The Bakersfield College Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships offered a workshop explaining how to properly write a scholarship application essay presented by Amanda Stone, BC’s scholarship manager, on Monday, Nov. 9.
Scholarship applications, which opened on Oct.1 and will remain open until Feb. 1 of next year, are a very useful resource for college students. Students who may not be able to afford the costs of college, or may need a little bit of financial help, can apply for a scholarship to hopefully take some pressure off of them.
The workshop, which lasted around 30 minutes, explained how the BC scholarship application was composed of 15 questions, with three of those being 100-word personal statements (and an optional fourth one.)
“Hopefully after this presentation, I hope that students will feel safe and be able to finish these essay prompts without any issue,” Stone said.
The first prompt has applicants discuss their background and how that influenced their educational goals. Were you the first member of your family to attend college? Are you a single parent? Are you beginning your college career as an adult? The committee wants to know why going to college is important to the applicant specifically.
The second prompt has applicants discuss their educational and career goals in detail. The committee wants to know why the applicant is in college in the first place. What are your main goals? What are your plans after graduation? What is your dream job? These are all questions that an applicant should be asking themselves and addressing in their essay.
The third prompt has applicants discuss any unique circumstances that would make them an ideal candidate for a scholarship. This is the part of the essay where applicants should talk about any unique financial issues, challenging life expenses, etc. The committee is looking to know how a scholarship would help the applicant specifically.
The workshop also explained that the best applications tell a real story and let the committee see into the applicant’s world. It was also encouraged to be specific in your writing and avoid cliches, general statements, and typos. Reading your essay out loud will also help see if your essay is good enough to send in.
To access the BC scholarship application, students can go to bakersfieldcollege.edu/apply4money, which also links to the FAFSA and DREAM Act applications.