Apartment Guide looks to help students trying to balance college expenses and costs of living with a $2,500 scholarship.

Possible recipients must write a 500-600 word essay with one question in mind, “What makes a home a home?” Submissions will be reviewed, and 10 of them will make it through the cut. 

The 10 chosen finalists will be required to submit a video, which will go to the public voting stage of the process. The deadline to submit the essay is Nov. 15.

Libby McMillan Henson, a contributing editor for Apartment Guide, shared why her team created this scholarship.

“Apartment Guide helps people through every stage of the process when they are buying an apartment from the mental dream of their home, first apartment searching, money for the apartment, and the neighbors they’ll be living by,” said Henson. “It’s always important to help people make the transition happily and comfortably. We thought it would be interesting to get college students’ experience on what home is to them as some of them are moving away from family.”

Henson explained what her team had in mind when structuring this scholarship.

“We know time is valuable,” said Henson. “We recognize that the expenses of going to school are not insignificant and that there is a big commitment to get through the semester. We also know that some students who have concerns about money have to work while in college. We wanted to make this scholarship nonintimidating and not time consuming.”

Usually, scholarships that require essays are looking for quality writing. Henson puts a greater emphasis on uniqueness.

“We appreciate good writing, but it is not our main criteria,” said Henson. “For this contest, we are looking for originality and good storytelling.”

Henson described students’ reactions to this scholarship.

“I think that we have seen a lot of enthusiasm because entry requirements are not intimidating,” said Henson.

Scholarship Coordinator Rebecca Green shared why the scholarship will have two recipients.

“Given our budget, we were torn between helping more students a little bit or helping one student a lot,” said Green. “Splitting the total amount we had available seemed like a good way to really make a difference while still helping more than one student.”

Green offered words of motivation.

“I would just tell them to put some thought into their essays and not be afraid to think outside the box,” said Green.

To submit a piece for a chance to win $2,500, visit the Apartment Guide website for the guideline and online application.