Hints from the Trenches of Scholarship Essay Judging

[shawthorne44]

I just got done being part of a scholarship essay judging committee.  As I was reading some of the essays I frequently thought, "I hope this isn't from my people (you guys)"   Although none of the ones I read mentioned homeschooling.   But, I thought I'd pass onto you guys what I wish I could have passed onto the parents of the entrants.  

 

1. Have someone new read the essay after you have used spell check.   I'd guess 10% of the essays had a word spell-corrected to the wrong word.  Like "Defiantly" where "Definitely" should be.  There was one child of a physician that thinks the U.S. should provide Medicare to the world.   If the committee discusses what the writer had meant, you won't get a score to pass the first round of judging.  
2. Read the instructions and follow them.  About a third of the essays I read weren't bad, but they still scored low.  These essays had to state the child's goal with supporting statements.  One third never stated a goal.  I suspect that they were generic scholarship essays.   But, with minor tweaking, like inserting a sentence, "My goal is ..."  they would have been fine.  The rest of the essay could have been supporting statements.
3. Have someone with a grasp of grammar proofread the essay.  Grammar is a huge weakness of mine, and if I spot a grammar problem, then it must be bad.  About 10% had that problem.  Remember I rarely spot grammar problems.  
4. If you as a parent are requiring a certain number of scholarship entries, then you need to make reading over the application/essay as part of the requirement.  About 20% were very obviously "My parent / counselor / authority figure is making me submit this."  They didn't even try.   Like two sentence "essays".  

 

My personal resolution is that when DD gets to that age, she will use that writing program criticized for being formulaic.  90% of the kids could have benefited from a formulaic writing program.  

 

It wasn't all bad though.   I've done this for several years and I've never given a perfect score before and this year about 5% got a perfect score from me.   

[Momto6inIN]

 

 

My personal resolution is that when DD gets to that age, she will use that writing program criticized for being formulaic.  90% of the kids could have benefited from a formulaic writing program.  

  

 

Thank you for this! :)

[SunshineMom]

Thank you for posting these helpful suggestions shawthorne44!

Edited January 23, 2017 by Jewels

[mtomom]

I had a similar experience judging essays for a scholarship. I often wondered how kids with such weak writing skills would make it in college. That was in my pre-homeschooling years.

 

I'm curious about what formulaic writing program you're talking about--if indeed you have a specific one in mind.

I just got done being part of a scholarship essay judging committee.  As I was reading some of the essays I frequently thought, "I hope this isn't from my people (you guys)"   Although none of the ones I read mentioned homeschooling.   But, I thought I'd pass onto you guys what I wish I could have passed onto the parents of the entrants.  

 

1. Have someone new read the essay after you have used spell check.   I'd guess 10% of the essays had a word spell-corrected to the wrong word.  Like "Defiantly" where "Definitely" should be.  There was one child of a physician that thinks the U.S. should provide Medicare to the world.   If the committee discusses what the writer had meant, you won't get a score to pass the first round of judging.  
2. Read the instructions and follow them.  About a third of the essays I read weren't bad, but they still scored low.  These essays had to state the child's goal with supporting statements.  One third never stated a goal.  I suspect that they were generic scholarship essays.   But, with minor tweaking, like inserting a sentence, "My goal is ..."  they would have been fine.  The rest of the essay could have been supporting statements.
3. Have someone with a grasp of grammar proofread the essay.  Grammar is a huge weakness of mine, and if I spot a grammar problem, then it must be bad.  About 10% had that problem.  Remember I rarely spot grammar problems.  
4. If you as a parent are requiring a certain number of scholarship entries, then you need to make reading over the application/essay as part of the requirement.  About 20% were very obviously "My parent / counselor / authority figure is making me submit this."  They didn't even try.   Like two sentence "essays".  

 

My personal resolution is that when DD gets to that age, she will use that writing program criticized for being formulaic.  90% of the kids could have benefited from a formulaic writing program.  

 

It wasn't all bad though.   I've done this for several years and I've never given a perfect score before and this year about 5% got a perfect score from me.   

 

[RootAnn]

I'm curious about what formulaic writing program you're talking about--if indeed you have a specific one in mind.

Not the OP, but I'm pretty sure she was referring to IEW.

[shawthorne44]

I had a similar experience judging essays for a scholarship. I often wondered how kids with such weak writing skills would make it in college. That was in my pre-homeschooling years.

 

I'm curious about what formulaic writing program you're talking about--if indeed you have a specific one in mind.

 

Honestly, my daughter is 6 so while I've read some reviews of writing programs while doing general curriculum research the name(s) haven't stuck in my brain.   I seem to remember that there is one that people either like or dislike because it is formulaic.   

 

For this contest, 10% of the score was organization.   So, one giant paragraph would get a zero in that category, which would be enough to knock you out of the running.  Five paragraphs was definitely not required, but three or more was needed to get a good score in organization.   

[8filltheheart]

Honestly, my daughter is 6 so while I've read some reviews of writing programs while doing general curriculum research the name(s) haven't stuck in my brain. I seem to remember that there is one that people either like or dislike because it is formulaic.

 

For this contest, 10% of the score was organization. So, one giant paragraph would get a zero in that category, which would be enough to knock you out of the running. Five paragraphs was definitely not required, but three or more was needed to get a good score in organization.

All students need to be taught the fundamental underlying structure that defines quality writing. Mastering the skeletal structure that organizes a composition into a logically supported argument, however, does not require formulaic writing instruction. For kids who really struggle with organization, formulaic writing instruction is a good first step. But for most kids, it is a stepping stone that can be surpassed by high school.

 

Fwiw, formulaic writing beyond late elementary/early middle school would have weakened my kids' writing skills.