How to Write a Winning Scholarship Essay: 30 Essays That Won Over $3 Million in Scholarships

by Gen Tanabe, Kelly Tanabe

Overview

Examining the two basic components of scholarship competition—essays and interviews—this vital guidebook offers practical advice and real-life examples to guide students through the entire application process. A roundtable panel of judges and applicants supply inside information regarding the winning qualities sought after by award-giving organizations and tips for finding scholarships by using books, the internet, personal connections, and sources in the community.

With insight into the judges' criteria for a successful application, 30 previously awarded scholarship essays are thoroughly analyzed, from choice of topic to writing style. Revealing unique strategies for preparation and overcoming nervousness, this definitive resource also includes sample interview questions and answers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617601897
Publisher:	SuperCollege LLC
Publication date:	05/14/2024
Edition description:	Tenth Edition
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	559,079
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Gen Tanabe and Kelly Tanabe won more than $100,000 in merit-based scholarships to graduate from Harvard debt-free. They are the authors of 14 books including The Ultimate Scholarship Book, Accepted! 50 Successful College Admission Essays and The Ultimate Guide to America's Best Colleges. They tour the country as speakers on college planning and live in Belmont, California.

Read an Excerpt

You Are 60 Seconds Away from the Trash Bin

If you witnessed the judging of a scholarship competition, you’d be surprised at how quickly decisions are made. It’s not unusual for scholarship judges to decide in less than 60 seconds whether your application advances to the next round or gets tossed into the rejection pile.

With so little time, how do you capture the attention of these discriminating judges and improve your chances of winning? For most competitions the secret is in your essay or interview. These give the judges the insight they need to separate the winners from the runners-up.

If you are like the majority of scholarship applicants, you probably aren’t sure what makes an essay or interview a “winner.” And how would you know? It’s unlikely that you have access to dozens of past scholarship winners who can share their experiences and show you their winning essays and interview answers. And it is even more unlikely that you’ve had the opportunity to speak with actual scholarship judges who can tell you exactly what qualities cause a candidate to stand out as a winner.

Obviously, anyone with this kind of access and knowledge has a tremendous advantage for winning a scholarship.

Now you can have this advantage.

In this book you will learn about scholarship winners, read their essays and interviews and learn the strategies that they have used to win more than $3 million in awards. (That amount is not a misprint. In fact, one incredible student received over $250,000 in scholarship offers!) You will also have the opportunity to hear from scholarship judges who will take you inside the selection process to reveal what they look for when choosing winners.

Table of Contents

1 The Secret to Winning a Scholarship
2 How to Find Great Scholarships
3 Judges' Roundtable: Inside the Selection Process
4 How to Write a Money-Winning Essay
5 30 Money-Winning Essays
6 12 Essays That Bombed
7 Judges' Roundtable: The Scholarship Essay
8 Winning Interview Strategies
9 Interview Question and Answer Examples
10 Judges' Roundtable: The Interview
11 Final Thoughts
Appendix A: Scholarships Anyone Can Win
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"An excellent guide for all students." —School Library Journal

"A wealth of tips, tricks, techniques, advice, and useful strategies…absolute 'must-read' for anyone interested in competing for scholarship funds." —Bookwatch

"Sound advice for the college bound." —Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT

Editorial Reviews

"An excellent guide for all students." —School Library Journal

"A wealth of tips, tricks, techniques, advice, and useful strategies…absolute 'must-read' for anyone interested in competing for scholarship funds." —Bookwatch

"Sound advice for the college bound." —Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT

From the Publisher