Common Scholarship Essay Questions

If you are planning to apply for several scholarships, be prepared to write answers to scholarship essay questions covering a wide variety of topics. Scholarship providers who require applicants write essays do so for several reasons. One of the main reasons for requiring an essay as part of a scholarship application package is to verify that the student is willing to commit the time and energy to putting together a thoughtful and well-written essay.

Another common reason for requiring an original writing sample is that the judges have a chance to get a better sense of who applicants really are from an essay than from a standard scholarship application form. Scholarship essay topics that focus on the applicant’s background and career goals often have this objective.

Scholarship programs that award funding for related to special interest groups or for people with certain majors or career goals often require applicants to write essays that demonstrate their commitment to the organization’s cause or reasons for wanting to gain employment in the field of study. In a sense, essays can give these types a scholarship providers as to whether or not an applicant is a “good investment.”

Examples of Real-life Scholarship Essay Questions include:

• Describe one specific example of your leadership ability.
• Describe why you wish to obtain a college education and why you are deserving of a scholarship.
• Describe what influenced your decision to pursue Nursing as a career.
  
• What personal information do you wish to share with the scholarship selection committees?