Scholarship Guidelines For Application Letters and Letters of Recommendation

Scholarship application letters play an important role in the selection process. There are two types of letters frequently requested as part of a scholarship application packet. The first type is a letter of application, written by the student in support of why he or she should be considered for the award.

The second type of scholarship application letter is a letter of recommendation, written by someone who knows the applicant stating if and why the author would recommend the student for the scholarship. Most scholarship guidelines specify the criteria for who may write letters of recommendation. Applicants are frequently required to submit letters from current or former teachers or employers.

Common scholarship guidelines dictate that people who are asked to write recommendations tell candidates if there is concern about not knowing what to write. In such a situation, it may be a good idea to provide a sample scholarship letter as a way of making the writing process easier for the person who has agreed to serve as a reference.

If you are confident of your writing skills, you can put together a sample scholarship letter to make available to your references. If you do this, be sure not to give the impression that you are trying to tell your references what to say about you.