Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Set Up A Scholarship Essay

The committee considering your scholarship essay will take notice on whether you format the essay properly.


Applying for a scholarship is a process that could drastically influence the direction of your education and career path, and every part of your application must be taken seriously. While the content of your essay, as well as the style of your writing, obviously are vital, you must take equal attention and care with how you set up your essay. In most cases, the scholarship organization will provide you with specific instructions on formatting your scholarship essay.


Instructions


1. Consult the instructions that you received with your scholarship application. Take note on whether or not the foundation requests a cover page, a specific word count, a specific font or any other formatting requests. Following their instructions to the letter will show them you care about your application and respect their process.


2. Open your scholarship essay in Word or another word processing software program. Set the document to be double-spaced (unless otherwise indicated by the organization), as the extra space is typically used for judges to make notes on your essay.


3. Set 1-inch top and bottom margins and 1.25-inch left and right margins with no indentations. Highlight all of the text and choose a basic, easy-to-read font like Times New Roman, Courier or Arial. Choose either 10 or 12 point font size.


4. Use standard essay format, which begins with an introduction of the thesis, the body of the essay and a conclusion with restatement of the thesis. Start each paragraph on its own line without an indentation.


5. Place high-quality white paper in your printer (avoid cheaper paper, which wrinkles easily), and check the level of black ink in your printer. Print your essay and let it sit for a few minutes before handling it to ensure the ink is dry.


6. Do not fold your scholarship essay. Place it in an 8.5-by-11-inch envelope or larger to mail. If you are emailing your essay as an attachment, see the scholarship instructions to find out what file type the judges prefer.

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