Essay guide
"Why this program or scholarship" essays
Sponsors ask this to filter out copy-paste applicants. Specificity is the entire game: name the parts of the program only a real reader of their site would know.
How to approach it
- Spend 15 minutes on the sponsor's site and write down three specifics: a course, a value in their mission statement, a past winner's project.
- Tie each specific to something you have already done, not just something you want.
- Answer the mirror question too: what do you bring them?
- Swap test: if you could replace the program name with a rival's and the essay still works, it is not specific enough.
Do
- Name specific courses, mentors, or program features
- Show you know what the sponsor values
- Keep one paragraph about them, one about you, one about the fit
Avoid
- Praise prestige or rankings
- Reuse this essay without re-tailoring the specifics
- Write more about your general goals than about the fit
Example essays
Real published collections, not our own writing. Read a few before drafting; notice how specific they get.