Edition 52

Write the R ght Essays
Akanksha Tanwar, IT, 3rd Year
A step-by-step guide on how to write the proper essay answers!
If you are someone seeking to apply for the upcoming scholarships, fellowship programs, or simply just want
to hone your essay writing skills- you’ve landed on the correct page!
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1.
Ideate and Think
Before you start answering your essay questions, it is essential to have some facts about the
organisation and, in particular, the program up your sleeve. Read a few blogs about it, or maybe
watch a video or two! Researching would get you pepped up for applying to the opportunity and
make you ten folds more excited about it. This way, you’ll also get hold of an idea regarding the
kind of people the review committee is looking for.
Draft Soon
Many people want to perfect their answers and want absolutely no error while writing
them for the first time, which ultimately leads to a lot of procrastination, missed
deadlines and eventually no will to apply. A more plausible road to perfecting your
answers is- Review and Edit. Rather than sitting at once to write your application for
straight 3 hours or so, this approach is way more structured. This eliminates the need
to perfect your answers on the first try. You’ll see your essays evolve and would have
a much more open-minded take on changing your answers drastically.
Support System
Once you’ve written your first draft, you can subsequently oscillate between your
friends, seniors, classmates or pretty much anyone you can get a hold of, to proof-read
your answers, suggest any edits or indentation improvements.
These edits mostly do not require context and can be suggested by anyone with a good
hold of the language.
Connect Early
The process of getting your application reviewed can be hectic.
You need to find people who have been through the process and reached ashore a.k.a.
past scholars. This is the step where your network steps in; it can be safely vouched
that the academic community is uber supportive! You can easily find scholars on
LinkedIn, community groups or program websites. However, they would be bombarded
with applications as you start moving closer to the deadline which can result in your
request turning obscure instantaneously.
To avoid a last-minute rush, follow Step 2!
Some General Good Practices
Stick to the word limit: Do not try to sneak in an extra paragraph or two!
2. Keep it Clean and Simple: Make sure your application is easy to read and
doesn’t have any twisted words or hard to comprehend statements.
3. Avoid Filler Phrases: Completely strike off redundant
achievements, claims (already on your CV) or anything which
isn’t necessary. Every line in your essay should complement the
lines around it!