According to recent studies, the average price for a four-year university degree in USA or UK costs more than $100.000 in regular colleges and more than $200.000 in prestige universities like Harvard or Oxford. Believe it or not, it is a colossal pain and real expanses even for parents from wealthy countries. As for the rest, it is a sum that most people cannot afford.

However, as many high-schools universities agree, this obstacle should not stop talented children and postgraduates from achieving their dream to further their education and get a degree. Therefore, they offer financial aid for gifted undergraduates and postgraduates to make their dreams come true and diversify the pool of students with those who have unique skills or vision or those who are obsessed with the field of study.

There are two forms of aid. The first one is a grant. Determined by the applicant's FAFSA information, it is given only for those whose financial state is critically low. For instance, some high schools in the USA count a student as a person with a "demonstrated need" if their expected family contribution is 1,775, which in other words means a low-income family. In that case, the student may get a grant.

The second form of aid is a scholarship. It also has a financial need component but relies on other criteria as well. For instance, it considers academic merit such as grade-point average or standardized test scores like the SAT. It may also take into account athletic performance, high performance in a particular school subject, community service, or diversity and inclusion. The best part is students are not required to repay these grants. However, it may require that the recipient continue to meet specific criteria during high-school education.

If you are up to the latter form of aid, we are here to help you. To be eligible for this type of grant, the first thing to do is to write an excellent scholarship essay. Therefore, let us break this writing piece into constituents, consider some great scholarship essay tips and practices, and provide you with a list of fantastic scholarship letter examples so that you can get a head start in this endeavor.

However, first things first, what is a scholarship application letter?

What Is Scholarship Essay?

Widely known as a scholarship personal statement, it is a piece of writing that reveals an applicant's personality, abilities, and desires to get into the college. It aims to support the scholarship's application and, most importantly, persuade the university committee that they are the right person.

The key traits of the scholarships letter sample are

• It shows the students' beliefs and interests and demonstrates reasons to get the grant.
• It is under 500 words.
• It answers specific scholarships essay questions.
• It might be centered around specific scholarship essays topics.

Classification of Personal Essay for Scholarship

The main reason why scholarship application essays were developed is to give talented children and postgraduates a real opportunity to get an education or finish their degrees and help the talent to unlock its true potential.

The best part of this process is that there are different scholarships because the university committee chooses students by various merits. Let us consider the main classification:

• Need-based. It considers the student's family's EFC.
• Talent-based. It assesses students' artistic or athletic abilities.
• Career-specific. It weighs a student's plan to pursue a specific field of study.
• College-specific. It considers students' academic and personal achievement.
• Student-specific. It considers a student's gender, race, religion, family, or medical history.
• Athletic-specific. It assesses students' athletic abilities or exceptional sports skills.
• Brand-specific. The company, not the university, gives it to the student.
• Creative contest. It considers the unique and innovative ideas of students.

Importance of Exploring Different Scholarship Letter Examples

So, why is it crucial to examine college scholarship essay examples shared by others? There are several valid reasons for that:

• First of all, with the successful scholarship application template at your fingertips, you get a chance to familiarize yourself with the right way to apply for the grants.
• Second, it shows how to persuade the committee using only 500 words, sticking to the essentials, and capitalizing on your best traits.
• Third, it shows scholarship letter formats used to meet university committee standards, requirements, and expectations.
• Finally, it gives hints on how to show off but sound modest.

The Essentials of Scholarship Application Letter

As a rule, the scholarship does not have explicit guidelines; however, there are specific rules for scholarship letter formats that all applicants should obey. They are:

• Set page margins to 1 inch.
• Use 12-point font size.
• Use double-space between lines.
• Use Times New Roman in default black color.
• Avoid artistic fonts and rigid colors.
• Stick to standard structure:
  • It contains one or two paragraphs and has an opening scholarship statement.
  • It contains two to three paragraphs and backs up the opening sentence with evidence and facts.
  • It sums up everything and emphasis how the scholarship helps to achieve goals.

Tips for Creating the Best Scholarship Essay

Scholarships were not designed to become obstacles on students' paths; however, as practice shows, there are certain stumbling rocks that some people find insurmountable to overcome. However, nothing is impossible. To tackle this task, it is highly recommended to follow these tips and best practices:

• Know your scholarship committee. Whatever ridiculous it may sound, knowing your audience's preference, standards and expectations give you a cutting edge over the competition.
• Be formal.
• Go into specifics about why you deserve the grant.
• Follow the instructions blindly.
• Answer the prompt.
• Choose the topic you are obsessed with or one that might spark interest or drive engagement in committee members.
• Focus on the introductory part. Note, it should make a strong first impression.
• Focus on conclusion. It should leave a long-lasting impression.
• Show emotions but do not overdo them. Nobody likes pleading.
• Use real-life examples and share your valuable experience.
• Keep your language simple and avoid faux pas.
• Stick to an inspirational and positive tone.
• Focus on the editing phase. Read and re-read your free example essay papers. Check and double-check it from top to bottom. Use professional platforms like Grammarly.
• Get a second opinion on your essay.
• Talk about the future or share your plan after graduation.
• Submit an essay the way specified by instructions. It can be done by online form, email, or scholarship platform, known as Going Merry.
• Last but not least, do not neglect help from essay free scholarship. For instance, our library of cover letter for scholarship examples bear some great insights on how to nail this task.