Hey guys, thanks for this amazing forum. My friend told me about this webpage, and I hope to get some help from you all. I am pasting my GSS scholarship essay, for achieving funding at the LSE. Please flow your comments in! Here is the essay:
"This statement is towards my application for Graduate Support Scheme.
Orthodox public opinion views 'Nadars' to be successful migrants, who have used their entrepreneurial talent to amass huge wealth. While this is true to a large extent, my family has a different past to speak about. My dad, as a 16 year old born in a village in southern India, dropped out of school and moved into the nearest city in our province with dreams of developing a business. While he was able to weather through the nascent stages of handling a business successfully, bad times struck in a quite a few years eventually showing it's whole brunt by around a decade and a half. The vanishing demand for our business' products, and the huge burden of debt servicing eventually led us into complete bankruptcy in 2000. With my dad's bitter business experience in the background, I spent most of my time in childhood with my mother. Ailing from a village, with no formal english education and being a school drop-out herself, she always made it a point to stress on me the financial uncertainties my family went through, and that education was the only sure way to a better life. From being a very average student in the first few years of my school days, I worked my way up through sheer hard-work and topped my class in the final year of my primary education. Being awarded the Britannia Star Champ Award for the same has been one of the happiest moments for my mother with her son. Although I excelled in academics, I was always shy to participate in extracurricular activities until my teachers encouraged me to participate in an intra-school quiz competition. Winning the same gave me immense confidence and made me explore new talents within me.
As I went on further with my schooling years, my dad's financial problems worsened and we had to face up with the hard reality of paying off the huge outstanding debts, failing which legal sanction was the only other option left. In order to aid me and my two sisters in our schooling, my parents had to make more hard decisions. With no savings to provide for the future, and the clutches of debt swirling around, my parents were forced to seek the help of my uncle to fund our education. Recognizing my troubles and the promise that I showed in my academic performance, my school nominated me as a candidate for a scholarship programme from Reynolds. Though I was able to make it into the final stage of the selection process, my profile was not able to make the cut. With circumstances around me being very disturbing, I still managed to pass through them with a lot of encouragement and assurance from my parents. My days in secondary and high school were intellectually-stimulating, as I learned to look beyond my school books and seek other sources of knowledge. I was lucky enough to find my passion for history early in life and it showed in my academics too--my score in the history paper of my board exam was just a whisker short of that of the State topper. It was then only natural for me to choose to major in history at the undergraduate level. Apart from studies, I was also a playing member of my school's basketball team which won various tournaments in the zonal and the inter-zonal levels.
It was during the long summer break, before joining college, that I got exposed to a local study and debating circle. The debates there were mostly centered around politics, history and economics. I got particularly engaged with discussions on the history of business cycles, which further urged me to look into books on economic theory. I began reading important economic works of various schools of economic thought and realized that I could better understand and interpret historic economic events with a strong theoretical background in economics. As I went into college after the eventful summer, apart from doing very well in academics, I also got myself into self-reading a lot of books on economic theory and economic history. To be particular, I have read over a hundred books in the past two years, and applied the immense knowledge I gained to write a book on my own, named "The Political Economy of Spontaneous Order". In the book I discuss various issues, like the benefits of voluntary inter-personal exchange, history of paper money, the nature of goods, the theory of value and interest, the role of economic calculation in the rational allocation of the economy's resources, business cycles theory etc., apart from the analysis of time as a primary factor of production, which I believe, is something pretty unique about my work.
As a college student I have worked hard in gaining more knowledge about my subject, and excelled in academics. I have been the topper in my class in both the years I have completed until now, and was awarded the Lord Pentland Prize by my college recognizing my academic achievement. Apart from excelling in academics, I have also played a considerable part in the student body administration in my college. I contested the student body elections and won my place into the College Union Society (CUS). Being a part of the CUS has given me the opportunity of organizing student affairs in my college, which has been a huge learning experience in itself. I have also been a trusted student among the teachers in my department, which is reflected well in their collective decision to make me a member of the History Association of our college, as well as appointing me as the editor of my department's newsletter project. In the various positions that I have held in my college, I have been able to organize various events of importance and I believe these opportunities have tested my leadership and organizational skills to the maximum extent and helped my self-confidence. Apart academic and organizational activities, I have also won laurels for my college being a part of my college's quiz team winning three inter-college quiz competitions held at other colleges.
My plan in the long-run is to build a career in research surrounding economic history, and I wish either to join the academia or work with think-tanks in the field. In the next few years my objective is to pursue research in my area of interest, which centres mostly around the effects of fiat money debasement in Latin America and choice in private currencies in the appropriate context. I believe one can explain the periods of economic crises that have pestered Latin America in the last few decades with the help of Hayekian business-cycle theory in the background (about which I have also discussed in my book). I wish to spend my next year under Professor Colin Lewis at the LSE in order to kick-start the research work that I plan to carry forward in the coming years. Another project that is close to my heart is that of sketching a book on the history of economic thought, mainly emphasizing on the growth of economic thought before the times of Adam Smith. I believe working under Professor Mary Morgan can aid me in accomplishing my goal.
I must say that without receiving funding, I will not be able undertake study at the LSE. Hoping my credentials are strong enough to deserve funding, I would like to finish my essay here."
Although I excelled in academics, I was always shy to participate about participating in extracurricular activities...
To be particular, I have read over a hundred books in the----It's not particular; it's an estimation, so I took out those unnecessary words. Reminds me of... I remember a song by Bobby McPheren where he says, "I like to get up early in the morning, before 6AM to be exact." And I remember thinking, hey, that is not exact!
This essay is so distinct and impressive. I really hope it is well received and that you get the aid. Is it the appropriate/recommended length? You obviously have lots of potential. Good luck!
