When most people think about how to write a scholarship essay, they almost immediately think about using a “stacked” format that makes use of a lot of big words and requires them to have a high level of college education to succeed in such writing. However, it’s important to realize that there are three very different styles you can use when it comes to scholarship essays. You don’t have to be in a world of academe (or have a ton of college credits) to know how to write an essay on a college scholarship. Here are the three main types of scholarship essay formats you’ll want to use.

The first type of format is the long form. These are always lengthy and require that you use an adequate amount of descriptive words and an explanation of yourself in the “why.” Your scholarship prompts will always be somewhat different, but most prompts will request some sort of personal experience (such as volunteer work, community service, etc.) if you want to make yours stand out.

The second style of format is the short answer kind. These are very much like the long forms except they use one short sentence for your argument. Again, you must provide your own personal “why” for being eligible for the scholarship. This is much easier to write, since it’s just one sentence to give your own reason for being chosen over all the others.

Finally, the third type of format is the examples and enumeration. When writing an essay on how to write a scholarship essay, you should always remember that you are writing to someone who is not a doctor or a lawyer. You can still use large and bold letters and exclamation marks if you’d prefer, but you should always keep your examples and enumerations down to a minimum.

One thing that many people do not realize is that the key to essay writing success is to have enough time to formulate and write your ideas. How much time, exactly, is this? Obviously, it will vary depending on how long your prompt will be. However, a prompt will be long enough to explain a few things, give examples, and list your major achievements (which you should have already listed in your resume), at the very least. It will be long enough to allow you ample time to formulate ideas and review what you have written, as well.

One of the best tips on how to write a scholarship essay prompt is to keep it simple. You might not think of it as “simple” or “short,” but everything needs to be explained to you at some point. For example, if you’re getting ready to defend your essay topic, you need to make sure you have enough time to outline your major points, present any supporting evidence, answer questions about the topic, and finalize your essay. As such, don’t make your scholarship essays too lengthy. Keep them short enough to jot down all that you need to say, and you will do just fine. Hopefully, this article has given you enough information on how to write a scholarship essay prompt.