Reusable Materials 38: Questions About Reusable Scholarship Essays

Thursdays we discuss how reusable materials can WOW committees and save time

Jasmine decided to go to college, at the age of 43. She could not use essays she wrote in high school or the first two years of college. She had to prepare 5-6 essays from scratch. We helped her identify essay topics and outlines. The staff also reviewed and edited her compositions.

Q: How do I outline reusable essays for scholarships?

A: We recommend a simple outline for your essays. We show heading titles for the outline in this example:

• Introductory Paragraph
  • Opening story highlighting the theme of your essay
  • Thesis sentence that outlines the three key points of your essay
• Key point 1 using an anecdote, quote, or statistic to emphasize the point
• Key point 2 using an anecdote, quote, or statistic to emphasize the point
• Key point 3 using an anecdote, quote, or statistic to emphasize the point
• Closing Paragraph
  • Summary of the three key points
  • Statement relating back to the story used in the introductory paragraph

You may find stories, quotes, and statistics on the Internet, books, and scholarly articles. However, you should avoid shallow, cliché, or overused sources. Your essay must exhibit the following characteristics:

• Interesting reading that presents a clear case or theme
• Quotes from reputable authors or articles, not Facebook posts or signs
• Verifiable statistics from scholarly sources and research
• Applicable graphics, charts, and use of color
• Clear, neat, good grammar, accurate spelling, and good use of headings and color

Q: How do I modify or adapt an essay for different scholarships?

You can customize reusable essays using a variety of techniques:

• Leave places in the essay to add words that cater your message to the sponsoring organization.
  • For example, you can leave a place to insert
    • The name of the sponsoring organization
    • The mission or purpose of the sponsoring organization
    • A catch phrase, value, or tag line associated with the sponsor
  • Build special letter combinations (like XX, YY, ZZ) and use the find and replace feature of your word processor

Saturday we share cautions about overspending because of student financial aid

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.