Zinch.com's Three Sentence Essay Scholarship
Requirements: Brevity
Amount: $1,000
How to Apply: Create a profile at Zinch.com, then head to www.zinch.com/scholarships/weekly to get the question of the week.
Forget long-winded papers. Every week, Zinch hands a cool thousand to high school and college student site members who can answer questions such as, "How has a past disappointment inspired you toward a future success?" in 280 characters or less.
Essays rule the scholarship world. Besides having to write one for the majority of your scholarship applications, give others a try, such as the Profile in Courage Contest at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum website at www.JFKlibrary.org. And just for reading an essay and taking a test, the American Fire Sprinkler Association enters you into a drawing for a chance to win $2,000. Go to AFSAscholarship.org.
When composing your award-winning essay, Janet Erickson, director of financial aid and enrollment services at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver, advises students to focus on the essay topic as well as what makes them unique.
"(Students) have to think what makes them stand out among other people," she says. "It's also a good idea to have someone proofread it."