Click HERE for the assignment's GRADING RUBRIC
Click HERE to access the Prentice School District's Common Scholarship Application
Click HERE for more individual scholarship applications including: Engineers' Assn., Tip Grant, Trytten, WI Police, Plum Creek, etc.
HERE's an interesting podcast from This American Life titled "How I Got Into College"
THE ASSIGNMENT
Your assignment is to thoroughly respond to THREE OF THE FOLLOWING FOUR prompts:
(1) What is your intended major and/or career? Why?
(2) Why do you want to go to college?
(This includes technical school. If the military or a particular, known job/place of employment is in your future, you can alter this question to fit.)
(3) Give an example of an experience that has helped lead you to educational success.
(4) Please, state why a scholarship award would be important to you.
EXPECTATIONS:
DUE: 1/20/2015
While being concise, the prompt must be addressed thoroughly. In the interest of making a gradable parameter, your response must be at least 3/4 of a page long (following all theme requirements... double spaced, 11-pt font, 1" margins, etc.). That said, your responses should not be more than one full page. Each response should be multiple paragraphs.
More important than length, however, is the content of your response. Your character, personality, goals, and/or dreams must come through in your answers. What you choose to talk about is important. Spend some time considering what areas of your life you think will be the most valuable to the admissions/scholarship committee. Avoid getting into too much specific detail about negatively perceived topics (divorce, family issues, legal trouble, etc.), and only introduce these sort of topics if you plan on using them as a tool to express your deep character, incredible strength, unwavering resiliency, and/or other strong personal qualities that will serve you well in your undoubtedly bright future. :) That said, respect your experiences and abilities and be firmly committed to your goals. THE SCHOLARSHIP AND/OR ADMISSIONS COMMITTEES WILL MIRROR THE RESPECT YOU GIVE YOURSELF AND YOUR EXPERIENCES.
As important as what you write about is how you write about it. Allow your voice to come through in your writing (assuming your voice is positive). Choose words and topics that represent you in a positive, powerful way. The confidence, strength, and excitement you express here will be absorbed by the committee that reviews your application. Words have connotations that should be considered. For example: choose "earned" over "got" and "studied" rather than "took."
As a general rule, refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab's "Writing the Personal Statement" page as you work on this. The Purdue OWL is a wonderful resource that I'd like you to familiarize yourself with for future use.