Scholarship Essays

Answered

Here's an article with great tips on the do's and dont's: ivywise.com/ivywise-knowledgebase/resources/article/10-college-application-essay-dos-and-donts/

And here's an article with specific tips that are helpful: collegeessayguy.com/blog/college-essay-tips

And here are the tips I found to be most helpful that weren't mentioned in the articles:

Be careful not to overuse "I" (a specific guideline is to use no more than 15 "I"s, including contractions)

Unless you are applying to a religious/politically-affiliated university, don't make the theme of the essay about religion or politics. You can include examples that add to the overall point of your essay, but you want to avoid making the whole essay about it. Colleges read about it all the time, so it doesn't look original, and it can easily feel a little too preachy.

Same with sports- try not to make your essay all about sports. It's great to use to illustrate a point. Again, colleges have read thousands and thousands of essays about sports, so it won't look especially unique

Have a good blend of wordiness- don't be clunky in your writing, but don't eliminate all unnecessary words. When you strip away words that can be considered "wordy", you run the risk of removing the character and personality from your essay.

Hope this helps!