point you want to make. By using specifics, you’ll avoid vagueness and generalities and make a stronger impression. Tell your personal story.

Staying on Topic

Committees read many essays, and your audience can be highly distractible. It helps to keep this in mind as you write. Stay on Topic. Use efficient structures to showcase yourself clearly and avoid generic language.

Here are some strategies to help you do that:

Read also: Crafting Perfect Thank You Notes

Tell a story about a relevant experience.
Describe specific work accomplishments or activities that highlight your strengths.
Share how you live out your values in your everyday life.
Clearly state your need to accomplish your goals.

Content and Style: Showcasing Your Strengths

The content of your scholarship letter should highlight your unique qualities and aspirations.

Highlighting Achievements and Skills

Think about your achievements (e.g. awards, honors, high GPA). List your specific skills (e.g. leadership, communicative, etc.) and/or talent (e.g. music, art, writing). Personal statements should convey your character, personality, values and experiences and should include your academic achievements, community involvement, leadership skills, and academic and career goals. Many organizations favor student leaders or students involved in their community or school. Other groups look for students who have exceptional talents - writers, scientists, athletes or musicians. If the application mentions these qualities, emphasize the talents/skills you have as well as your academic achievements.

Demonstrating Need

Many scholarship providers have a charitable goal: They want to provide money for students who are going to have trouble paying for college. Clearly state your need to accomplish your goals.

Addressing the "Why You?" Question

No matter the prompt, always keep this key question in mind: “Why should we choose you?” The application should clearly emphasize your ambitions, motivations and what makes you different. People who read these applications want to know the real you, not just your name.

Writing with Authenticity and Impact

Authenticity and a strong voice are crucial to making your essay memorable.

Read also: Foundation Scholarship Details

Writing in the First Person

Write in the first person.

Being Original

Be original. The judges may be asked to review hundreds of essays. It’s your job to make your essay stand out from the rest. So be creative in your answers.

Knowing Your Audience

Know your audience. Personal essays are not ‘one size fits all.’ Write a new essay for each application-one that fits the interests and requirements of that scholarship organization. You’re asking to be selected as the representative for that group. The essay is your chance to show how you are the ideal representative.

The Importance of Structure and Clarity

Structure is paramount in creating a coherent and impactful essay. Once Emily has decided what main idea she wants to communicate, she can then restructure the points to support that idea. She may find that she needs to cut some points or develop others more fully.

Conciseness and Completeness

When filling out scholarship application forms, be complete, concise and creative.

Following Directions

Follow directions.

Refining Your Scholarship Letter: Editing and Proofreading

The final stage involves meticulous editing and proofreading to ensure a polished piece.

Making Time for Revisions

Make Time for Revisions. The best practice is to get feedback on your writing.

Seeking Feedback

Have several strong writers read and edit your essay for structure, grammar, redundancy and logic. Scholarship committees will mark you down if your essay is not to the point, is incomplete, does not give specific examples of your experiences, does not tell a story about you, does not help the committee to better understand you or is just plain difficult to understand. Have someone else read your essay. Is it you? Do you like what it says about you?

Checking for Errors

Submit an essay that is neat and readable. Make sure your essay is neatly typed, and that there is a lot of ‘white space’ on the page. Double-space the essay, and provide adequate margins (1″-1 1/2″) on all sides. Make sure your essay is well written. Proofread carefully, check spelling and grammar and share your essay with friends or teachers.

Additional Application Materials

Beyond the essay, other components contribute to a strong application.

Transcripts

Transcripts: Request these early, as they often take extra time to process.

Letters of Recommendation

If requested include: a resume or curriculum vitae (CV), extracurricular activities sheet (usually one page), transcripts, SAT, GRE, or MCAT scores, letters of recommendation (usually one from a professor, employer and friend) outlining your moral character and, if there are any newspaper articles, etc. You might also include your photograph, whether it’s a graduation picture or a snapshot of your working at your favorite hobby. This helps the selection committee feel a little closer to you.

Understanding the Review Process

Gaining insight into how applications are reviewed can provide a strategic advantage.

The Reviewer's Perspective

Readers have very little time with your materials - between 12 and 15 minutes for each application. The application is read, in order, beginning with the institutional nomination letter. Give the application a rest, especially near the end. Try to view the application the way someone would if they didn't know you and weren't especially familiar with your school. Is there helpful context that is missing? Do you come through clearly and authentically?

Cohesion and Context

The application is scored based on leadership, service and academic ability. Many of the top candidates score similarly. Your application should be cohesive: Question 9 should relate to the path in Questions 11 to 13 and be similar to the issue discussed in the policy proposal. It is helpful, but not required, for either Question 7 or 8 to be a similar issue to Question 9. Once we read the response to Question 9, we use what we learned there to both understand your work to this point and frame our thoughts for what we expect your goals to be. We expect applications to start with a broad array of interests reflected in Questions 1 through 6. Questions 7 and 8 should be more detailed and refined. Give your materials one last read and make sure everything hangs together.

Overcoming Writer's Block and Self-Doubt

The personal statement comes from inside you, passionate and gutsy. Its composition is organic, a natural growth dictated by an obscure, internal logic. You don't write it up; instead, you listen. Writer Julia Cameron believes we have two brains: logic brain and artist brain. Logic brain writes term papers; artist brain writes poetry. To write an effective personal statement, you need color and passion. You need to use the artist inside you. Trick your logic brain into letting you play.

Engaging the Artist Brain

Engage in a mindless, repetitive activity. Turn off the TV and stereo; go for a run, do dishes, dig holes. Begin writing as soon as you wake up in the morning. So you're not fully awake; that's good. Now do this everyday. Well, maybe not every single day; make appointments with yourself. You won't have brilliant ideas each time. Some days you sit and stare at the computer screen. But you focus; eventually, an idea bubbles to the surface.

Outwitting the Censor

In these ways you also outwit the censor: that nasty voice in your head that reminds you, before you've even written a word, that you can't spell, that you never got A's in English. Sometimes the censor waits until you get a sentence or two down, and then sneers: "You call that interesting?" The censor is a perfectionist. To writer Anne Lamott, "perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor." The censor insists, "I just want it to be right!" Instead, you can't write at all. So write, write anything. And yes, it will be terrible. You're afraid that someone will read it and discover you are a fraud. So you do it again. Don't revise; rewrite. Revision comes later, when you're dressing it up.

The Thank-You Letter: Expressing Gratitude

Scholarships awarded through the University of Illinois University Academic Programs and Services office are privately-funded and made possible by thoughtful people giving generously to invest in the future of students like you. One of the best things we can do in return is to thank them. Hearing from students like you is special and meaningful to your benefactor. Sending a personalized thank you letter tells the donor that this scholarship is important to you and that their gift is appreciated.

Key Elements of a Thank-You Letter

Use a formal salutation with appropriate titles. Do not use first names.
Begin by introducing yourself and thanking the donor.
Tell something about yourself. The donor will have received your past letters. This letter should be an update, including such information as classes you have taken and insight into your progress.
Write clearly but concisely. Be yourself.
Proofread carefully. Double-check for typographical and grammatical errors.

Sample Phrases for Thank-You Letters

I am writing to express my sincere gratitude to you for make the [Name of Scholarship] possible.
I am sincerely honored to have been selected as a recipient of the [Name of Scholarship].
As I complete my education at the University of Illinois at [Urbana-Champaign, Chicago or Springfield], I am very thankful for the support you made possible.
Beginning this coming fall, I will be a freshman at UIC [or UIUC or UIS] in the Urban Education program in the College of Education.
Besides my parents, the one person that I feel most influenced me as I was growing up was my sixth grade teacher.
My educational pursuits would not be possible without the generous support from your scholarship.

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