dos and don'ts of college essay writing

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10 College Application Essay Dos and Don’ts

Check out our Just Admit It! Podcast

IvyWise counselors Rachel  and Zach share their top tips on how to brainstorm and write college application essays, and what admissions officers are looking for when they read them on the Just Admit It! college admissions podcast , giving listeners expert insight from former admissions officers.

Writing college application essays is often the most stressful part of the admissions process for students, and as a result many tend to put them off until the last minute.

Delaying your work on college application essays isn’t the best move, particularly because the National Association for College Admission Counseling classifies application essays as the most important “soft” factor, or non-quantitative elements, that colleges consider when making admissions decisions, right behind “hard” factors, or quantitative components, like grades, curriculum, and test scores. And in a year where more colleges than ever are test-optional , soft factors like the essay will carry even more weight in the admissions process this fall.

However, if you’re behind on your college admissions essays, don’t panic. There are a number of steps that students can take to put together the most accurate and compelling personal statements  and school-specific supplements that will help their chances of gaining admission to their top-choice colleges.

Here are some college application essay dos and don’ts for students to keep in mind as they complete their applications before Jan. 1 deadlines.

DON’T use the personal statement essay to repeat your activities list.

This can’t be stressed enough. The personal statement is your opportunity to reveal something about yourself that can’t be found anywhere else in your application — use it! Many students use this essay to expound upon activities or interests that are already heavily demonstrated in their application through courses, the activity list, and more. Instead of reinforcing a top activity or interest, write about something that reveals another dimension of your life or personality. If your top activity is swimming, don’t write about the big championship meet. Find something else that reveals something new and that shows you put a lot of thought into your essay. If your study of AP biology conflicts with your religious views, write about that and how you reconciled the two. Dig deep to find an essay topic that’s meaningful.

DO show a slice of your life.

When developing a topic that reveals something new, find a way to frame the story or idea that shows a slice of your life or the event. Be descriptive and give details that appeal to the senses – taste, touch, smell, etc. When writing about a meaningful experience or event, you don’t have to give a long timeline of events. Instead, give the reader the piece of the puzzle that conveys your message. Particularly when you’re feeling stressed for time, it can be helpful to remember that your job isn’t necessarily to tell a full-length story; it’s to focus on something smaller that demonstrates who you are and what you stand for.

DON’T copy and paste.

With upwards of 25 or more essays to write for a balanced college list of 10-12 schools, it’s tempting for students to repurpose essays across applications if the prompts are similar, especially when working down to the wire. While students can use the same main essay on the Common App for multiple schools, we always recommend that students tailor their supplemental essays to the individual colleges. Telling Caltech why you want to attend MIT is a quick way to end up in the “no” pile.

At the end of the day, attempting to repurpose essays isn’t the time-efficient solution either. While it might seem like a quick-fix, you’ll likely spend more time trying to rework an existing piece than you would if you started from scratch. Instead, give each essay a fresh start and set aside time to give every prompt your all.

DO show your knowledge of the college.

When tailoring responses to individual college prompts, it’s important to use specific details you’ve learned through visiting and research. Not only does this show colleges that you’ve have done your homework, but it also demonstrates your interest in the college – and colleges want to admit students who are likely to enroll. Show your knowledge of the college by mentioning specific courses, professors, places of interest, and more. Show how you fit into the campus culture and how you will impact the community through specific examples.

DON’T say what you think the admissions office wants to hear.

So many students think that they “know” what colleges want from an applicant , and this can have a big influence over their essays. Students will overuse the thesaurus and write about strange topics in an effort to impress and stand out. Instead of writing what you think the admissions office wants to read, write about what you want them to know.

Again, the essay is a great space to reveal something new about you, so stand out by being authentic and showing another side of yourself. For students who feel like they’re pressed for time, being genuine is likely also your most efficient strategy. Forget about trying to concoct a version of yourself that you think the admissions office wants to see and let your authentic personality shine through.

DO use your voice.

Using lofty language and complex sentence structure can make you sound sophisticated, but is that really how you speak? Don’t let your voice get lost in the pursuit to impress readers. Instead, write like you speak – keeping in mind that proper grammar and spelling is still important.

DON’T rely only on spellcheck.

Spellcheck won’t catch every spelling or grammatical error! Take the time to read over all your essays carefully and keep an eye out for things like “out” when you meant to say “our” and other common typos. Especially when you’re short on time, it can be easy to overlook spelling and grammar, but it’s always worth the few extra minutes to make sure you have error-free content. To be extra safe, have a parent or counselor read over the essay, too, to catch any errors you might have missed. Spelling and grammar errors can take away from an otherwise stellar essay – so be mindful.

DO double check that you’ve addressed the prompt.

This is one of the most common mistakes that students make . In the pursuit to write the perfect essay, many forget to connect it to the original prompt. While the Common Application prompts for the main essay are general enough to allow students to write about whatever they choose, it still needs to be clear how that essay addresses the prompt. The same applies to school-specific essays. Check and double check that a clear connection is made between the topic of your essay and the question the prompt is asking.

DON’T panic.

Working down to the wire can undoubtedly be stressful. Instead of beating yourself up for not starting sooner or worrying that you won’t be able to finish everything on time, focus on what you can control. Put all of your energy toward your application essays and devote as much time to writing and editing as possible. Keep tabs on every admissions deadline and prioritize what you will work on first accordingly. Create a strategy for completing every essay and stay accountable to the timeline you’ve created.

DO seek feedback when you can.

While it’s imperative that students write their own essays and use their authentic voice, every writer can benefit from a second set of eyes. Your college counselor can provide valuable insight into how to improve your college application essays, so seek feedback on your drafts as soon as possible.  School-based counselors  have a lot of students to advise and are very busy, so don’t wait!

Essays are an important component in the college application process. While the essay alone won’t gain you admission to your top-choice college, a poorly written one can send you to the “no” pile pretty quickly. Consequently, it’s important to give every essay your all and seek guidance when you need it – especially if you’re feeling overwhelmed leading up to critical deadlines.

If you need additional help with your college application essays, IvyWise offers a number of services designed to help high school seniors with their college applications . Contact us today for more information on our programs for seniors!

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College essay don’ts: 37 Things to Avoid In a college essay

Knowing what not to write about in a college essay is just as important as knowing what to write about!

This post is all about college essay don’ts , including college essay topics to avoid and how not to write your college application essays. 

It’s so important to know what NOT to write about in your college application essay. Whether you’re crafting your essay for the Common App or writing shorter college-specific essays, you need to know how not to write a college essay. 

Choosing the wrong topic for your college application essays could mean that you don’t get admitted to your dream school or you miss out on scholarship money. 

Since you really only have one chance to get it right, you need to know what topics to avoid in your college admissions essays, general college essay don’ts, and what other pitfalls to avoid when writing your college essays.

Essay writing may feel overwhelming and stressful, but knowing what not to do will help you write a great college essay!

What not to write in your college application essay

So you know exactly what not do in college admissions essays, here are 37 college essay tips about college essay don’ts. Follow this advice to know what not to write about in your college essay!

1. Don’t restate the Essay prompt

Start your essay with a hook. Start with dialogue. Start by setting the scene.

Don’t start by restating the essay topic! The reader knows the essay prompts, so just start telling your story. 

A great story will immediately grab the attention of the admission officers and make them want to keep reading!

2. Don’t try to be funny in your college admissions essay

There’s a good chance that what you think is funny may not be funny to the admissions officer. And even if your admissions officer thinks it’s funny, the dean of admissions may not agree.

Clever writing that naturally tells a funny story will get you further than trying too hard to make everyone laugh. 

3. Don’t swear

You might not mind vulgar language, but many people do. It will come off as tasteless and crass. Simply put, curse words should not be part of your college admissions essay. 

4. Don’t just tell the reader what you think

Tell the reader what you did, how you felt, how you changed—not just what you think. Admissions officers don’t want to read about what you think in the abstract.

They want to know what has happened to you in life, how that’s affected you, and what you did as a result. 

Write an engaging, interesting story that shows the reader how you’ve grown and what you’ve learned.

5. Don’t try to Appear perfect

It’s okay that your life is messy and you don’t have it all together. It’s okay that you’re not super organized and you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up.

Your college essay doesn’t need to be about how awesome you are (really, it shouldn’t be!). It just needs to be about the real you. Remember, your personal essay for college should be just that—personal! 

6. Don’t brag

Your achievements are all listed on your resume.

Writing about how great you are, how you saved the day, or how you’re a hero to others is not going to make a positive impression on the reader.

Leave the bragging to the people who wrote your letters of reference. 

7. Don’t emphasize status

Avoid topics that emphasize your financial privilege. Voluntourism trips to aid people living in poverty in far-flung areas of the world is a key example of this.

Don’t write about going on a mission trip to a third world country to volunteer to help the less fortunate and how you learned how privileged you are. Just don’t. 

8. Don’t lie

Don’t inflate your accomplishments. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.

If you write something dishonest in your essay, it won’t match the other parts of your application. If you were found to have been dishonest when writing your essay, you will not be offered admission at that college. 

9. Don’t reveal too much

If you have faced personal challenges, like addiction, mental health struggles, or learning disabilities, those struggles are part of you. You should feel proud of overcoming them.

But your college admissions essay is not the place to share your most deeply personal experiences. 

Some college admissions officers may read about your challenges and want to welcome someone with your tenacity and spirit to their campus.

Unfortunately, most admissions officers will read about your challenges and worry that you will face similar issues at their university. 

Many colleges choose not accept applicants who have demonstrated past mental health issues. This might not seem fair, but it is reality. Don’t hide your true self or be dishonest, but carefully consider how much you want to reveal in your admissions essay about your private struggles. 

10. Don’t write about illegal activities

It’s a safe bet that most colleges do not want to admit students who have a history of participating in illegal activities.

Even if you plan to talk about drug use, alcohol use, jail time, or committing crimes as a way to show growth and discuss lessons learned, illegal activities show a lack of maturity and questionable judgement.

Writing about criminal behavior will not reflect well on you as a candidate for admission. Illegal activities make bad topics for college essays.

11. Don’t summarize your resume

This is one of the biggest college essay don’ts! Your college essay is your opportunity to tell the college admissions office who you really are and what really matters to you.

Your resume already lists your activities, and your transcript details your grades. Your college essay isn’t the place to review these facts; it’s your chance to stand out by telling your story. 

12. Don’t tell a general story

Be specific. In fact, be very specific. Focusing on the details of your story will help make your college essay unique so that it stands out.

A good college essay will tell a story that could only have been written by you—no one else. 

Instead of telling a biopic story of your life, focus on one aspect of your life—your beliefs, a meaningful experience, a key event—that explains who you are and what matters to you. 

13. Don’t write about cliché topics

Avoid writing about the sports victories and defeats. Winning a big game or losing a championship game might mean a lot to you, but sports are common topic and best avoided.

Don’t write about overcoming an academic setback or a romantic breakup.  

14. Don’t write about something controversial

You don’t know who will be reading your college admissions essay, and they might not agree with your views on controversial topics.

Moreover, your reader might not appreciate how you approach a sensitive topic. You might appear close-minded and unempathetic. 

The last thing you want to do is make the admissions officers reading your essay think you would bring discord to the campus community.

15. Don’t undervalue the small stuff

Great essays can be crafted from the small, personal details of daily life.

Don’t underestimate what interesting essays can be written about your morning routine, your favorite family recipe, your relationship with your sibling, or what you do on a snow day. 

In fact, some of the most memorable, best essays have been about a random item, food, or daily routine.

16. Don’t go negative

Criticizing other people, your current school, or anything else will probably just make a bad impression on your readers.

Don’t whine about your life. Negativity says more about you and how you perceive the world around you than it does about anything else. Certainly don’t criticize the college you’re applying to!

If you do want to write about negative experiences you’ve had, quickly move on to discussing what you’ve learned or how you’ve grown as a result of those experiences.

17. Don’t be pompous

Never assume that you know better than your readers or that your approach is the only way.

Don’t tell your reader what they should think. Avoid making generalized value judgements. 

18. Don’t go completely off topic

Don’t try to stand out by submitting a poem or creative writing sample.

Write a thoughtful, well-crafted essay about yourself, just like they asked for.

Show that you respect the school admissions committee’s request and can follow directions. 

19. Don’t ignore the prompt

College admission essay topics are designed to allow you a lot of freedom in how you answer. Craft a story that tells something about you, within the framework of the prompt. 

Just double check that your essay answers the prompt, to make sure you didn’t veer off topic as you wrote and edited the essay. 

Also know that you can write about whatever you’d like to . In your essay writing process, if you find that the first prompt you chose isn’t working out, choose a different one and start again.

20. Don’t get the tone wrong

Your college admissions essay is not an expository essay, formulaic and devoid of warmth. Nor is it the right time for you to use all the fancy words you’ve been studying for the SAT.  

Your college admissions essay should be engaging, show your personality, and sound like you—a teenager reflecting on your life thus far. 

21. Don’t write a trite conclusion

If your essay has done its job, you shouldn’t need to sum it all up for the reader in a neat little final sentence.  

If you have shown your reader what you’ve learned, how you’ve grown, or who you are, you don’t need to say it explicitly at the end of your essay. 

The conclusion is often the hardest part of the essay to get just right, so don’t worry if it’s hard to find the perfect words. Take a break from writing it and come back in a few days to get a fresh perspective on what you’re trying to say.

22. Don’t wait until the last minute to Write

Start writing your college admissions essay weeks, if not months, before its due. Senior year is an incredibly busy time, so it’s a great idea to get started on your college admission essays as early as possible.

Leave plenty of time to think about what you want to say, revise and edit, and finalize the essay. You’ll be amazed at how your essay can improve if you allow ample time to work on it.

If you’re going to apply early decision or early action, consider starting to work on your main essay the summer after junior year, before your senior year even starts, or early in the fall of senior year.

23. Don’t ignore the word count

You don’t want to write too much or too little. Aim to be within a few words of the word limit. Express yourself clearly and concisely.

24. Don’t repeat your resume

When you’re writing your personal statement essay, don’t just repeat your high school resume.

Your personal essay is your chance to talk about an aspect of your personality or life experiences that can’t be found anywhere else in your college application. 

The list of courses you’ve taken (and your grades) tell about your academic interests. So there’s no need to turn your essay into a list of your academic achievements!

Your extracurricular activities show what you’re interested in and how you use your time. If you want to discuss how your extracurricular activities have been formative experiences for you, focus on one particular example. Don’t re-list all your volunteer experiences!

Your personal statement essay should reveal something about you that doesn’t show up in the rest of your application. 

25. Don’t write about an “example” topic

If you have read some amazing examples of college essays, and you’re thinking that you could write on that same topic, don’t.

Chances are, if your English teacher pointed out those examples, or you found them via a Google search, every other high school senior (and every school admission officer) has seen those essays too! 

Instead, dig deep and write your own amazing personal statement !

26. Don’t copy and paste

It’s completely fine to use the Common App to submit your personal essay to every school on your list (as long as they accept the Common App, of course). 

But for each college’s specific essays, tailor your essay to each school. Include specific details about each college that make you want to go there. And make sure your responses are appropriate to the culture of each college. 

If you do copy and paste your essays, be sure the essay doesn’t refer to the wrong school!

27. Don’t overuse the thesaurus

Everyone gets stuck using the same words over and over again, and it’s fine to check a thesaurus when you’re writing. 

But don’t use big words just in an attempt to impress the college admissions officers. Don’t use words you don’t really understand to try to sound smart.

For a great college application essay, write naturally in your own voice and let your true personality show. 

28. Don’t plagiarize

If you’re submitting someone else’s college essay as your own, you’re giving up the chance to share your unique story with the admissions office.

You’re also risking an automatic rejection if you’re caught!

29. Don’t be fake

Use your essay to tell the admissions officers what you want them to know about you.

Don’t try to guess what the admissions officers would like for you to say or try to be someone you’re not. 

Don’t invent a tragic event in your past, claim to have done hours and hours of community service you haven’t done, or exaggerate any aspect of your life.

Be authentic, write with your own voice, and craft an essay that stands out from the other applicants.

Simply take your time to craft a thoughtful essay that tells your personal story. Talk about your unique perspective on one specific experience in your life, using your authentic voice.

30. Don’t write a school essay

Your college admissions essay is not a five-paragraph expository essay that you would write for English class.

A winning college essay should have a beginning and an end, but the part in the middle should tell a good story, not make an argument in three points. 

The expository essay style of writing might be what your English teacher wants, but it makes for bad college essays.

For a college application, a well-written essay will examine your personal growth, your unique experience in life, and the different perspectives through which you see the world. And you should do this by crafting an intriguing story about a specific moment or experience that was significant to you.

31. Don’t Avoid feedback 

If you’re feeling stuck, feel free to ask someone else—a teacher, parent, family member, or friend—to read your essay. Getting feedback on your entire essay is the best way to get a sense of how admissions officers will respond to reading it.

Feedback does not mean that they tell you what to write or how to write it.

Feedback should mean getting input from someone else can help you learn where your essay veers off point or where you need to dig deeper to tell a better story. 

32. Don’t skip editing

Please allow enough time to write AND edit your essay. Ideally, you will write a first draft of your essay, then edit it, then get feedback, then edit it again, then write a final draft (then proofread it—see below). 

Expect to write at least three or four, and maybe many more, drafts of your college application essay. Your essay will improve with each round of editing.

The essay writing process can be time consuming, but in the end you’ll have a strong essay to share with college admissions offices, so it will be worth it!

33. Don’t overedit

What? Didn’t I just tell you to edit?

Yes, absolutely. Just be sure that after you’ve shown your essay to trusted readers and you’ve made your edits, your story still remains.

The essay should still have your voice and should tell the story you want to tell. 

34. Don’t skip proofreading

After you make your edits and write a “final draft,” you might want to click send and submit your essay. But not so fast! 

Take time to do a final proofread of your essay.

Better yet, ask a teacher, college counselor, or someone with excellent grammar and spelling skills to proofread your essay. Having a fresh set of eyes on your essay will help ensure it is error-free. 

35. Don’t just rely on Spellcheck

It’s really important to have an actual person proofread your essay.

Spellcheck and other editing software won’t necessarily catch grammar errors, typos, or poorly structured arguments.

It’s always a good idea to trust the final proofread of your essay to a person, rather than technology. 

36. Don’t submit your essay at the last minute

You never know when a website will get glitchy!

Don’t take a chance that the Common Application or an individual university’s website won’t act up at a crucial moment. Do your best to upload your college essay at least a day before it’s due!

The admissions process is stressful enough without adding in technical errors. Don’t risk missing the deadline by procrastinating!

37. Don’t submit an incomplete essay

When you’re in the Common App website or a specific college’s application portal, and you attach your admission essay, scan it quickly before hitting the submit button.

Be sure you attached the correct file or that the complete essay transferred when you copied and pasted it into the online form.  

It won’t matter if you write a great essay if you don’t submit it correctly!

Final thoughts on college essay don’ts and what not to write in your college essay

Personal essays are a key part of the college application process. College admissions counselors, especially at smaller colleges, use college essays to learn more about the applicants applying for admission at their school. 

An amazing college essay might not make up for bad grades or a lack of extracurriculars, but a poorly written essay may push your application into the reject pile. This is especially true now that test scores are usually optional.

Successful essays allow admissions officers to learn about your personal qualities, your take on global issues, and how you might contribute to campus life.

Writing a great college admission essay is the most important thing you can do to make a great impression on the admissions team.

After looking at so many college applicants, test scores, GPAs, and awards all blend together. It’s the personal essays that stand out when admission counselors are deciding which high school seniors will be accepted.

So, it’s worth taking your time to write the best college admissions essays you can.

By avoiding all these college essay don’ts, you’ll know what not to write in your college essay. 

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Graduate of Brown University, higher ed professional, and mom of three. Sharing everything I’ve learned about college with you.

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Getting College Essay Help: Important Do's and Don’ts

College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

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Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, what are some dos and don'ts for writing a college essay.

Hey everyone! I just started working on my college essays and I'm feeling a bit lost. Can you give me some advice on the dos and don'ts for writing an engaging and effective college essay? Thanks in advance!

1. Be authentic: Write about something that truly matters to you and showcases your genuine self, not what you think the admissions officers want to hear.

2. Focus on a specific story or moment: Instead of trying to cover a broad range of experiences, choose a single event, experience, or memory that highlights your growth or a unique aspect of your personality.

3. Engage your reader: Start your essay with a hook, an anecdote or a question that will grab their attention from the very beginning.

4. Use specific details: Vivid descriptions and concrete details can help your essay come to life and create a more memorable impression.

5. Revise and edit: Make sure to go through several drafts, have others proofread it, and edit for clarity, grammar, and punctuation.

Don't:

1. Rely on clichés: Steer clear of well-trodden essay topics like sports injuries, immigrant stories, and moving to a new school, unless your perspective on these topics is unique or extremely personal.

2. Write for the admissions officers: Don't try to guess what the admissions officers want to hear. Be honest about your experiences and opinions.

3. List accomplishments: Your essay is not a resume. While your accomplishments may be impressive, the essay is an opportunity to showcase your personality rather than simply listing achievements.

4. Plagiarize or use excessive quotes: Be original and ensure that the essay is written in your own voice, rather than relying on the words of others.

5. Overdo humor or sarcasm: While humor can make your essay more engaging, be cautious in its use, since humor can be subjective. Overdone sarcasm may create a negative impression.

Ultimately, the key to a successful college essay is to be genuine and let your personality shine through. Keep these tips in mind as you craft your narrative and remember that there's no one-size-fits-all approach. Stay true to yourself, and your essay is sure to stand out.

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

College Essay Dos and Don’ts

Universities now base over 50% of admissions on the application essays. We’ll help you crack the code.

Writing college application essays is one of the most intimidating parts of the admissions process. They’re also one of the most important components of your application.

Your essays are your best chance to address admissions officers directly. Essays help you stand out from thousands of other applicants, showcasing your unique story and “pitch” to the college of your dreams.

We’ve compiled a list of dos and don’ts to help you craft a killer college essay :

What not to do in your college essay

• Don't list your accomplishments. While admissions officers want to hear about how great you are, accomplishments don’t reveal you (listing them may reveal cockiness or boastfulness). Thoughtfulness, introspection, and even vulnerability, reveal you. Besides, there is already a place on the application to list your accomplishments.
• Don't try to cram too many themes or subjects into an essay . Keep it simple. Oftentimes, the best essays are the ones that manage to tell a straightforward but effective story on one theme. One is plenty!
• Don't try to write something you think colleges will like. Readers can tell when writing is overly calculated or even worse—made up. Don’t try to write about something that didn’t really happen to you! Be authentic. Think about something that was meaningful to you and tell the story.
• Don't tell your story to an admissions officer ! Tell your story to a smart friend. Many students freeze up and write in a stiff, overly formal way when they imagine an admissions officer reading it. When you speak to friends, it’s honest and authentic, even if delivered in simple language. This voice will always make for a better essay than anything overly verbose or academic.

• Don't “go for laughs” because you heard it helps (which it can). Comedy, especially in writing, is very tricky and subjective. A dash of wit is very welcome (it shows authentic personality and intelligence), but writing a full-on humor essay can fall flat.
• Don't write your essay at the last minute. If you’re having trouble getting started on your essay, make a list of topics, brainstorm with friends, and write a terrible first draft. Good writing takes time to achieve, so get started as early as you can. It doesn’t matter if your essay is bad at first—the more time you have, the more you’ll be able to improve it.
• Don't write about clichéd or common subjects . Such as the death of a pet or winning the big game. Sometimes students have the misguided idea that schools expect a particular kind of essay — a tale of overcoming adversity, a valuable lesson learned, a meaningful exchange with different cultures, etc. If it sounds too familiar, it’s a cliché.
• Don't repeat yourself. Repetition in writing can work well if it’s intentional. You see this a lot in poetry, for example, to create rhythm and to linger on an idea or image. Because your college essay has a word limit, however, keep it as concise as possible. Unnecessary repetition is a tell-tale sign of sloppy writing, so make sure your essay is as tight as it can possibly be.
• Don’t waste words. For example, instead of saying, “I remember when I was five,” simply say, “When I was five.” Be careful about unnecessary adverbs — words ending in -ly, like quickly or abruptly. Too many words like just, very, really, etc. can weigh down your writing. Have a teacher or tutor edit your essay for wordiness if you’re having trouble with this.
• Don’t underestimate the power of a killer essay. It bears repeating that the essays are a major factor in college admissions. They separate one student from others with similar applications for better or worse. The more colleges connect with you on the page, the more they fight to admit you.

What to do in your college essay

• Tell a story about something you care about. When we talk about what we love, our passion and uniqueness comes out and readers connect with who you are at your best.
• Dig for that topic. Brainstorming and finding your best idea are some of the most important parts of the essay process. A sterling topic inspires you to speak with honesty and enthusiasm - but it doesn’t have to be a blockbuster in which you discover the 10th planet. Often, the small, nerdy topics can inspire your best writing, like shopping at Costco . We at Ivy have many writing prompts and worksheets to help you!
• Bare your soul... judiciously. Some of the most powerful college essays are about a personal crisis, family hardship, illness, or depression. If you choose a deeply personal subject, make sure you give the reader the sense that you've come through it and are better or stronger for it. But if that isn't the case, it may not be your best material — schools want to know that you will come to college well-prepared and ready to give it your all.

• Make sure the essay is about you, not someone else. For example, sometimes students write about someone they care about and end up writing more about that person than themselves. In this case, focus on how that person inspired your own values, goals, and strengths. Remember: colleges read your essays to learn about you ; you are the star of your essay!
• Find your own style. Some college essays have dialogue; some have none. Some are narrative-driven; some are contemplation-driven. Some tie into academic interests, and some illuminate a unique aspect of your life and background. There is no right style. A note about “creative” essays, such as an essay made entirely of dialogue, or written from the perspective of your dog. Some schools love students who show such daring and originality and others are more traditional and might look sideways at it. Reach out to admissions coaches and counselors for guidance on what your dream school is looking for.
• Show don’t tell. Admissions readers want a vivid image of you. If you pick up your favorite novels, you’ll notice scenes and sharp, specific details that pull you in. Write in sensory details (what you see, hear, feel, smell, etc.) and avoid generalities and summary — shape moments that will stick in your reader’s mind well after they’ve read your essay!
• Get feedback from people you trust. Strong writing takes helpers! However, choose your advisers carefully, especially when it comes to choosing your topic. Oftentimes parents think they know their kids better than their kids. This may be true, but what parents usually don’t know is the college admissions process. Share your essay with your college counselor, English teacher or one of our admissions coaches - folks who know about college admissions. Lastly, stick to your gut and make the final decision on your own.
• Keep revising! We cannot stress this enough. Your essay might look great to you after just a first draft, but trust us—there’s always room for improvement. We tend to see a strong essay needs a minimum of four rounds of revisions before a final polish, which is why our College Essay Bootcamp and private coaching helps students develop and refine their essays leading up to a final, application-ready version. The secret to good writing is rewriting.
• Go “big” on your story’s theme at the end . And leave your reader with a meaningful note to take with them. Take the theme out of the confines of your narrative and look at it in other areas that excite you: at the level of your whole life, your family, your town, your country, and the world. College is about next-level thinking. Show the readers you’re already doing some.
• Proofread carefully for grammar and spelling. Once you’ve written, read and re-read your essay dozens of times, it’s going to feel impossible to catch your own grammatical or syntactical errors. That’s why it’s so important to have others proofread your essay, not just for spelling mistakes, but also for style and content. If possible, have an English teacher or dedicated tutor proof your essay.

Need help with your college essay?

Reach out! We have several essay writing tutors and our popular College Essay Bootcamp that can help you knock your essays out of the park and present the best of you to the college of your dreams.

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Crafting a Compelling College Essay: Dos and Don’ts

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Way to essay excellence!

Applying to college is a very stressful process, and nothing skyrockets students’ stress levels like the college essay. The college essay is very stressful because, unlike grades and test scores, it’s open-ended. There are a million different ways to write a college essay, and a million possible topics. Students often have a hard time knowing what to write their college essay about. They often don’t even know where to begin! Let’s take a look at some college application essay Dos and Don’ts to help get you on the right track with your college essay.

Dos for your college application essay

Writing a college essay may be daunting, but follow these tips, and you’ll be typing away in no time.

1. Do think about what you want colleges to know about you

Remember: The college essay is your chance to show colleges who you are in your own words. What do you want colleges to know about you? Who do you want to show to them? Take some time to consider what persona you would like to present to colleges. Then, think about what stories or events from your life allow you to showcase best the traits you’re trying to convey.

2. Do use your college essay to tell a story

Do use your college essay to tell a story and make it personal . College admissions officers have to read essay after essay after essay, all day, for months. Telling a story is a good way to help grab their attention. It will also give you the chance to demonstrate your point in a way that is specific, relatable, and memorable. Think carefully about which story will help you articulate your point, and then tell that story in your college essay. Just make sure to be succinct and engaging.

3. Do reflect on the story you tell

It’s not enough to just tell a story from your life. Part of the point of the college essay is to show that you are a mature, capable, reflective thinker. So, after you’ve told the story in your college essay, you have to reflect on it. Why was this story so important to you? How did you change as a result of this story? Why have you chosen to tell it now? Reflection is an important part of your college application essay, and it lets admissions officers see that you have the ability to sit down and grapple with complex ideas.

4. Do leave yourself plenty of time to write your college application essay

Do leave yourself plenty of time to write your college application essay. Good writing takes time – way longer than you think – and several drafts. Start at least three months before the deadline to give yourself time to improve your writing , think and get feedback, and write and rewrite it. It may be a long process, but your essay will come out much more polished if you give yourself enough time to go through several drafts and get useful feedback.

Don’ts for your college application essay

Try to avoid these common pitfalls when drafting your college essay. 

1. Don’t write about a very common college application essay topic

There are a few college essay topics that admissions readers see over and over…and over and over. These include the following:

• The time your team worked very hard and won the big game…or didn’t win but learned a lot
• An important lesson your grandma taught you
• The time you traveled to a different country and learned just how good your own life is

Of course, even though these topics are widely overdone, it is still possible to write about them in a unique and engaging way. But unless you’re very confident that your particular college essay is a fresh take, it’s best to steer clear of these topics.

2. Don’t submit the very first thing you write

It is important to take your time with your college essay. You don’t necessarily want to tell the first story that comes to mind, and you don’t want to submit your very first draft. Give yourself time to edit! Your essay has to fall within the right word limit , so it’s important to take your time so that you can craft the story you want to tell within the proper constraints.

3. Don’t start with the prompts

This is a very common trap that students fall into! Students often read the essay prompts and then try to squeeze themselves into the prompt offered. This is understandable, but it makes you think much more narrowly than you otherwise would. The prompts are quite broad. Pretty much any essay you write could fit into one of them. So, instead of limiting yourself, think first about who you want to come off as and which story about yourself you want to tell . Then, write the essay, then decide which prompt fits. It will definitely fit one. After all, the last prompt in the Common App is a wildcard prompt. You’re allowed to submit any essay or piece of writing you want!

College application essay examples

Let's look at some impactful college application essay starters and topics.

College essay first sentences

One of the hardest things to do is start! Here are some examples of successful college essay first sentences:

• I heard a loud bang. I thought a bird had hit the roof of my car, but when I got out, I saw the front bumper dangling off the right side.
• I swing my pickaxe into the crevice of a rock a few feet above me, praying that it holds when I hoist myself to the next foothold. If it doesn’t, and I lose my pickaxe… I try not to think about it. 
• I thought the town would have changed in the six years since I had left, but as we drove past the old snowcone shop that my mom went to as a kid, I began to think that maybe I was the one who had changed.
• Nine-year-old Isabelle and I stood under the bars, chalk flying around us. 

College application essay topics

Here are a few of the successful college application topics we’ve seen over the years.

• The student who loved working on cars and refurbished an old VW. He illustrated how the lessons he learned from working on his car applied to different parts of his life. 
• The student who reflected on a video she watched in stats class. The video helped her grapple with the balance of effort and privilege she has faced in her own life up to this point.
• The student who reflected on her decision to quit dance used this as an opportunity to explore her personal philosophy and the concept of quitting more generally.

Want more ideas? Here are several more college essay examples.

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We trust these dos and don'ts for crafting a compelling college essay prove valuable in your writing journey. Follow guidelines, revise diligently, and seek feedback. Your essay is a powerful tool; wield it thoughtfully to leave an indelible impression on admission committees.

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College Essay DOs and DON’Ts

• DO give yourself enough time . Some students work well under tight deadlines, but we always suggest you start the essay writing process early enough to spend ample time brainstorming, free-writing, drafting and perfecting. You will need distance and time away from various stages of your draft in order to gain the necessary perspective it takes to make improvements. While many a student has regretted starting their essay the week (or night!) before it was due, we don’t know anyone who complained about starting his/her essay too early.
• DON’T plagiarize . This one should hopefully go without saying . Not only does plagiarism reflect poorly on your character, chances are copying someone else’s words verbatim (or close enough) will not result in an essay that is reflective of your distinctive personality traits and writing style. Believe in your own abilities and create work that is yours and yours alone.
• DO be honest . You are awesome (yes, you). Many of your experiences, when discussed honestly and thoughtfully are absolutely worthy of inclusion in a personal statement. Even if you don’t have kooky, out-of-the-box stories to tell, sincerity counts for a lot in an essay that aims to say something about your personality and values. You don’t need to make things up or exaggerate your circumstances. You are enough. Also, liars get caught.
• DON’T exceed length limit . Attention to detail! An arguably annoying, yet critically important skill that will be relevant in almost any task you tackle in the future. Start this next phase of your life right by paying attention to the length limit. Many applications help you with this detail by providing word-limiting boxes in which you will paste your beautifully written masterpieces. But for those that don’t — beware! Double and triple check these details before submission.
• DO respond to the prompt . You may have that really great story you want to tell, but if no one’s asking for it, writing it won’t do you any good. That said, we find that a wide range of stories, with just a bit of tweaking, can be molded to fit within the boundaries of the Common Application personal statement prompts . Let us know if you need help adapting your chosen subject to the Common App questions. We’ve helped many a student in the story/prompt matching game. That’s what we’re here for!
• DON’T use cliches or overuse idioms . Cliches in college essays get us all bent out of shape . Think you can’t crack the nut of the personal statement without using these over-worn phrases? We don’t buy it. Whenever you find yourself recording a phrase off this list , dig deeper. We know you have it in you! Also, tell your story simply and directly. If you don’t idioms in your everyday speech, don’t try to squeeze them into your essay.
• DO take breaks . Breaks are essential for generating creativity and keeping yourself from getting burned out. Taking regular breaks will keep you on schedule , but don’t take too many! Too many breaks in a row stop being breaks and start being procrastination.
• DON’T rely on spell check . Spell check catches a lot, but not everything. It won’t catch homophones (the famous your/you’re pair, for example) but admissions officers sure will. Plus, giving yourself the chance to proofread in-depth will also allow you yet another chance to make sure you like the way your essay flows.
• DO write about things other than your accomplishments . An essay in resume form is not the best use of your essay space. You can list all the great things you’ve done in other places in the application. Use your essay for reflection, showcasing humor, talking about your passions — anything that isn’t already reflected on your activity sheet.
• DON’T stress out . Stress helped cavemen flee lions, but it may hurt you more than help you when writing your essay. Take a deep breath. Know that one hundred percent of students we speak to, even if they are scared at first, complete their college admissions essays. And call us if you need us. We can help alleviate some of the stress of this process. Dare we even suggest that we make it fun?

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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.

Table of Contents

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.

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Writing the College Essay: Dos and Don’ts

Do: Students should be themselves

To get started, I want to emphasize that students should look upon the college essay as a unique opportunity.

It’s a chance for the writer to reveal something about themselves  that cannot be found anywhere else in the application.

The  New York Times  recently described the essay as:

“[A student’s] megaphone, [their] view of the world and [their] ambitions. It’s not just a resume or a regurgitation of everything [they’ve] done. It needs to tell a story with passion, using personal, entertaining anecdotes that showcase [their] character…interests…values…life experiences… views of the world…ambitions, and even [their] sense of humor… The college essay is about the true things students want the colleges to know about them that can’t be seen via grades and standardized tests.  Are you kind? Resilient? Curious? Creative? Are you any fun? And contrary to popular belief, it’s not about unattainable standards or curing cancer. In fact, a good test of a  college essay is: Can the writer convince the reader that she would make a great roommate?”

College essays are supposed to be  personal statements —and admissions officers are truly interested in just that. They want to get to know applicants as three-dimensional people: they want to see the personality behind the grades; they want to hear the voice behind the activities.

So the best thing students can do in their college essays is to be themselves, not whatever persona they think college admissions officers want.

Do: Students should package themselves

Students should present themselves in the best possible light.

That is, students should want to package themselves.

The student receiving Cs in history class who doesn’t have any extracurricular activities with a historical focus probably doesn’t want to write an essay about his or her love of history!

As much as possible, the essay should compliment the other aspects of a student’s application. A good essay will bind together a student’s academic and extracurricular profile and help present the applicant in a unified way.

Do: Students should sound like themselves

Students also want to sound like themselves – without being inappropriately casual. This is a tricky balance to strike. The personal statement should be more casual in tone than essays written for school. This is not the place for students to show-off their hard-earned SAT® vocabulary! Chris Teare , former Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Drew University elaborates further on this point:

“The Personal Statement has to sound like a 17 or 18-year-old wrote it. As I have heard others wisely put it, ‘The thesaurus is not your friend.’ Don’t overdo your word choice…I know what sounds natural. So does everyone in college admissions. We have well-tuned ears.”

However, students must also treat their readers with due respect and seriousness. College admissions officers shouldn’t be treated like a best friend or confidante. A certain level of professionalism is still expected.

Do: Students should tell a story

Finally—and this one is key—students should  tell a story . In fact, students should stop thinking about the personal statement as an “essay” or even a “statement.”

Essays and statements are serious things, often pretty tough-going: hard to write and hard to read.

Students should rather think of  finding and telling a story . People like to read stories. Stories invite people in; they’re fun, even exciting, to read. And everyone intuitively knows what makes a good story.

Now that we’ve looked at what students SHOULD do, here are 2 common mistakes they need to avoid…

Now there are some common but costly mistakes that students make when writing their college essay.

And all too often, these mistakes arise because there is a real disconnect between what admissions officers are looking for and what students  think  admissions officers are looking for.

Don’t: Students should NOT brag

The most common mistake I see is the college essay-as-brag-sheet: students who try to impress their reader with a full account of their achievements and accolades. This is a waste of everyone’s time; a ll that information can be found elsewhere in the application.

These students are just taking all the details they’ve provided in succinct and highly readable list form…and repeating it in long-winded paragraph form! In the best case scenario, these essays are a wasted opportunity, since admissions officers are left with no new information.

In the worst case scenario, these essays turn out to be a real chore to read. And students don’t want to alienate admissions officers who can determine their fate!

Don’t: Students should NOT be overly casual

Students should also avoid the other extreme, however. As I already mentioned, the admissions officer is not a friend; nor is he or she a therapist: students should stay away from sob stories, overly casual language, or gimmicks meant to attract the attention of the admissions committee.

Students should also use a measure of common sense in deciding what to share and what not to share. For example, one student wanted to write an essay about how bored he was with a class in order to explain a C that didn’t even show up on his official transcript.  Bad move!

Another student joked about how she wanted to go to a school close to home so that her mom could continue to do her laundry. Students should make sure their college essays are memorable  in a good way.

Remember:  the personal statement is a chance for you to show you are a person beyond your test scores, GPA, and resume. Let the essay be a tool that showcases who you are and who you might be on campus: a roommate, leader, classmate, teammate and friend.

Danny is the CEO of FLEX College Prep. Danny’s core focus is on helping young people get the best advice, and be the best students they can be. His team of professionals are also personal coaches, and great people, driven by the same passion for helping people.

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How to Write Effective UC Admissions Essays

As admissions into the UCs have become increasingly difficult over the last few years, many of the schools in this system are considered reaches for most students. Some campuses are receiving more than 100,000 applications per cycle and with the UCs always topping the list of best colleges, each school has its own variety of degrees and specialties offered as well as different acceptance rates. It’s harder than ever for students to be accepted, so how do you stand out?

Join us at this special webinar event to hear from our experienced FLEX Admissions Consultants about what works in college applications, and the growing importance of a great college essay. Then hear about how our ACE Program can help match and enhance your UC goals!

Does Having Perfect Academics Get You Into The UCs?

A special webinar event.

Historically, students with a perfect GPA and test score get into all the UCs, but that is not the case anymore. Mid-tier UCs like UC Davis and UC Irvine have passed on students with perfect academics for students who are a better fit for their campus.  What does “fit” mean for your student?

Learn why academics alone are not enough to get into all the UCs, what other factors the UCs are considering, and how ACE can support your UC goals.

Class of 2023 College Admissions Trends:

Analyzing surprising results.

This year’s application results show how colleges have continued to adapt to the changing college admissions landscape including the importance of demonstrating personality in the holistic review. How can students develop a successful college admission strategy by adding texture to their applications?

In this webinar, FLEX’s expert counselors reveal some surprising results for the Class of 2023. Get the statistics on FLEX students’ admissions to see what worked (and what did not), and meet some of our counselors who supported these students in getting into their target colleges!

Middle Schoolers:

Maximize your summer, why admissions officers look for personality in essays, ucla & brown admissions officers share insights.

FLEX and Admissions Officers from Brown and UCLA (former) will discuss the evolution of the holistic review in college admissions. What does this mean for the class of 2024 and beyond? College admissions are no longer simply tied to academics and test scores. The holistic review also factors in applicants’ experiences and personal characteristics as well as the perceived fit each candidate may have with a particular college campus.

In this webinar, we will cover the new personality/character index that is used in admissions and how Admissions Officers use college essays to rate each applicant against this index. How does a student hit the points that will deliver success? Join us to learn the difference between a mediocre essay and one that Admissions Officers will love to read.

Why A+ Students Don't Get 5s On AP Exams

How ap exams have changed, how colleges use scores, and how flex can help.

Did you know that AP exams are not graded on a curve? Did you know that, of the most frequently taken AP exams, none of the top 5 are STEM related? Do you know the difference between acing your Biology final and getting a 5 on the AP exam? Or how great writers can still bomb their exam for AP English Language and Composition?

In this webinar, you’ll hear from experienced AP instructors on some of the broader changes to how AP exams ask questions and award points. You’ll learn how these changes have made it more difficult for even high-achieving students to consistently do well on their AP exams. And, you’ll hear about FLEX AP Intensive classes designed to help students maximize their scores, which are increasingly important data points in the changing landscape of college admissions.

The New "Perfect Profile"

For getting into the ucs.

For fall 2023 admission, the UC system had another record-breaking year with 245,768 applicants for its nine undergraduate colleges. Always topping the list of best colleges, each school has its own variety of degrees and specialties offered as well as different acceptance rates.

Please join our seminar to learn about what the UCs are looking for in their applicants, what type of student profiles have the most success in getting acceptances from the UCs, and how ACE can level up your profile.

ACE Preview Workshop:

College essay topic - common app personal statement.

The Common App is an undergraduate college application that students may use to apply to more than 950 different colleges and universities in the US, Canada, China, Japan, and various European countries. With FLEX’s Application & College Essay (ACE) Program, students are always prepared for the latest changes in college admissions requirements including the growing importance of the college essay. A great college essay highlights a student’s personal attributes, how they are unique from their peers, and the kind of impact they can contribute in their community. Now more than ever, college essays are incredibly important in the college admission process, an opportunity to share who the student is outside of the classroom and how they can be an asset to their selected campus.

Juniors can join this in-person workshop to learn more about the Common App and how they can rise to the top of the application pool with a perfected personal statement. Students will work closely with a FLEX essay specialist to develop their own topics and to ensure that their unique voices are reflected in their essay.

While students are honing their personal statement, parents will have the opportunity to learn more about the post-pandemic College Admissions process and ask questions that are specific to their student.

UCLA vs USC

Is UCLA or USC better for your student? What are these prestigious colleges looking for in an increasingly competitive applicant pool? FLEX experts will share the winning strategies for entrance into these top-seed schools.

This webinar aims to demystify the college admissions process, provide reliable information, and help students and parents develop a successful college application strategy.

Webinars for 6th - 9th Grade Students

Personality testing: the newest trend in post-pandemic college admission, prepare for success in high school, college & beyond, ace preview workshop.

Now more than ever, college essays are incredibly important in the college admission process, an opportunity to share who the student is outside of the classroom and how they can be an asset to their selected campus.  The college essay is one of the best ways to showcase a student’s strengths beyond their academics.

A great college essay highlights a student’s personal attributes, how they are unique from their peers, and the kind of impact they can contribute to their community. With FLEX College Prep’s free College Essay Workshop, students will learn how FLEX essay specialists guide their students to write in a way that is specific, personal, cohesive, and that aligns with what colleges are looking for in a stand-out student. 

Students work closely with their FLEX essay specialist to develop their own topics and to ensure that their unique voices are reflected in their UC or Common Application.

While students are honing their essay-writing skills, parents will have the opportunity to learn more about the post-pandemic College Admissions process and ask questions that are specific to their student.

• B.A. Biology and Asian Studies – Bowdoin College
• M.A. Biological Sciences – CSUEB
• ACT Math and Science
• AP Chemistry
• AP Calculus

Akimitsu Makino

Master instructor.

Aki graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in Biology and Asian Studies.  Upon graduation, he gained experience in ophthalmic clinical research, where he was fortunate to co-author publications and co-invent a patent.  While working in the clinic, Aki pursued a master’s degree in the biological sciences at CSU East Bay, where he completed a biotechnology certificate and was one of the few students to be granted a visiting scholar position at UCSF as part of his master’s research for one year.

Aki’s passion for helping students overcome challenges in math and science is demonstrated in his extensive tutoring experience.  From supplementing a student’s school curriculum to designing a customized course; for nearly a decade, he has helped students realize their goals.  In his free time, Aki enjoys learning new subjects and topics, all of which he utilizes when teaching students.

ACE Preview Essay Workshop

Why my major.

With FLEX’s Application & College Essay (ACE) Program, students are always prepared for the latest changes in college admissions requirements including the growing importance of the college essay. A great college essay highlights a student’s personal attributes, how they are unique from their peers, and the kind of impact they can contribute in their community.

In this College Essay Workshop, students will learn how to address the essay topic in a way that is specific, personal, cohesive, and that aligns with what colleges are looking for in a stand-out student.

Extracurricular Activities: Summer Planning

School may be in session now, but summer is a great opportunity for students to gain valuable experiences outside the classroom, and planning ahead is important. In recent years, research internships have become an important part of the college admission process, and your student can start building an impressive research resume as early as 9th grade.

A student’s extracurricular profile has become a significant factor in college admissions, speaking volumes to a student’s intellectual curiosity, personal excellence, and character. So how do you go about building one? Should a student display a wide variety of interests or deep interest in a single field? Do colleges care about the quantity over quality of activities? How can you distinguish yourself from other applicants? This is the time to showcase to colleges your passions and accomplishments outside of the classroom.

Join FLEX as we discuss what an extracurricular activities profile is, the relevance of extracurricular and summer activities, and how to build them seamlessly into a robust and cohesive application profile!

Changes & Trends: 

Analyzing early results for the class of 2024.

Analyze early application results for the Class of 2024 with FLEX’s expert counselors! This year’s early application results give indications of how colleges have continued to adapt to the changing college admissions landscape including testing policies and a more socially-minded, less achievement-driven admissions process.

Get the statistics on FLEX’s Early Round Decisions to see what worked (and what did not) and for a chance to meet some of our counselors who supported these students in getting into their target colleges!

• B.A. Psychology & B.A. Criminal Justice – University of Maryland
• M.A. Legal and Forensic Psychology – UC of Irvine
• SAT English
• ACT English
• AP Psychology

Associate Instructor

Sarah Kim graduated from the University of Maryland in College Park with a B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Criminal Justice/Criminology. She currently studies at the University of California, Irvine pursuing a Master’s in Legal and Forensic Psychology. There, her research focuses on rapport and support building in interviews with adolescent victims of sex trafficking. She takes her research focus on rapport building to reach students individually in a gentle but focused manner. When not working or doing school work, she loves to read, dance, and spend time with her dog.

Sarah has been tutoring for 7 years with experience in K-12 general English as well as SAT/ACT Test Preparation. She specializes in the reading writing components of standardized tests. Her extensive background in tutoring has allowed her to be considerate of all students’ needs–whether that be young children learning how to read or high schoolers wanting to succeed on their SAT. Sarah believes that each student should be met where they are and strongly believes that every student can succeed.

• B.S. Economics – Arizona State University
• M.A. Educational Leadership and Administration – UC Davis
• Master of Education – Arizona State University
• Ph.D. Sociocultural Studies and Educational Policy – Arizona State University

Carmina Mendoza

Dr. Carmina Mendoza is an education scholar with 25 years of experience in the public education sector. Her research and teaching have focused on Spanish instruction at different levels–elementary, secondary, and higher education.  Dr. Mendoza has decades of experience, both as a teacher and as a researcher of Spanish immersion programs in Arizona and California. 

Dr. Mendoza is also an active adjunct professor at Santa Clara University, teaching courses at the Masters of Arts in Teaching and Credential program. In this program, Dr. Mendoza has taught graduate level courses in Spanish to students who want to add a Spanish/English bilingual authorization to their teaching credential. 

Dr. Mendoza is also a published author. She is the author of the book Transnational Messages: Experiences of Chinese and Mexican Immigrants in American Schools.  She has also written chapters in edited volumes and articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, including the High School Journal and Multilingual Educator (publication of the California Association for Bilingual Education).

• B.A. Social Sciences, Emphasis Sociology – New York University
• ACT English and Reading
• AP English Language and Composition
• AP European History
• AP US History

Sara Delgado

Sara has a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences with an emphasis on sociology from New York University, and an Associates of Art in Sociology from Fullerton College. Sara’s past experiences as an educator and tutor range from Elementary to College age students. She provided peer-led supplemental instruction during her time at Fullerton College; during this supplemental instruction, she assisted students with understanding concepts and assignments in English courses taught at the school. She currently works as a long-term substitute teacher for local high schools. Sara’s main motivation to pursue a career as an educator is to support students and provide them with a fun and conducive learning experience that will set them up for future success.

• B.S. Computer Game Science – UC Irvine
• AP Computer Science A
• Computer Science: C/C++
• Computer Science: Java
• Computer Science: Python
• Math, Lower Level (Alg2 and Below)
• Pathways – STEM Coding

Theodore (Teo) Lee

Theodore (Teo) Lee graduated from the University of California-Irvine with a B.S. in Computer Game Science. He has been tutoring computer science for the last 5 years, helping those new to the field understand and develop their computer science skills. In addition to tutoring, Teo is President of the local Association for Computing Machinery. He has led many team projects developing software, and he has won numerous prizes in the many competitions he has attended.

When teaching students, Teo likes to implement practical examples and explain concepts using visual models and diagrams. In the field of Computer Science more specifically, it is especially important to understand how things work “under the hood,” so Teo strives to equip his students with multiple ways of thinking about a problem, thereby developing their own style in navigating the various technical routes toward achieving a solution.

• B.S. Business Administration in Marketing and Finance – UC Berkeley
• M.S Education – CSU East Bay
• Multiple Subject Teaching Credential – CSU East Bay
• Single Subject Teaching Credential English, History Social Science, Science – CSU East Bay
• AP Macro and Micro
• ACT English Reading Science
• AP Lit and Lang
• AP Environmental Science

Rick attended San Francisco’s Lowell High, qualifying as a National Merit Finalist. After graduating from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Denny spent 15 years marketing and managing tech startups that were acquired by Amazon, Microsoft, Time Warner, and others for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Seeking to make a meaningful difference in students’ lives, Rick earned an MS in Education, and seven California teaching credentials including single subject English, history and social science, and science. Since 2007, Denny has taught and tutored diverse learners in English through AP Language and AP Literature; social science through AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, and AP US History; and science through AP Environmental Science. Rick has also mentored students in individual college-level research projects.

Since 2013, Denny has helped students excel on standardized tests, especially the SAT and ACT.  Rick particularly enjoys individual tutoring because he likes getting to know his students and their interests, customizing instruction to meet their needs, and contributing to their growth and success. His tutoring superpowers are listening, analysis, patience, and humor.

• B.A. English, Philosophy – University of Hartford
• Ph.D. English – UC Irvine
• AP English Language & Composition
• AP English Literature & Composition
• FRMC – Humanities

Michael Mahoney

Dr. Michael Mahoney holds a PhD in English from the University of California-Irvine, where he has extensive experience teaching university courses in College Writing, English, Philosophy, Film, and History. Michael is widely recognized for his ability to engage students. He has received multiple campus-wide awards in recognition of his excellence as an instructor. In addition to his teaching, Michael’s research has also been recognized for its innovative approach to interdisciplinarity. His doctoral work has received support from endowments in fields as diverse as literary criticism, medical humanities, and science and technology studies.

Michael believes strongly in a student-centered approach to teaching, one that emphasizes active engagement with core concepts in order to achieve specific learning outcomes. His goal is to equip students with the skills to think critically, meaningfully, and independently about texts, ultimately helping them gain a sense of mastery and command over their use of language. Drawing on nearly a decade of experience teaching college writing in various disciplines, Michael also aims to help students reach their full potential in developing compelling and insightful essays.

• B.S. Mathematics – Harvey Mudd College
• College Math
• Math (lower and upper level)

Elisha Dayag

Elisha Dayag is a PhD student in Mathematics at UC Irvine. He received his BS in Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College. For the past five years, he has taught and tutored a wide range of students and topics: everything from 6th graders to college students doing calculus and beyond.

As a tutor, Elisha feels that math instruction should be tailored to a student’s specific needs and help soothe any anxieties they may have regarding mathematics. He further believes that anyone can be proficient in and, more importantly, find joy in doing mathematics given enough practice and the right guidance.

• B.A. English, Minor in European Studies – UCLA
• M.A. English – CSU Long Beach
• AP World History
• Pathways – English & Writing

Chelsea Gibbons

Chelsea Gibbons holds a B.A. in English with a minor in European studies from UCLA and an M.A. in English from Cal State Long Beach, where she specialized in 18th century British literature. While pursuing her Master’s, Chelsea worked as a managing editor for the school’s academic journal and taught as a graduate assistant for numerous literature and history classes. Outside of the university setting, Chelsea has instructed high school students across the humanities, and specifically in the test prep environment: her teaching background includes AP English Language, AP English Literature, AP European History, AP US History, AP World History, college application essays, and standardized test prep (ACT, ISEE, PSAT, SAT).

Chelsea views the classroom as a democratic space. Her students are active participants in their own learning, guided as they are through thoughtful discussions and assignments. She strongly believes that the development of critical thinking and the promotion of a global perspective makes humanities classes crucial to every student’s education, no matter what their major or academic focus.

• M.S. Physics – New York University
• M.S. Applied Mathematics – CalPoly University, Pomona
• M.S. Physical Chemistry – CalPoly University, Pomona
• B.S. Physics – CalPoly University, Pomona
• AP Calculus AB/BC
• AP Physics 1
• AP Physics 2
• AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism
• AP Physics C: Mechanics
• Math, Upper Level (Trig and Up)

Andres Cardenas

Principal instructor.

Andrés Cárdenas is an accomplished scientist and STEM teacher. He holds multiple Master’s degrees: one in Computational Physics from NYU, another in Applied Math from CalPoly, and one in Physical Chemistry, also from CalPoly.

After working as a researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Andrés spent 8 years teaching AP Physics at New York City high schools. His passion for science, in part, explains his love for teaching: his classroom enthusiasm is immediately visible,  something his students find contagious. Andrés believes that a robust STEM education starts with a student’s sense of wonder and a desire to discover; and his curriculum work reflects an emphasis on connecting concepts with theory organically—be it in mathematics, physics, chemistry, or computer science.

How to Build Your Extracurricular Activities Profile

For stand-out college applications.

Extracurricular activities profiles play a significant role in college admissions. So how do you go about building one? Do colleges care about the quantity over quality of activities? How can you distinguish yourself from other applicants? 

This is the time to showcase to colleges your passions and accomplishments outside of the classroom. Reserve your spot in our free webinar to learn what an extracurricular activities profile is, what it means to colleges, and what steps you can take to build it.

Pre-Med and BS/MD Programs - What It Takes to Get In:

Is there a doctor in the house.

Many students have aspirations to become a medical doctor but may not necessarily know the additional commitment and requirements needed to have a successful journey. Increasingly, fewer schools are offering BS/MD Programs, so what does this mean for your student? 

Please join our webinar to learn more about the impact of fewer offerings of BS/MD programs and what it means to be pre-med.  FLEX presenters will go over what it takes to enhance a pre-med profile, what schools still offer BS/MD programs, and if these programs are right for your student.

What Sophomores & Juniors Should Be Doing Right Now to Prepare for College

Senior year may seem like it’s far away, but if you start your college application planning now, you will reduce stress and reap the rewards of a seamless and quality college journey. In this seminar, we will share how a little foresight in specific areas will help you achieve your college goals. Topics covered include:

• Did you know that public schools and private schools calculate their GPA differently? Learn how to select classes that will optimize admission to your target college. We’ll also talk about the importance of taking Honors/AP® courses, as well as college level credits in high school.
• What you do outside of class both in school and off campus is an important part of your college application journey. We’ll provide strategies on how to not only best keep track of your extra-curricular activities now but also give you insights on which activities can enhance your college application.
• Students should actively plan and prep for standardized tests well before their senior year. We’ll share how you can best approach your PSAT®/SAT®/ACT® and what you should start doing now to maximize your success on the target test date.

Attend this in-person seminar to learn what Sophomores and Juniors MUST know about college applications and how you can get a winning start!

Changes & Trends:

Early results for the class of 2023.

Analyze early application results for the Class of 2023 with FLEX’s expert counselors! This year’s early application results give indications of how colleges have continued to adapt to the changing college admissions landscape including testing policies and a more socially-minded, less achievement-driven admissions process.

• BSC. Mechanical Engineer – University of Alexandria
• A.S. Mechanical Engineering – Diablo College
• B.S. Mechanical Engineering – UC Berkeley

Maikel Masoud

Michael holds a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and another from Alexandria University in Egypt. And he is currently pursuing a Master’s in Robotics at the University of Maryland.

Michael is passionate about education. He believes that he can help make every student love Mathematics and Physics – even those who have had a hard time coping with the nuances and complexities of these fields. Michael has taught widely throughout the Bay Area. He has been an instructor and STEM tutor at Diablo Valley College, as well as working in that capacity with students in private schools in San Francisco and in Berkeley. Having served in the US Army as a Combat Medic Specialist, Michael is experienced in aiding individuals when they are under extreme stress and in need of a calming, motivating presence. Michael is generous and kind, and particularly enjoys connecting to different cultures and people of all backgrounds.

• PhD Sociology – University of Southern California

Alfredo Huante

College essay instructor.

Alfredo Huante holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Southern California. He has taught several undergraduate courses, introducing students to or advancing their understanding of the social world. Alfredo has published works in academic journals and websites and has ample editing experience. Alfredo excels at helping students translate their experiences into engaging, written essays by adjusting to each student’s specific needs.

• B.A. English – Stanford University

Cristina Herrera Mezgravis

Cristina graduated from Stanford University with Distinction and awards both in fiction and nonfiction for exceptional work in Creative Writing. Her application essays were published in 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays and 50 Successful University of California Application Essays.

She taught English to elementary school students while studying abroad in Paris, ran a creative writing program for high school students during her senior year at Stanford, and currently volunteers as an ESL tutor with the Palo Alto Adult School. Cristina worked for two years at an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup, prototyping a new mobile app for teachers and students, and curating unpublished books, stories, and deleted scenes by New York Times bestselling authors.

Her experience in admissions consulting began by helping friends and family highlight the passions that set them apart as individuals and select the colleges that were a right fit for them. Students she advised were admitted to Stanford University, USC, and UC Berkeley, among others.

• B.A. English – Santa Clara University
• Masters of Library and Information Science – San Jose State University

Sara Fernandes

Assistant director of college essay.

Sara attended UC Berkeley and transferred to Santa Clara University after deciding she wanted the opportunity to work with faculty on research. While at Santa Clara University, she helped Professor Judy Dunbar research and edit her book The Winter’s Tale: Shakespeare In Performance . Sara then went on to obtain her Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science at San Jose State University and graduated in the top 1% of her class.

She has used her undergraduate and graduate education to pursue her passion of teaching research and writing to students. Sara has over five years of experience teaching and coaching, over two of which are with FLEX College Prep. At FLEX, Sara has successfully taught classes in SAT Verbal, ACT Verbal, middle school writing and English classes, college essay, and AP English Language and Composition.

She is committed to staying current with trends in test prep and college admissions as well as setting realistic goals for each student so that he or she can achieve success.

• B.A. US History and Philosophy – UC Davis
• M.A History – San Francisco State University

Nicholas Dawes

Nick Dawes earned his BA in US History with a philosophy minor from the University of California, Davis, and an MA in History with a concentration in cross-cultural contact from San Francisco State University. While Nick was growing up, many in his family were teachers and school administrators across the South Bay, including Fremont Union High School District, so he is intimately familiar with the academic landscape of the Bay Area.

While in graduate school, he lectured in undergraduate courses, acted as an associate editor of an academic journal, and published his own original work. After graduation, Nick worked in standardized test prep, AP subject tutoring, and he most recently taught at a Bay Area private school for five years. He believes that students learn and work best when they have a productive relationship with their instructor.

In his essay coaching, he works to help students dig deeper into who they are as individuals and what motivates them in order to find the compelling, unique stories in each student. Nick has worked with students on their college admissions essays for the last 9 years, helping students gain admission to top UCs and other prestigious top 20 public and private institutions across the country.

• Doctoral study in Human Development and
• Psychology – Harvard University
• M.A. Applied Child Development – Tufts University
• B.A. Anthropology – Boston University

Martha Crowe

Master consultant & instructor.

Martha Crowe has worked with, for, and on behalf of youth for three decades, as a social worker, child advocate, nonprofit director, consultant, and for the past eight years, as a professor, researcher, and medical writer at SDSU. Helping people tell their stories has been at the heart of each phase of her career. Martha loves getting to know young people — to hear about what they care about, what they are good at, and what their dreams are for their futures. And magic can happen when they trust her enough to help them tell their stories in an authentic and compelling way that both honors who they are and convinces admissions counselors to accept them.

Martha believes in taking a personalized approach with each student, tailoring her time with them based on their individual writing skills and learning needs. Her approach is always based on genuine care and concern combined with concrete action items and deadlines. For the past four years, Martha has helped students get into a variety of colleges, as well as honors programs within those colleges, from tiny to huge, rural to urban, California to the East Coast: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UC Davis, Northeastern, UMass Amherst, University of Michigan, Syracuse, Macalester, Santa Clara University, Pepperdine, University of San Diego, Loyola Marymount, Cal Lutheran, Cal Arts, Claremont McKenna  Colleges, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois-Urbana Champagne, among others.

Martha grew up in Kansas City and joyfully left for Boston after high school, attending Boston University, Tufts, and Harvard for undergraduate and graduate school. She moved to SoCal in 2004 to spend time with her brother after graduation, and like so many others, forgot to leave. Most importantly, she’s a mom to three kids, who are, at the time of this writing, 18, 16, and 12, and an auntie to 58 nieces and nephews (true story) and too many great nieces and nephews to count. In her spare time, Martha volunteers with High Tech High, Miracle League, and Meals on Wheels, is an avid reader, and loves hanging out with her kids.

• B.S. Mathematics – UCSD
• M.S. Psychology – King’s College London (In Progress)

Helena Chen

Helena is a Masters student in Psychology with extensive experience in the education  sector, where she has worked as a teacher, consultant and student advocate. She  started tutoring students in high school and supported herself in college as an SAT  instructor. With a mathematics background but still very much interested in pedagogy  and mentorship, Helena decided to leverage her analytical mindset and ability to  problem-solve by continuing to work in college admissions consulting–advising high  school students and their families on the complex college admissions process. Through  this work, she continued her passion for teaching others how to write and hone their  narrative voice, which brought her to FLEX as a college essay instructor.

• B.A. English/Creative Writing; Minor: Music Industry and Cinematic Arts – University of Southern California

Gabriel Block

Gabriel graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California with a BA in  English/Creative Writing. He honed his writing skills through writing-intensive programs at  USC and the University of Melbourne in Australia. After graduating, he spent four years in  the music industry working for Sony Music Publishing, where he engaged in daily writing  assignments and excelled at working with others and building trusting relationships. Gabriel  has years of teaching experience; he brings a warm energy and first hand expertise in  writing successful college essays. In the classroom, Gabriel values trust and joy. With a  genuine interest in others, he builds trust through keen listening and clear and open  communication, and asks for the same, in return. By having fun with the material and leading  with positive reinforcement, he brings his best to the classroom and gets the best from his students. Most importantly, Gabriel believes in pursuing what you love. He can’t wait to learn  what makes you who you are and to help you convey your authentic self to your dream  school.

Northern California Info Banks September 17th

• UC Irvine – MA in Art History
• UC Irvine – BA in Art History with a minor in English
• English (native proficiency)
• Korean (conversational)

Associate Consultant & College Essay Instructor

Since her days as an undergraduate, Jaimie has had an insider’s perspective of the college admissions process at the University of California system. She has worked as a Campus Representative in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and as an Academic Advisor in the School of Humanities at UC Irvine, where she gained invaluable insight into the admissions and counseling process. Because of these experiences, Jaimie understands the importance of fit when selecting and applying to colleges. Additionally, she has been able to work with a diverse group of students, including international students and first-generation students.

With all of her students, Jaimie strives to help them gain entrance to a college or university that  will not only set them up for career success, but will also help them find joy in learning. She  hopes she can help her students feel empowered in their own skills and abilities.

Jaimie is also a FLEX College Essay Specialist, which allows her to bring out her students’ most authentic and compelling selves. She has a proven track record in producing high-quality storytelling with her students and finds that writing is a necessary strength for any major.

In terms of admissions, Jaimie has worked with students who have been granted admission to John Hopkins, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine.

During her free time, Jaimie volunteers for an Asian American art collective. She enjoys reading, writing, and talking about pop culture.

• B.A. Computer Science and Linguistics at UC Berkeley

Dickson Tsai

Dickson Tsai graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Computer Science and Linguistics, and he is currently a software engineer. While at Berkeley, he worked as a teaching assistant for numerous computer science courses. In addition to teaching undergraduates, he also tutored high school students online in AP Computer Science and on the SAT, reaching the Top 10 in “Super Helpful” ratings at a top online education service platform.

Dickson cares most about cultivating a growth mindset in students, since an internal desire  to improve leads to a stronger, healthier motivation than any external reward. He  emphasizes a mastery of fundamentals through highly interactive activities like drawing  program visualizations for AP Computer Science. 

Through this and other activities, Dickson  works to accurately assess his students’ understanding and provide timely, actionable  feedback. That way, students can gain the confidence to reason on their own from first  principles.

• B.A. Creative Writing – SFSU
• English Enrichment
• College Essay

Ashley Rodriguez

Ashley attended San Francisco State University where she received her BA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Poetry. As an avid writer, Ashley developed an interest in poetry at a very young age, after immersing herself in the collections of Edgar Allen Poe and William Shakespeare. Throughout her college experience, Ashley participated in numerous workshops where she was able to sharpen her skills in playwriting, poetry, short stories, novels, and essays. She worked as an Editor for Transfer Magazine, SF State’s literary publication, where she read and edited hundreds of submissions and selected the best pieces to be published. After college, Ashley worked as an Editor for an appraisal firm, interned as a writer for a travel magazine, and became the lead writer for a video game startup, here in the Silicon Valley.

Her passion for writing developed into a drive to educate youth on the English language. From Creative Writing to grammar and vocabulary, Ashley enjoys helping students hone their writing skills and prepare them for college. For over 5 years with FLEX, she has tutored students in essay writing for college and graduate school applications, with a focus on Architecture, History, Interior Design, Art, STEM, Social Sciences, and more! Ashley is a taskmaster who ensures her students complete coherent, authentic, and strategic essays well before application deadlines.

• B.S. Mathematics – Stanford University
• M.S. Mathematics – San Jose State University
• Ph.D. Mathematics – UC Santa Barbara
• SAT I & II Math
• AP Calculus AB and BC
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Matt Lazar specializes in mathematics, including Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Discrete Mathematics. He is also familiar with higher level mathematics including abstract algebra, complex analysis, real analysis, differential geometry, differential topology, and point set topology. In addition, he has experience in editing math textbooks. Matt Lazar is capable of teaching introductory computer science languages, including the languages of C++, Java, and Python. Within the area of computer science, Dr. Lazar specializes in two dimensional and three-dimensional computer graphics.

At FLEX College Prep, Dr. Lazar would like to transfer his skills in mathematics and computer science to his students, so that his students can become successful in their education and their careers. Matt’s exceptional teaching ability is also shown in his AP track record, where the average AP Calc BC score of his students is 4.9, with 90% of his students earning 5s. His passion for math has enabled students across the ability spectrum to achieve their Calculus learning goals.

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8 Do’s and Don’ts For Crafting Your College Essay

←5 Awesome College Essay Topics + Sample Essays

6 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises →

Contrary to what you might think, you essay is not a place to prove your worthiness to attend college. Instead, it’s a place to convey your personality, demonstrate who you are, and explore what you can bring to campus.

Not sure what to say? Here are 8 dos and don’ts for writing your college essay.

Don’t: Regurgitate your resume.

Do: find a hook..

Colleges have your transcript, SAT/ACT scores, recs, and extracurriculars to understand the academic side of you. Your essay is a place to show them what you’re really like—your personality, passions, and what you’ll bring to campus. It’s a place to demonstrate that you have a fit —meaning you would fit in with the student body and contribute to the campus—with the school.

Use a hook—a compelling anecdote, an example, a question—at the beginning of your essay to draw your reader in. (Read How to Get the Perfect Hook for Your College Essay to help you come up with an idea.) This is a chance to demonstrate what your personality is like and give them an idea of your voice.

Don’t: Turn use overused metaphors.

Do: use rhetorical devices..

A personalized metaphor can be a great way to capture your experiences and views through the lens of a single experience. For instance, you might discuss a time you volunteered at a hospital in a third-world country to capture how you believe in helping others. For tips on developing your own metaphor, check out How to Develop a Personalized Metaphor for Your Applications .

However, be wary of using common or cliche experiences as metaphors for something more global. Topics like sports injury and pet death are so common that adcoms’ eyes will glaze over the second they see them. Plus, these topics don’t really capture bigger-picture trials and may make you seem unworldly. While there may be a place to talk about them—for instance, if you had to quit an activity because of a sports injury, you may want to explain in the additional information section—, it’s better to develop a more original topic for your essay.

However, how you say it is more important than what you say. That’s why you should use rhetorical devices —symbols, imagery, metaphors, anecdotes, and other compelling language—to describe your experience and make it seem real to adcoms.

Don’t: Assume you have nothing to say.

Do: brainstorm..

You don’t have to have started your own business to tell a compelling story . Remember: how you say it is more important than what you say.

To get started, try some brainstorming exercises . For instance, you might make lists of beliefs, character flaws, personal anecdotes or whatever else pops into your head.

My brother wrote his essay about failing his driving test. Somehow, he managed to turn what could have been a mundane, if disappointing, experience into a hilarious and even poignant story. (He ended up going to Cornell, so it worked.) All of this to say, you can turn even the most common, everyday experience into a reflection on something larger.

Don’t: Shy away from challenges or difficulties you’ve faced.

Do: choose the most appropriate forum to discuss them..

If you’ve taken time off or personal issues have impacted your grades and schoolwork, you should explain it in your application. However, take care to do it in the right section and in a way that portrays you in the most positive light possible. Overcoming obstacles can certainly be positive, but you don’t want colleges to regard you as a liability, such as if you’ve had significant psychological issues they won’t be able to address.

Essays are a good forum for discussing obstacles you’ve faced and how you’ve overcome them, but if you choose this kind of topic, make sure it helps colleges understand your personality better. You don’t want to be defensive in your essay; don’t gripe about a conflict with a teacher, for instance. Some issues may be better left to the additional information section.

The Takeaway

The purpose of your essay is to paint a picture of who you are. Adcoms will get an idea of your academic and extracurricular achievements from other sections of your application. The essay is where you demonstrate your character, what you will bring to campus, and new insights and perspectives you can offer. To write a compelling essay, convey your ideas through powerful language, and use a topic about which you can write passionately.

For more tips on writing your college essay, read:

How to Write an Impressive College Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Write a Personal Statement That Wows Colleges

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

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• Academic writing

What Is Academic Writing? | Dos and Don’ts for Students

Academic writing is a formal style of writing used in universities and scholarly publications. You’ll encounter it in journal articles and books on academic topics, and you’ll be expected to write your essays , research papers , and dissertation in academic style.

Academic writing follows the same writing process as other types of texts, but it has specific conventions in terms of content, structure and style.

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Table of contents

Types of academic writing, academic writing is…, academic writing is not…, useful tools for academic writing, academic writing checklist.

Academics mostly write texts intended for publication, such as journal articles, reports, books, and chapters in edited collections. For students, the most common types of academic writing assignments are listed below.

Different fields of study have different priorities in terms of the writing they produce. For example, in scientific writing it’s crucial to clearly and accurately report methods and results; in the humanities, the focus is on constructing convincing arguments through the use of textual evidence. However, most academic writing shares certain key principles intended to help convey information as effectively as possible.

Whether your goal is to pass your degree, apply to graduate school , or build an academic career, effective writing is an essential skill.

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Formal and unbiased

Academic writing aims to convey information in an impartial way. The goal is to base arguments on the evidence under consideration, not the author’s preconceptions. All claims should be supported with relevant evidence, not just asserted.

To avoid bias, it’s important to represent the work of other researchers and the results of your own research fairly and accurately. This means clearly outlining your methodology  and being honest about the limitations of your research.

The formal style used in academic writing ensures that research is presented consistently across different texts, so that studies can be objectively assessed and compared with other research.

Because of this, it’s important to strike the right tone with your language choices. Avoid informal language , including slang, contractions , clichés, and conversational phrases:

• Also , a lot of the findings are a little unreliable.
• Moreover , many of the findings are somewhat unreliable.

Clear and precise

It’s important to use clear and precise language to ensure that your reader knows exactly what you mean. This means being as specific as possible and avoiding vague language :

• People have been interested in this thing for a long time .
• Researchers have been interested in this phenomenon for at least 10 years .

Avoid hedging your claims with words like “perhaps,” as this can give the impression that you lack confidence in your arguments. Reflect on your word choice to ensure it accurately and directly conveys your meaning:

• This could perhaps suggest that…
• This suggests that…

Specialist language or jargon is common and often necessary in academic writing, which generally targets an audience of other academics in related fields.

However, jargon should be used to make your writing more concise and accurate, not to make it more complicated. A specialist term should be used when:

• It conveys information more precisely than a comparable non-specialist term.
• Your reader is likely to be familiar with the term.
• The term is commonly used by other researchers in your field.

The best way to familiarize yourself with the kind of jargon used in your field is to read papers by other researchers and pay attention to their language.

Focused and well structured

An academic text is not just a collection of ideas about a topic—it needs to have a clear purpose. Start with a relevant research question or thesis statement , and use it to develop a focused argument. Only include information that is relevant to your overall purpose.

A coherent structure is crucial to organize your ideas. Pay attention to structure at three levels: the structure of the whole text, paragraph structure, and sentence structure.

Well sourced

Academic writing uses sources to support its claims. Sources are other texts (or media objects like photographs or films) that the author analyzes or uses as evidence. Many of your sources will be written by other academics; academic writing is collaborative and builds on previous research.

It’s important to consider which sources are credible and appropriate to use in academic writing. For example, citing Wikipedia is typically discouraged. Don’t rely on websites for information; instead, use academic databases and your university library to find credible sources.

You must always cite your sources in academic writing. This means acknowledging whenever you quote or paraphrase someone else’s work by including a citation in the text and a reference list at the end.

There are many different citation styles with different rules. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago . Make sure to consistently follow whatever style your institution requires. If you don’t cite correctly, you may get in trouble for plagiarism . A good plagiarism checker can help you catch any issues before it’s too late.

You can easily create accurate citations in APA or MLA style using our Citation Generators.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

Correct and consistent

As well as following the rules of grammar, punctuation, and citation, it’s important to consistently apply stylistic conventions regarding:

• How to write numbers
• Introducing abbreviations
• Using verb tenses in different sections
• Capitalization of terms and headings
• Spelling and punctuation differences between UK and US English

In some cases there are several acceptable approaches that you can choose between—the most important thing is to apply the same rules consistently and to carefully proofread your text before you submit. If you don’t feel confident in your own proofreading abilities, you can get help from Scribbr’s professional proofreading services or Grammar Checker .

Academic writing generally tries to avoid being too personal. Information about the author may come in at some points—for example in the acknowledgements or in a personal reflection—but for the most part the text should focus on the research itself.

Always avoid addressing the reader directly with the second-person pronoun “you.” Use the impersonal pronoun “one” or an alternate phrasing instead for generalizations:

• As a teacher, you must treat your students fairly.
• As a teacher, one must treat one’s students fairly.
• Teachers must treat their students fairly.

The use of the first-person pronoun “I” used to be similarly discouraged in academic writing, but it is increasingly accepted in many fields. If you’re unsure whether to use the first person, pay attention to conventions in your field or ask your instructor.

When you refer to yourself, it should be for good reason. You can position yourself and describe what you did during the research, but avoid arbitrarily inserting your personal thoughts and feelings:

• In my opinion…
• I think that…
• I like/dislike…
• I conducted interviews with…
• I argue that…
• I hope to achieve…

Long-winded

Many students think their writing isn’t academic unless it’s over-complicated and long-winded. This isn’t a good approach—instead, aim to be as concise and direct as possible.

If a term can be cut or replaced with a more straightforward one without affecting your meaning, it should be. Avoid redundant phrasings in your text, and try replacing phrasal verbs with their one-word equivalents where possible:

• Interest in this phenomenon carried on in the year 2018 .
• Interest in this phenomenon continued in 2018 .

Repetition is a part of academic writing—for example, summarizing earlier information in the conclusion—but it’s important to avoid unnecessary repetition. Make sure that none of your sentences are repeating a point you’ve already made in different words.

Emotive and grandiose

An academic text is not the same thing as a literary, journalistic, or marketing text. Though you’re still trying to be persuasive, a lot of techniques from these styles are not appropriate in an academic context. Specifically, you should avoid appeals to emotion and inflated claims.

Though you may be writing about a topic that’s sensitive or important to you, the point of academic writing is to clearly communicate ideas, information, and arguments, not to inspire an emotional response. Avoid using emotive or subjective language :

• This horrible tragedy was obviously one of the worst catastrophes in construction history.
• The injury and mortality rates of this accident were among the highest in construction history.

Students are sometimes tempted to make the case for their topic with exaggerated , unsupported claims and flowery language. Stick to specific, grounded arguments that you can support with evidence, and don’t overstate your point:

• Charles Dickens is the greatest writer of the Victorian period, and his influence on all subsequent literature is enormous.
• Charles Dickens is one of the best-known writers of the Victorian period and has had a significant influence on the development of the English novel.

There are a a lot of writing tools that will make your writing process faster and easier. We’ll highlight three of them below.

Paraphrasing tool

AI writing tools like ChatGPT and a paraphrasing tool can help you rewrite text so that your ideas are clearer, you don’t repeat yourself, and your writing has a consistent tone.

They can also help you write more clearly about sources without having to quote them directly. Be warned, though: it’s still crucial to give credit to all sources in the right way to prevent plagiarism .

Grammar checker

Writing tools that scan your text for punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. When it detects a mistake the grammar checke r will give instant feedback and suggest corrections. Helping you write clearly and avoid common mistakes .

You can use a summarizer if you want to condense text into its most important and useful ideas. With a summarizer tool, you can make it easier to understand complicated sources. You can also use the tool to make your research question clearer and summarize your main argument.

Use the checklist below to assess whether you have followed the rules of effective academic writing.

• Checklist: Academic writing

I avoid informal terms and contractions .

I avoid second-person pronouns (“you”).

I avoid emotive or exaggerated language.

I avoid redundant words and phrases.

I avoid unnecessary jargon and define terms where needed.

I present information as precisely and accurately as possible.

I use appropriate transitions to show the connections between my ideas.

My text is logically organized using paragraphs .

Each paragraph is focused on a single idea, expressed in a clear topic sentence .

Every part of the text relates to my central thesis or research question .

I support my claims with evidence.

I use the appropriate verb tenses in each section.

I consistently use either UK or US English .

I format numbers consistently.

I cite my sources using a consistent citation style .

Your text follows the most important rules of academic style. Make sure it's perfect with the help of a Scribbr editor!

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Dos and Don'ts in Writing College Application Essays

Founder, Director, adMISSION POSSIBLE; author, speaker, adMISSION POSSIBLE: The Dare to Be Yourself Guide for Getting into the Best College for You

College Essays Can Give a Glimpse into Your Soul

While student grades and test scores are clearly top factors in admissions office decisions, application essays often play a pivotal role. Like nothing else, essays give admissions readers a real sense for who you are as a person and student. Some say they are a "glimpse into your soul."

Most colleges require at least one essay as a part of their applications; some require two, three or even more. Ranging in length from just a few words to one, two, or three pages of content, essay questions in any free-response section of the college application should be considered an opportunity to make a good impression.

At the National Association for College Admission Counseling's (NACAC) yearly conference, college admissions deans have admitted repeatedly that poorly written essays can "do in" a student with top grades and test scores... and that great essays can sometimes turn the tide toward acceptance for a student with less-than-stellar grades and test scores.

These same deans have offered sage advice about the dos and don'ts of writing college essays.

1. Write revealing, concise essays that inform, enlighten and amuse.

2. Present yourself as genuinely humble, modest, perhaps even self-effacing.

3. Be yourself.

4. Answer each and every aspect of the essay question as best you can AND within the character/word limit provided.

5. Come across as mature, positive, reflective, intelligent , down-to-earth, curious, persistent, confident, original, creative, hard-working and thoughtful.

6. Demonstrate evidence of your having real knowledge about a college and its many resources, including courses, programs, activities and students.

7. Write about anything that is counterintuitive about yourself , e.g., you are a football player who is totally into poetry, a young woman who is a computer or physics geek, a macho guy who wants to be an elementary school teacher.

8. Compose an essay, give it to others to read and edit , and then do a final edit before you declare that it is done.

9. Use a variety of words to describe something or someone , e.g., Charley, my friend, my buddy, my schoolmate, he, him.

10. Explain what needs to be explained, as in an illness, a learning disability, a suspension, a one-time bad grade, a family tragedy, a major challenge you have had.

1. Write too much, ramble on , thinking that more (words) is better. It is not.

2. Brag, boast, toot your own horn , or come across as arrogant.

3. Write what you think college admissions people want instead of what you really think.

4. Go off writing about what you want to say rather than what the question asks AND ignore the specified character/word counts.

5. Come across as immature, negative, superficial, shallow, a phony, glib, a slacker, insecure, whiney, judgmental or disrespectful.

6. Give the impression that you know little about a college by writing trite, inaccurate or inconsequential things about it.

7. Make something up about yourself just to impress the admissions readers.

8. Write an essay and consider it done without looking for punctuation or grammatical errors and having it edited by at least one person.

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9. Use the same words over and over , e.g., my friend, my friend, my friend, my friend, my friend.

10. Make excuses for anything, including a bad grade, an infringement of rules, a suspension, whatever.

Application essays are a wonderful opportunity for you to show admissions offices who you really are, in what ways you think, how well you perform, and even your sense of humor.

If you want more advice about writing, take a look at the July 28, 2012 New York Times Book Review section for " How to Write" by Colson Whitehead.

Go to College Countdown to learn how my book, adMission Possible (Sourcebooks), can help you "dare to be yourself," write compelling college application essays and get accepted to college.

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Do’s and Don’ts of the College Essay

June 30, 2021

It’s college essay writing time! The college essay is an important portion of your application, and unlike your grades and test scores, much of how it’s structured and presented is up to you. This can make it a great opportunity to show off your personality and your passions, but it can also make essay writing a daunting process, especially at the start. So, how to write your essay? Here are a few tips on what to do…and what not to do.

Choose a subject that’s meaningful to you.  Your college essay is all about you! Pick a topic that means something to you. Alternatively, if you’re applying to a college that has preset essay questions, use examples and concepts that have a genuine significance to your life. Sincerity shows! If your essay gives your admissions officer a good sense of your character, it’ll make a great impression.

Keep it concise.  While it’s easy to get carried away when you’re passionate about a topic, remember to keep your essay tightly written and concise. College essays have a strict word limit, and it’s important you stay within it. Be sure to include your most important points, then add elaboration where it suits, so that you don’t get caught with an essay that’s too long but missing key points.

Proofread, proofread, proofread!   This is great advice for writing all essays, but college essays in particular. While your computer can perform basic spelling and grammar checks, more sophisticated grammatical, word choice, and phrasing issues are all in your hands. Be sure to proofread multiple times, and give yourself a little time between readings. Sometimes you’ll catch something new after a little time away from your essay. Seeing it with fresh eyes gives you new ideas to improve it.

Use gimmicks.  In the race to stand out, many students will be tempted to try gimmicks in their essays. College admissions officers have stories of essays written backwards that need to be held up to a mirror, or essays structured as choose-your-own-adventure stories, to name a few. This is a technique that’s absolutely to be avoided. Admissions officers are human; they read hundreds of essays every year. Making them find a mirror to read your essay, or untangle a multiple-option essay-story, will frustrate them more than anything—something you never want to do.

Rush yourself.  The sooner you get started on writing your college essay, the better. A good college essay is often the product of not only extensive outlining and proofreading, but rewrites and even restructuring. Giving yourself  plenty of time  ensures that you can have multiple drafts. Only hand your essay in when you know it’s the best it can be.

Try to psych out the admissions officers.  Many students are tempted to write what they  think  their college of choice wants to see. This is a losing battle, though, as nobody can read an admissions officer’s mind. More importantly, by writing what you think the admissions officers want to see, you’re not writing something true to you. And an essay written from a place of personal meaning will always be stronger than one you have to force.

And remember, if you’re struggling to write your college essay, it’s always a good idea to ask for help! Whether from a teacher, a friend who’s already into college, or a professional like  our experts at A-List , some help from a trusted source is always a good idea to make your college essay shine!

Dos and don ts of writing a college application essay

The Common App essay is the main personal statement you'll submit to colleges that use the Common App and require the essay. Apart from the occasional international content writing jobs, this is the number one dos and don ts of writing a college application essay spplication can continue to protect and support your college-bound child. We want to know why you oc and why the esday was meaningful. If you have other essays to submit, don't spend all your time working on the Common App essay. How much speed does a device need? And then have someone read it out loud to you. They should discover that thru your essay. Always begin with a powerful introduction. Most colleges need students to have at least one writing sample, the college essay, most commonly referred to as your statement. The secret is to have at least three safety schools, target schools, and reach schools. Contact Author s Jim Mandelaro Digital history project will create virtual visits to an African slave fort ».

The Dos and Dont’s of Writing a College Essay

College admission officers read thousands of essays from prospective students, so it’s important to write something that stands out from the crowd. This is your chance to share something interesting about yourself — beyond your grades and test scores. 

Here are some “dos and don’ts” about writing a memorable college application essay.

Download college essay tips here!

Start early. It takes time to develop a topic, and most readers can tell if an essay is written at the last minute. The Common Application typically drops prompts in January, so you can start brainstorming by the end of junior year and during the summer before the application is due.  

Answer the question that is asked. You have a limited number of words to answer one question. Don’t sway off topic.

Choose a topic you’re passionate about. Be original; you’re more than a GPA or test score. Some of the best essays are about mundane topics presented in an interesting and meaningful way. 

Avoid broad generalizations or cliché topics. Narrow the experience or topic down. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if you could insert your friend’s name into the essay. If so, it needs more personalization and focus. 

Example: Instead of saying “I love to travel,” focus on one experience during a trip: a conversation you had with an elderly local woman while waiting in a line at a cafe in Italy — and how that impacted or changed you.

Appeal to a broad audience. Admission counselors come from diverse backgrounds with varying points of view. Make sure your topic appeals to a variety of perspectives. 

Talk in your voice. Express your point of view so the reader understands who you are. Being genuine will create a stronger essay versus writing what you think someone will want to hear. 

Hint: If you write about an important person in your life make sure it’s not all about them; it should be about you.

Avoid inappropriate or controversial topics. Stay away from personal criticisms, divisive issues or controversial topics such as religion and politics. If the reader is offended by your point of view, it is not going to benefit you. 

Keep the reader engaged. Your English teacher was right about the importance of a strong story hook. Be creative to grab the reader’s attention in the first sentence. Make the reader want to meet you!

Don’t plagiarize. If the essay is not your voice, the reader will know. Admission counselors can tell when the voice changes and have tools that help identify plagiarized segments of sentences. 

Use the correct name of the university. If you are writing an essay that mentions the name of a school, make sure it’s correct. When students reuse an essay for multiple institutions, a common mistake is forgetting to change the school name! 

Proofread. Use correct spelling and grammar. Spell-check doesn’t catch everything, so enlist friends, family members or teachers to proofread. 

Writing a college essay can be a source of stress for applicants, but the finished product will help admission counselors get to know you and explore how you would fit in to their college culture and community. And, you may also discover something interesting about yourself!

Download tips for writing a college essay today!

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