Effectively Discussing in Your Graduate Admission Essay Why You Deserve A Scholarship Spot
Tailoring your admission essay with the goal of getting a scholarship in mind is perhaps a common move of most grad school hopefuls. After all, who would not want to have the chance of going to graduate school for free or for a discount? However, only a chosen few ever get to see an acceptance letter from the graduate program of their choice. Here are a few tips to come up with a winning essay for that scholarship.
Writing a persuasive graduate admission essay
A graduate admission essay needs to be planned with care, all the more so if you are vying for a scholarship. Not only will you be vying for entrance to a graduate program, but your application will also be facing the competition of the many who want to go to grad school on a scholarship.
Most graduate school applicants tend to know what should go into a graduate admission essay. Being unique, creating a coherent structure, emphasizing your strengths, avoiding highly technical terms, using personal anecdotes, and the like are something most graduate school hopefuls already know about. However, making a persuasive pitch for a scholarship in your graduate school admission essay is another thing entirely.
Add a personal touch.
Writing the essay in a personal tone is the surest way to creating an engaging essay. However, you might be tempted to personalize your essay with a sob story in an attempt to get the admission panel to take pity on you. This is the surest way to get the boot. While personal stories can be engaging and will let your panel get a glimpse of who you are, some personal anecdotes can also sound suspiciously like sob stories, even if they are 100% true. Unfortunately, admissions experts dislike sob stories and they can smell one mile away. Avoid using very dramatic sob stories if you can, but if you must, avoid whining and instead focus on how the experience strengthened you or made a positive impact on your life. This will show your panel that you can use even the worst things to your advantage.
How a person tells a story in a graduate school essay, if he or she chooses to tell one at all, is one of the ways panels scrutinize an applicant’s personality. Telling a sad, heartbreaking story in a positive or upbeat tone will give the panel the impression that you are a person who looks at things on a positive note. And any graduate school could always use students with that kind of outlook. However, always make sure that your stories are true. Any hint of a lie will surely make you unqualified.
Cover the basics.
A successful graduate admission essay that is also angling for a scholarship should cover the basics, its parts linked together by a common topic or experience, flows smoothly from one paragraph to another, and must point out your strongest points and assets. In order to get this result, write ahead of time to give yourself more opportunities to rewrite, to think of good anecdotes to share, and to have your essay read by a trusted friend or teacher for opinions.
Photo Credit : CAPETiLLO!
Quality graduate school education doesn’t come cheap. Especially for students whose families earn a meager income, applying for graduate school can take extensive financial planning just to accommodate the anticipated expenses. The good news is, there are financial aid institutions and organizations that grant loans and scholarships to get you through graduate school.
FAFSA
An option that a lot of students go for is to apply for government-funded financial aid through FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Just make sure that the graduate school you’re planning to go to is a participant of federal student aid programs, and that you meet the standard requirements set by FAFSA before you start filling in the application form.
In-house financial aid programs
Most graduate schools have in-house financial aid and scholarship programs which you can avail of, depending on the major or program you enrolled in. The FAFSA is used by universities to gauge and determine a student’s financial situation and aid eligibility. This however, only applies to schools and universities that are participating members of the federal student aid.
For private schools and institutions, additional application documents may be required from students to be eligible for institutional financial aid. These documents usually include the graduate admission essay, in which students can explain their economic and financial status. Some grad schools don’t have in-house financial aid and scholarship programs. Instead, they establish tie-ups with funding organizations to help their students cope with the financial demands of graduate studies. Below are examples of these external funding organizations for various fields of study:
Gates Millennium Scholars
The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) was initially an offshoot of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates Millennium Scholars has been providing scholarships since 1999 and have paid for the education of more than 12,000 students. The goal of GMS is to help students of racial minorities have access to quality education by reducing their financial woes. The GMS also aims to increase the representation of such target groups in various academic disciplines such as engineering, mathematics, health sciences, etc.
American Association for University Women
American Association for University Women (AAUW) – The AAUW Educational Foundation provides fellowships and graduate study grants to women, regardless of race, religion, and socio-economic background.
The Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation offers fellowship grants and aid for graduate students from different races and background planning to earn doctorate degrees. The foundation however, only offers these grants for specific majors and academic disciplines including Engineering, Computer Science, History, Earth Sciences, etc.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation
Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation – provides financial aid of up to $30,000 for graduate studies, fellowships, and leadership trainings for students who wish to take advanced degrees in public service disciplines.
NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program
NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program awards scholarships to students who plan to pursue graduate studies in the fields of Aeronautics, Aeronautical Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical and Electric Engineering, and other related fields. The NASA ASP awards grants of up to $11,000 per school year plus an annual stipend of $35,000.
Photo Credit : World Economic Forum
