Scholarship Application Tips and Resources

Applying for scholarships can feel overwhelming, especially if you don’t know what the scholarship reviewers will be looking for. Use the tips and resources below to help you complete your application with confidence and increase your chances at receiving a scholarship award.

Short Answer Questions 

Regardless of the scholarship, your short answers make up the largest part of your score. A good short answer response will give you a much higher chance of receiving a scholarship award. Here are some tips for writing high-scoring short answer responses:

• Refer to the scoring rubric. The rubric lays out what the review committee will be looking for from your responses.  These questions were determined with college readiness in mind. Please think carefully about your answers and how you are providing evidence of your ability to be successful in college, persevere during hardship, and remain committed to yourself and your goals.
• Get input on your short answers before submitting them. Ask your peers, advisors, or a family member to read them for you. Read them aloud for a friend. Go to the Writing Studio on campus for help and feedback. Tutors at the Writing Studio are standing by to talk with you, help you outline, and provide feedback on your writing.
• Be reflective. We want to see that you have reflected on your experiences, achievements, and goals. Your application should tell a clear story of how you see the world, what direction you see yourself headed in, and how college fits into the broader story of your life.
• Be specific. The best responses share specific experiences and goals, and show reflection on how those connect to the short answer prompt. For question 2, don’t just tell us that your weakness is being a perfectionist – give concrete examples of perfectionism in your life, the impact it’s had on your life, experiences, and goals, and what you’ve done to address it. For question 3, don’t just say that you’ve received support from your church and want to give back in the future – show specific ways you have received support, how it's inspired you and influenced your perspective, what you have given back, and for what reason.
• Connect your story. Think about how your goals, strengths/weaknesses, community service, and extracurricular interests all connect and relate to each other. How can you use these four short answers to show the scholarship committee who you are, why you're here, and what a scholarship would help you achieve.
• Answer every part of the question. Make sure that your response addresses everything that the question is asking.
• You are not scored on grammar, writing style, or typos. We care less about masterful, precise writing than we do about understanding you and your story.
   

A Note on AI 
While we understand AI is a tool and can be helpful in developing outlines, translating between languages, and rewording ideas, please know that a well-scored response will be one that shares your own voice and experiences. The best short answers are unique to you because they are specific to your values, goals, and concrete experiences. We do not outright ban AI use or the use of essay templates, but know that generic responses will receive fewer points, and you will lose points if you leave in AI prompts or template fields. We may also take away points if your writing style is not consistent across your application (i.e. clearly written by two different people, or copy-pasted from AI, based on differences in font case, typos, grammar, tone, etc.).