9 Tips for Writing an Essay About Yourself

You know yourself better than anyone else, but writing about yourself can still be tough!
When applying for scholarships or to college, essay prompts can feel so general (and yet so
specific!) that they leave us stumped. So we’ll show you 8 tips to write an essay about yourself,
so that you can land more scholarships. (Going Merry makes applying easy.)

 1. Create a List of Questions

 2. Brainstorm and Outline
 3. Be Vulnerable
 4. Use Personal Examples
 5. Write in the First Person
 6. Don’t Be Afraid to Show Off…But Stay on Topic!
 7. Show Personality
 8. Know Your Audience
 9. Proofread and Edit!

1. Create a List of Questions

After reading through the scholarship essay prompt, breathe, and make a list of smaller questions
you can answer, which relate to the big essay prompt question.

Let’s say the main essay prompt question asks you, “What were challenges or barriers you had to
work to overcome?” Then the smaller questions might be something like:

 What is your background? Family, finances, school.

 What was challenging about that background?
 What’s your greatest accomplishment? How did you get there? How have previous
challenges influenced your goals?

Think of these questions as mini-prompts. They explain your story and help you answer the main
essay prompt with more details than if you just answered it without a plan in place.

2. Brainstorm and Outline

After considering smaller questions, it’s time to brainstorm your answers. Take out a pen and
paper – or open up a document on a computer – and take your time in answering each mini-prompt.
Organize your responses in order:

1. Intro to main essay prompt.

2. Answer about 3 mini-prompt questions.
3. Conclude by rewriting the answer to the main essay prompt with a summary of your mini-
prompt answers.

This organization will help you stay on topic and answer the prompt directly.
3. Be Vulnerable

Don’t be afraid to let your strengths, challenges, and personal stories shine through in your essay!
Scholarship and admissions committees love to see that you’re self-aware how you can improve
as a person, or how you’ve grown because of your experiences. Honest writing can help tell the
best stories (in this case, YOUR story).

4. Use Personal Examples

Since this essay is all about you, you should make your answer as specific as possible! Avoid using
generalizations (e.g., “I’m really good at music). Instead, go for more personalized statements
(e.g., “My fourth-grade teacher Ms. Matay really inspired me to pursue my interest in the
clarinet”). Your personal examples are what will help your scholarship essay stand out among the
thousands of applicants.

5. Write in the First Person

You’re telling your story, so write from your perspective! You can narrate your story. You can
provide an overview of what you learned from your experiences. However you choose to answer
the prompt, we recommend writing in an active tone, and using “I” and “me” throughout your
essay.

6. Don’t Be Afraid to Show Off…But Stay on Topic!

Most students worry about bragging in their essay, but we say go for it! This is your time to shine,
so highlight your accomplishments and strengths. Review your essay to make sure that you’re
keeping the tone informative and that you’re still on topic. (Brag while answering the essay
prompt; don’t just mention random, unrelated but impressive facts about yourself!)You can
use this brag sheet where you can brainstorm your accomplishments. While the worksheet is
geared toward requesting letters of recommendation, you can still use it to write out your hobbies,
interests, college list, and strengths to help you answer your scholarship essay prompt.

7. Show Personality

Just because it’s an essay doesn’t mean it has to be dry and boring. This essay is all about you, so
let your personality shine through. If you’re the class clown, you can use a bit of humor. If you
wear your heart on your sleeve, don’t be afraid to show emotion. Trying your best to express who
you are as a person will have a huge effect on the admissions or scholarship committee!

8. Know Your Audience

If you’re applying for a scholarship, research the scholarship provider. If you’re applying to
college, research the school. Understanding what makes the provider/college unique and what their
motivations are, will allow you to incorporate that information in your essay. For example, many
scholarships are funded by private companies that sell products. You might want to reference those
products in your essay. A good example of this is Emily Trader’s essay for the Life Happens
organization, where she uses her personal narrative to explain the importance of insurance
planning, since that is the mission of the organization (which is funded by insurance companies).

9. Proofread and Edit!

The last step in answering your essay prompt is to double-check your work! One typo can be
distracting and cause scholarship providers to scratch their head while reading the essay. In
addition to proofreading for typos and grammatical errors, also consider whether the sentence or
paragraph structure makes sense. Are you breaking paragraphs in the right place? Are you using
topic sentences well to signpost your main ideas? Does the essay flow? Consider these “bigger”
structural questions too. You might also want to ask a friend, family member, teacher, or guidance
counselor to review your essay. They might catch something you didn’t see the first time around,
and that can really help your essay!

Short Personal Statement by a Student in Education Seeking a Scholarship—

Beinecke Scholarship Personal Essay by Janet Lerner
Passion drips from the lips of the preacher at the pulpit. Passion shakes on the shoulders of the general
during war. Passion clings to the moist brow of the attorney during a heated courtroom debate. The
passions of others, like lawyer and activist Thurgood Marshall, have opened doors for me as an African-
American woman. I am grateful for Marshall’s work over 50 years after the Brown vs. Board of Education
decision, which pushed racial integration in schools and defended the concept that “separate was
inherently unequal.” The devotion of others has inspired and humbled me, and it is with this same passion
that I honor education and service to others today.
My passion for education is steeped in the notion that I believe it literally saved my life in the form of
opportunities that took me out of an unsafe environment. Growing up on the south side of Chicago in one
of the city’s worst neighborhoods was difficult, and I understand now it could have been much worse.
Gangs had a wealth of power, drugs permeated the streets, and young girls were cautioned to watch for
“Stranger Danger.” I could not play outside, so instead I read. I made friends with Alice in Wonderland, or
Huck on the Mississippi, Pip in England, and John Steptoe’s “Black Cinderella”—Nyasha in Zimbabwe. My
mother, seeing the passion for knowledge in me as a young child, enrolled me in a magnet elementary
school on the other side of Chicago, to which I would ride the bus for two hours a day. There I flourished
and soon I was recruited to test for entrance into the Pre-International Baccalaureate Program, a
curriculum that prepared gifted and talented students for the International Baccalaureate Program in high
school. I had been given an opportunity to pursue a high quality education in a public school, a chance
some African-Americans, in their devotion, had died for to guarantee.
The passion I have to serve others has its roots in my high school experience, during which I noticed some
pivotal points of interest. At my high school, African-American students composed a small percentage of
those placed in gifted education, with most students being labeled “regular education students,” who
were poor pupils from the area’s housing projects. They had fewer resources and opportunities to pursue
college preparatory work when compared to their white or wealthier counterparts, and it was no secret
that the “regular” kids were at the bottom of the totem pole. It became clear to me as I listened to others
berate them that they were not expected to go on to college. As an African-American student in a gifted
program, I had access to a wealth of resources. I felt angered that my peers were excluded from the
smorgasbord of knowledge, which many others were encouraged to partake in freely. It was the first time
I was mature enough to see the inequities of education, my prized and valued yellow brick road. Passion
to enact change welled in my stomach and stayed there.
As a beginning college student at rural Mythic University I continued to experience injustice. Professors
seemed surprised at my academic abilities, students questioned my worth by muttering “affirmative
action” under their breaths, and white people openly stared at my brown skin on the street. My passion
for change had no choice but to evolve into action. I joined professional organizations like the College of
Education Student Council to voice my concerns, and I formed a new organization, the Multicultural
Education Student Association, when they were not addressed. Through this organization I was able to
form support groups with other students and mentor first-year students of color in the college.
As my education progressed, I decided to fight injustice intellectually in the study of the politics,
economics, and sociology of education, which revealed the reasons why and how disparities occurred in
education and society. In my senior year, I will explore these disparities in my honors thesis research,
which focuses on the ability of students of color and low socioeconomic backgrounds to transition from
community college to four-year institutions. Research-based evidence is a powerful tool to enact change,
and I look forward to gathering this evidence during an upcoming summer internship, during which I will
interview students of color about their experiences.
Currently I challenge myself socially by removing myself from comfort zones. An example of such is my
study abroad experience to occur in the fall semester, 20xx. I have committed to completing my student
teaching requirement at Bognor-Regis University, on the southern coast of England, amidst a culture of
people I have never been exposed to, thousands of miles from home. Despite some admitted nervousness
over the challenge of this experience, my passion for success drives me to overcome any obstacle and
achieve success in every area I venture.
My graduate school experience will be used to seek out knowledge (for which my thirst can never be
quenched) and for research. My research interests include studying factors that affect equal access to
educational resources for students of color in grades K-12 and equality of student access to higher
education. These interests will guide the creation of projects that will lead to real-life applications. I will
also pursue a master’s degree, then a doctorate in Public Policy with a concentration in education and
urban planning. My long-term goal of becoming a policy analyst for the government’s Department of
Education would give me the opportunity to help develop effective public policy in these areas of interest.
W.E.B. Dubois said that a “talented tenth” of educated African-Americans could go forth to enact social
change for the oppressed. I believe I am a living example of Dubois’ passion-filled dream. My passion has
given me the power to propel that social change in an often unjust society. For all of those denied
opportunity I want many more to receive it. If awarded the Beinecke Scholarship I would use this support
to explore, research, and contribute treasures to the field, valuable not only for their intellectual depth,
but also because of their social implications for a better society and America.