EXCITING NEWS! The 2026 versions of the How to Win College Scholarships ebooks are now available!
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Parents, please join my private Facebook group, Scholarship Help and College Talk for Parents, found here.
College Scholarship Insight is Priceless!
Have you ever wondered what a scholarship essay reviewer thinks about the BEST and the UHHH… not-so-good submissions?
FYI, my How to Win College Scholarships ebooks include a ton of insider information from scholarship judges and essay reviewers. ✅
From the first time I interviewed a scholarship judge over 17 years ago, I was hooked! I realized this information can be GOLDEN when shared with scholarship-searching students.
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with a scholarship essay reviewer who shared her insights and thoughts about the essays she had recently read for an organization offering a LARGE scholarship to students.
Here are her insights from all the scholarship essays she had to read and sort through.
The Biggest and Most Common Scholarship Essay Mistakes
- The essays were full of simple grammar mistakes, and I am NOT a grammar police!
- The storylines in some of the essays were all over the place and the essays were hard to follow.
- The essay prompt was not fully addressed, and some responses had nothing to do with the question students were required to answer.
- The openings were not interesting and did not catch my attention. (Learn how to begin scholarship essays with a HOOK right here.)
What Impressed This Scholarship Essay Reviewer
- The content of the essays that stood out included information about the award and how it would impact the students’ education.
- The students clearly showed appreciation for the opportunity to apply for the scholarship.
- The best essays included stories of “pure grit.” (Learn how important personal stories are in scholarship essays right here.)
- Through their writing, students made it clear how hard they were working to pursue their education and scholarships.
This scholarship essay reviewer also shared that she read each essay through the lens of the background of the organization offering the scholarship and which students were eligible to apply. (I go into detail on how students can “Love the Provider” to impress them and stand out in my ebooks.)
She also shared,
“It was hard! As a mom, I wanted to pick all of them.”
Remember: Scholarship essay reviewers and judges have the student’s best interests at heart.
They review essays and judge scholarships because they want to help students take out as little debt as possible to fund their higher education. Keep that in mind, and take the time to learn HOW to impress them. In my How to Win College Scholarships ebooks, I teach parents and their students how to apply SMART to stand out to the judges. If you are not sure what this truly means, go here right now to learn more.
Applying SMART is vital, and it is how so many students are WINNING scholarships. I cannot stress this enough. Just as it is crucial for students to prep for the SAT and SAT, learning the best ways to apply for scholarships is just plain SMART.
This is from one of my ebook readers and Scholarship Help and College Talk for Parents private Facebook group members:
Open to High School Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors! APPLY NOW HERE
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Monica Matthews is the author of How to Win College Scholarships. She helped her own son win over $100,000 in college scholarships and now shares her expertise with other parents and their students. She truly has “been there, done that” in regard to helping parents and students navigate the scholarship process.
Her method of helping students in finding college scholarships, writing unique and compelling scholarship essays, creating amazing scholarship application packets, and more have taught desperate parents to help their own students win thousands of scholarship dollars. She teaches them how to apply S.M.A.R.T. with outstanding results.
Monica’s scholarship tips have been featured on many prominent websites, and she has been dubbed the “Go-To” expert on college scholarships.
