The 10 Dos and Don’ts of College Application Essays
The college application season is upon us, and for many high school seniors, the essay prompt can be one of the most stressful parts of the process. It’s your chance to shine beyond grades and test scores, to tell your story, and to convince admissions officers you’re a perfect fit for their campus. But where do you even begin? How do you avoid cliches and write something that truly stands out?
This blog post will be your guide to crafting a college essay that shines. We’ll talk about the essential dos and don’ts, from choosing the right topic to ensuring your writing is polished and impactful.
10 College Application Essay Dos
1. Work on an extraordinary introduction
A compelling introduction would draw the reader’s attention and anchor it for at least some of the next paragraphs. Let’s face it, admission officers who review essays have a lot on their plate during admission season and are full of clichés in applications. If you’re not able to make a mark from the very beginning, it’s highly possible that the essay and application you worked so hard for could be disregarded just like that.
2. Research overused topics
Volunteer work done under mission trips and other volunteering experiences, travel experiences, tragedies, or hardships have become overused topics and are very easy to come across these days. It might be true that these experiences carry a lot of meaning for you. In this case, what you mean to draw from these experiences and what you want to be the defining aspects of these narratives must be genuine and unique to counter the ubiquity that comes with these themes and subjects. If your essay doesn’t meet these guidelines, it is best to sidestep these topics from the very start.
3. Include part of a story
Very commonly, students end up describing the setting and background more than the insights that they filter from these events and stories. It is important to filter what changes an event has brought into your life, how it has changed or reinforced your perception of something, and how it has made you understand yourself better. More importantly, how does all of this connect to and become relevant to your application? All in all, highlight the inflection point and how it helped you, rather than focusing on the narrative.
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4. Follow the word limit
Word limits are imposed on application essays mainly to create a fair playing field for all the students. It is important to respect the word limit. Your essay should cover all aspects of the common app essay prompt and still retain all the basic qualities of a decent essay—replete with an appropriate introduction, comprehensive details and explanations of the points that follow, and a conclusion that leaves a lasting impression.
5. Give a complete picture of who you are
Your college essay is your one chance to show who you truly are and how constructively different you are from others. And it’s quite possible that there might be more than one quality that sets you apart from the crowd. Be sure to include some bits of all your unique attributes in proportion to their relevance and importance. Attributes that revolve around highly sought-after skills must be emphasized. If you feel your qualities can create a comical effect or offer a glimpse of your style of humor, include them, but don’t force-feed them in the essay.
6. Be honest
Faking it till you make it is probably not the best way to approach college application essays. You should draft your essay with the presumption that admission officers are experienced professionals who have a knack for separating the wheat from the chaff and telling genuine and credible essays from copied ones. It is best to not beat around the bush and keep things simple and honest. If your first essay draft doesn’t come off as striking or captivating enough, it’s best to go back and take some time to reflect more about the prompt before jumping in and writing the first thing that comes to mind.
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7. Show your knowledge of the college
Whether or not you should include bits of information that hint at or directly talk about specificities about the college depends, to a great extent, on the prompt that you are tasked with. You should only do this when it is really relevant to what you are writing, and even then, it’s best to keep it brief and subtle. It’s best not to force something in.
You can express your inclination for the college by showing that you cared enough to research more about it. You can subtly do this by referencing specific programs or departments, highlighting campus resources, facilities, and events, or simply connecting college values to your own.
8. Covered everything the prompt sought to elicit
It is easy to drift off from the subject matter sometimes when writing essays, especially when you’re on some of the initial drafts. It is important to show that you can think and write lucidly and cover all aspects of your narrative within the given constraints. Your essay cannot revolve around just one theme; of course, one of the themes will have to serve as an anchor, but that doesn’t mean that is all you should write about.
9. Seek feedback
Feedback from your college counselor or just about any person who you think will be able to offer a neutral yet encouraging perspective could become a useful addition to your essay-writing process. These people might help you identify blind spots in your write-up, avoid errors, and, more importantly, act as validating and reassurance mechanisms. Don’t fixate entirely on others’ opinions, but be sure to reflect upon their impressions and ponder over the ways things could be tweaked or improved here and there.
10. Proofread meticulously
A mistake might exhibit poor attention to detail, and if there are multiple errors, it might reflect very poorly on your candidature, even if the quality of the essay exceeds the average. Don’t rely solely on spell check to help you with errors; go beyond that by including applications like Grammarly, Ginger Software, etc. Spelling errors aren’t the only errors you might make while drafting your essay. Using additional grammar-correction services online could help fix punctuation and dangling errors if they appear.
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10 College Essay Don’ts
1. Avoid redundancy
A major drawback of talking about your achievements and activities that have already taken place in your resume is redundancy. By including them, you forgo useful writing space since it’s eating into your essay space and limiting the scope of personalization and ingenuity you can bring in. This would offer limited insights about your character and personality to the reader, limiting the broadness of the context. Moreover, describing your resume can be low engagement.
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2. Overload with volunteer experience
Volunteer experience from mission trips and other volunteer initiatives surely deserves mention in your essay if they have the required depth and offer a unique understanding of yourself. If these experiences are too much of what is already in the mainstream, you miss differentiating yourself from the crowd and have less room to talk about some of your more important and personal accomplishments.
3. Overuse the thesaurus
Employing an excessively intricate and grandiloquent lexicon in college essays can obfuscate the central concepts, rendering them enigmatic and inscrutable to readers, thereby diminishing the perspicuity and cogency of the writer’s discourse.
Did you find the paragraph difficult to comprehend? Similarly, the overuse of complex words will take the simplicity and genuineness out of the essay. This will reflect poorly on your candidacy and might come off as overly desperate and underconfident. Remember that the uniqueness of your passion project ideas and your process of getting to them should make up the foreground of your narrative.
4. Cramming themes and subjects
Drawing from multiple themes will fill space but won’t leave lasting impressions. This could leave your essay bereft of any defining idea or central theme that your narrative hinges upon. It also reflects poor prioritization of concepts and ideas and can undermine your thinking skills. It will also prevent the reader from developing one idea fully or adequately. It’s best to stick to a few key and meaningful themes and ideas and expound more on those as you go forward.
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5. Don’t only tell
Instead of simply describing events or achievements, focus on describing them with vividness and adding personal touches without letting go of lucidity and clarity while writing. Give concrete examples and prioritize the corresponding details you want to add to each example. Create an emotional impact wherever you can and appeal to the senses when describing an event. Having said that, don’t wander off to the tune of vividness; be sure to include subtexts and inferences connecting examples and showing how they relate to the main subject of your writing.
6. It’s not a cover letter
A cover letter serves a very specific purpose—showing the reader how you align with what they want in a person by narrowing your write-up to what you think they want. Cover letters lack a certain amount of depth in terms of reflection, and that’s exactly what sets them apart from application essays, where you have a massive opportunity to be honest, talk about your vulnerabilities, and present yourself as a distinct human being.
7. Avoid generalizations and stereotypes
It is important to choose the specific over the general when it comes to college essays. Avoid stereotypical writing as much as you can, as sometimes it can have a glaring impact. Example: “as a girl, …”, “as a teenager, …” and all that follows should not reflect generalizations, as this can create the impression that you cannot think and form opinions for yourself.
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8. Don’t force yourself to be funny
Humorous writing and a couple of witty statements here and there can do wonders for your application and show your intelligence and personality very strongly. But humor carries with it the risk of misinterpretation, especially when the tone the prompt seeks to elicit is not followed. Try to be authentic in your writing, and include jokes with caution after double-checking their appropriateness, relevance, and whether or not they go with the flow of the overall essay.
9. Seek advice from too many people
Seeking advice from too many people might diminish the personal touch and authenticity that come naturally with your writing. Moreover, conflicting feedback will only leave you more confused, especially when the prompts are open-ended. In some cases, it’s better to trust your instincts and give others’ impressions only an adequate level of importance.
10. Underestimate the power of an essay
Your college application is a window into your character. Other requirements that make up a college application can be assessed and compared with a quantitative approach. But a college essay allows you to create a personal connection with the reader and show those habits, values, and qualities that don’t make it in your resume, grades, and test scores. It is thus imperative that you give college application essays the importance, time, effort, and reflection they deserve.
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From the Desk of Yocket
Crafting a standout college application essay is an art form. It’s a chance to leap off the page and show the person behind the grades and test scores. However, don’t write what you think admissions officers want to hear. Instead, talk about a genuine experience, a passion that defines you, or a challenge you’ve overcome. This personal narrative allows your voice and personality to shine through, creating a connection with the reader. Cliched topics and generic life lessons fade into the background; a story that resonates with you will resonate with others.
On the other side, there are pitfalls to avoid. Don’t get bogged down in negativity. Challenges are great for essays but focus on your growth and resilience. Don’t be afraid to show vulnerability, but maintain a positive and proactive tone. Remember that clarity and conciseness are your allies. Structure your essay with a clear introduction, body paragraphs that build on your central theme, and a strong conclusion that leaves a lasting impression. Proofread meticulously. A single typo can create a sloppy impression that overshadows your hard work. Additionally, leverage Yocket for valuable insights, peer feedback, and expert guidance throughout your college application process.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a college application essay be?
A college application essay should be under the 650-word limit for the main essay (unless it mentions a range specifically). Aim to stay close to that limit without sacrificing quality.
What if I have writer’s block?
First of all, take a break! Brainstorm with friends, read inspiring stories, or freewrite without worrying about structure.
How important are grammar and mechanics for a college application essay?
It’s very important! Proofread meticulously, and have someone else review your essay for typos and errors.
Can I write in a casual tone for a college application essay?
Maintain a formal tone while still injecting your personality. Think professional, but engaging.