Will Submitting a Subpar Scholarship Essay Hurt My Application?

[kchopz]

I was planning on applying for some public interest scholarships, because I am genuinely interested in both working to further the public interest and saving money. But, as I started writing my essays, I realized that my chances of getting a public interest scholarship might not be great, because I don't think my essays will be that great. My main question is: if I submit a scholarship essay that's not as good as the rest of my application, will it reflect poorly on me as an applicant and diminish the chances that I get in and/or get any other kind of financial aid? Or will they look at the scholarship application as a separate matter?

As way of explanation, the problems I'm facing with my scholarship essay are due to the following 3 main reasons:
1. My summer internships in college were PI-related and I've done a fair amount of volunteering and continue to volunteer, but the job I'm in now (I graduated from undergrad in 2017) isn't PI-related. Makes it harder to make a case when your only real full-time job is not PI-related.
2. Most of my volunteering and some of my internships have been in a related field, but not all of it has been, which makes it harder to write a cohesive essay about my specific background in PI stuff.
3. The related field I've worked/volunteered in is in youth mentoring, and I don't really feel that interested in juvenile law or anything like that, so even if I were to try to write an essay about my specific background, it wouldn't really work for the type of law I'm interested in.

Any suggestions/comments/ideas? Thanks in advance!!

[cavalier1138]

It may vary by school, but my understanding is that scholarship essays are usually not reviewed by the admissions committee.