Every scholarship that you will ever apply for will require you to submit a variety of materials. Likely, you will need to fill out their specific application, send a copy of your transcripts, forward recommendations, and send a personal statement or essay, telling the scholarship committee why you should receive their money. This essay is incredibly important and in many instances is the biggest part of the committee's decision about whose education to fund. Thus, it is imperative that you take writing this essay very seriously. To write the best essay for scholarships for online colleges remember these tips:
1) Meet all requirements.
When you apply for a scholarship be sure that you meet all of the requirements of the scholarship, including GPA, demographics or educational goals. Also, say this right in your essay. For example, if you are applying for a scholarship for fatherless boys who are going into engineering, and they require a 3.5 GPA, you might have a line in your personal statement / essay that says, "Since before my father died when I was five, I was always interested in taking things apart and putting them back together. It is probably safe to say that a good part of my 3.5 GPA comes from the straight A's I earned in all of my shop, math and sciences courses; anything that has to do with how things work excites me!"
2) Make it easy for them to see that you are the best.
Your personal statement is no time to be shy or modest, or unclear. Use this essay to make it easy for the scholarship reviewer to choose you for their scholarship by describing why you will do them proud. Do this by detailing some of your past accomplishments, listing out some of your future goals, explaining how you will achieve these goals, and telling the committee how important their contribution will be to your future success. If the scholarship application asks for certain things in the essay, be sure to go over your essay point by point and ensure that you did not miss anything that was required.
3) Make it readable.
It may sound obvious, but you may be surprised at how many people submit poorly written personal statements when applying for scholarships for online colleges. Stand out above the rest by ensuring that your essay is well written, easy to read, grammatically correct and preferably typed or at least legibly written. Keep the papers clean and crisp. Submit all your materials in an 8.5 by 11 inch envelope, if possible, to avoid the need to fold it.
4) Have someone reliable critique it.
Ask someone who you trust - preferable a person who is educated and decent at writing - to review your essay before you finalize it. Ask them to be honest, ensuring that they understand that you truly want to get this scholarship and thus are open to any criticism. Have the reviewer read the scholarships for online colleges application and requirements before reading your essay, so that they can let you know if they see something that is missing.
There are no inexpensive online degree programs, but there are many ways to get free money to make any program less expensive. With scholarships for online colleges you can take a big bite out of your tuition.
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