storytime or scholar session?Answered
(shoutout if youre the person who reviewed my osu essay!)
anyways so im applying to osu and im filling out the supplemental for the morrill scholarship. ill attach the prompt below. anyways so what i ahev rn is an essay abt like scholarly and extracurricular stuff. basically im just bragging. the guy who reviewed my essay asked if i should be more like emotional (like show off myself and not my achievments). i mean theyre getting the personal essay and since this is a scholarship and not just a normal supplemental what should i be doing?
prompt: The Morrill Scholarship Program encourages students to lead with character while making a positive impact on their communities. In what ways have your life experiences and/or endeavors prepared you to be an active Morrill Scholar who will champion scholarship, leadership, and civic engagement while investing in Ohio State’s culture of service reflective of its land grant mission? Please answer fully, and when possible, provide specific examples.
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2 answers
Honestly bragging just with achievements makes you sound like a résumé, not a person. For scholarships like this, they want to see how you think and why you care. Your transcript already proves you’re smart - the essay’s job is to show your values, your story, how you live scholarship and service. If you make it emotional but grounded (like connecting one activity to a personal turning point or a lesson you carry forward), it feels way more authentic. In short: less flexing, more showing what kind of human they’re investing in.
For a scholarship like Morrill, “storytime or scholar session” is a false choice. The prompt is asking how your life experiences prepared you to champion scholarship, leadership, and civic engagement — with specific examples. A list of achievements will not do that, and a purely emotional essay that never shows what you actually did will not do it either.
You already have a personal statement elsewhere. This supplement should not replay it, and it should not read like a second résumé. Try this:
1. Underline the foundation’s words: character, community, scholarship, leadership, civic engagement, land-grant / service. Each paragraph should answer at least one of those words with evidence, not with “I am deserving.”
2. Pick one scene or one body of work that shows those values in action — a responsibility, a project, a constraint you navigated — and draft that before you write a thesis about your leadership style.
3. Then add the scholarly or extracurricular record only where it extends the same story. An award can appear as the outcome of the work, not as the opening claim.
4. End on a near-term contribution at Ohio State, not a closing plea. What would you actually do as a Morrill Scholar?
The reviewer who asked you to “show yourself, not just your achievements” was pointing at this gap. Sincerity here is not a mood. It is one concrete example that a stranger could retell.
If you want a structured first pass once a draft exists, there is a free college application essay grader at college-essay-grader.com/ (1 free grade per day, no signup). It can flag generic language and weak prompt fit. It cannot invent the foundation-specific details; those still have to come from you.
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thanks boo !!!! collegevine will be seeing my new osu scholarship super soon hehe