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Can You Use the Same Essay for Multiple College Apps?

Cece Gilmore is a Content Writer at Scholarships360. Cece earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University. While at ASU, she was the education editor as well as a published staff reporter at Downtown Devil. Cece was also the co-host of her own radio show on Blaze Radio ASU.

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Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

You might be asking yourself, “can you use the same essay for multiple colleges?” The short answer is yes, but that it sometimes depends on a few factors. It is important to ensure that the essay you are reusing is general enough to be used for multiple college apps. Read more in our guide about instances where it makes sense to use the same essay for multiple college applications. 

Before we start, we should recognize that the college admission process often involves writing multiple responses, including personal statements,  Common App essays, college specific essays, supplemental essays, and more. 

Can you submit the same personal statement to different schools? 

The good news is that you can submit the same personal statement to different schools. 

The personal statement is usually attached to the Common Application and the Coalition Application . The personal statement aims to get to know the applicant as a unique person. Students can do this by writing about a unique aspect of their lives, an accomplishment they are most proud of, or ultimately anything that shows who they are. It would be unnecessary to write a different personal statement for every college since the personal statement is all about you. 

Also see: How to write a successful college essay by showing, not telling

Can you submit the same college-specific supplemental essays for multiple college applications? 

“why us” question.

The “Why us” essay questions typically will not be able to be reused. This is because they are specifically designed to elicit a response regarding the uniqueness of their college. “Why us?” questions are supposed to be answered by sharing specific aspects of the school the applicant enjoys such as the campus, a specific course, the alumni connection, etc. Therefore, since every college is unique in its own way, it is nearly impossible to write a “Why us?” response that would work for multiple college applications. 

Supplemental essays

There is a chance you can reuse a supplemental essay for multiple college applications. Colleges ask supplemental questions on a variety of topics, and some questions are broader than others. This is a time to be very careful, as you don’t want any kind of a mix-up like praising the perpetually warm and sunny weather at the University of Minnesota!

Related: How to write about yourself

Tips for using the same essay for multiple college applications

Read the essay question carefully.

To begin, you must read the question carefully to ensure that any previous essay you have written will answer all parts of the question. It is critical that you are not ignoring parts of the question just because you have an essay that answers the other part of the question. 

Make sure that your response is college specific

If the question asks specifically about the college it is important to put specific details into your essay. You should be as detailed as possible when responding to a college specific question to show that you care about attending that college!

Don’t miss : How to ask for letters of recommendation for college and scholarships

Proofread!! 

It is so important to read over your essay to ensure that there is no mention of a different college in it. Proofreading your essay will also avoid any grammatical errors and typos. 

Write a new essay if necessary

When in doubt, the best thing to do is completely write a new essay. This will result in the most specific and detail oriented essay possible that does not seem to be general or non-question specific. Reusing essays is an efficient way to fill out college applications, but it may not always be the one that results in the best essays. So, when in doubt, write a new essay! 

Key Takeaways

• Reusing your personal statement essay for multiple colleges is not only allowed, but sometimes encouraged
• When in doubt, write a new essay and do not reuse!
• Always proofread before submitting a supplemental essay to ensure you did not leave any “College A” specific details when submitting something to “College B” 

Also see: How many colleges should I apply to? and   10 tips for successful college applications

Additional resources

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Frequently asked questions about using the same essay for multiple college apps

Do colleges know if you use the same essay, can you use the same essay for the common application and the coalition application, scholarships360 recommended.

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Can You Use the Same Essay for Different Colleges? 3 Steps to Tailoring an Essay for Early Decision

• application strategy
• college application essays
• supplemental essays
• early decision

Every year, around this time, I get messages like these:

“Help me! Vanderbilt came to my school and said they like social entrepreneurship. Myessay’s about my family dinner. Should I change my essay?”

“The Yale admissions rep said they want ethical leaders, but my essay is about teaching dance to kids…”

“UC Berkeley talked about global citizens, but my essay is about my home town rowing club…”

Sound familiar?

You’ve dug deep, written draft after draft, massaged every line and hit “save as.” You have researched and visited several schools, fell in love with one and committed to an early decision or early action. Now, rightfully, you are thinking of all the ways you could make your application stronger with your top-choice school, including tweaking your essay. Should you?

Don’t sweat it.

The answer to this question for most of you is a categorical NO you should not tweak your essay for your ED school. If your essay centers on a personal narrative in which you pursue and reflect on one of your interests, even a seemingly small and mundane one, then you are on the right track. (Stories about family dinners and teaching dance classes can work very well!) Your supplements are where you should share your specific interests in your ED school (see below) and your essay should stand alone as a portrait of your strengths of character and drive to learn. 

So no need to borrow trouble and tweak your college essay so you sound like a “social entrepreneur” or “ethical leader” or whatever else you learned your dream school says it’s looking for. (Admissions officers can tell when you’re putting on airs.) These are buzzy terms for what all schools want: curious, self-motivated, smart, engaged HUMAN BEINGS: people who will use their school like a giant personal research facility, take their education into their own hands, pursue what piques their mind, and join and lead groups outside of the classroom.

But what about the exceptions?

For a slim group of you, the answer to the above question is a qualified “maybe.” To help you decide whether a strategic tweak to your essay is right for your ED application, please go through the below questions and suggestions.

1) Does your ED school have a “why this school?” supplement?

Yes? Then don’t tweak your essay. Your supplement will be all the space you need to share your desire for that specific school. 

No? Then move to the next question.

2) Does your ED school have a “favorite activity” supplement?

Yes? Tell a story in which you pursue a passion (other than the passion in you main essay) and how you would pursue it or keep it alive at the ED school. 

3) Does your ED school have any supplements at all?

Yes? Whatever the topic is, tell a story in which you pursue what you already love to study, create, lead, nerd out about and at the end, how you would pursue it at this ED school. 

No? This is where you might consider adding a tweak to your main essay. As you may be guessing by now, you could imagine how you would pursue your passion at this ED school at the end of your essay, but keep it brief. They don’t want a sales pitch. They want to learn what makes you tick. Literally, one line near the end is all you need.

“I see myself recreating family dinners with other students at Vanderbilt and, like at home, facilitate a circle sharing where needs and leads are matched.” 

“At Yale, I will keep a pair of Maria’s ballet shoes in my dorm room to remind me that empowering others starts with walking in their shoes for a while.”

What else can I do to improve my application with my ED school?

Contact your ED school’s admissions officer for your region and straight up ask them how you can do what you love at their school. A specific club you don’t see in their student club list? A dance or music group that doesn’t exist? Ask about how to start it. Meet them in person when you tour the campus or if they come to your school for a college fair. These admissions officers do remember the students who personally reach out, and it can make the difference between you and someone else. You can get their contact from the school’s website or from your high school college counselor.

About The Author

Justin Taylor is a college essay expert and Yale grad who’s helped hundreds of students raise their admissions prospects through his WOW essay process. As a writing professor, he has taught at Yale, Wesleyan, and the Sorbonne. His own essays have been featured in newspapers, magazines, and in university commencement speeches, including one at Radio City Music Hall! He’s also a professional meditation teacher and love helping students bring more peace of mind to their lives and the college admissions process. Learn about Justin’s WOW essay services .

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12 Strategies to Writing the Perfect College Essay

College admission committees sift through thousands of college essays each year. Here’s how to make yours stand out.

Pamela Reynolds

When it comes to deciding who they will admit into their programs, colleges consider many criteria, including high school grades, extracurricular activities, and ACT and SAT scores. But in recent years, more colleges are no longer considering test scores.

Instead, many (including Harvard through 2026) are opting for “test-blind” admission policies that give more weight to other elements in a college application. This policy change is seen as fairer to students who don’t have the means or access to testing, or who suffer from test anxiety.

So, what does this mean for you?

Simply that your college essay, traditionally a requirement of any college application, is more important than ever.

A college essay is your unique opportunity to introduce yourself to admissions committees who must comb through thousands of applications each year. It is your chance to stand out as someone worthy of a seat in that classroom.

A well-written and thoughtful essay—reflecting who you are and what you believe—can go a long way to separating your application from the slew of forgettable ones that admissions officers read. Indeed, officers may rely on them even more now that many colleges are not considering test scores.

Below we’ll discuss a few strategies you can use to help your essay stand out from the pack. We’ll touch on how to start your essay, what you should write for your college essay, and elements that make for a great college essay.

Be Authentic

More than any other consideration, you should choose a topic or point of view that is consistent with who you truly are.

Readers can sense when writers are inauthentic.

Inauthenticity could mean the use of overly flowery language that no one would ever use in conversation, or it could mean choosing an inconsequential topic that reveals very little about who you are.

Use your own voice, sense of humor, and a natural way of speaking.

Whatever subject you choose, make sure it’s something that’s genuinely important to you and not a subject you’ve chosen just to impress. You can write about a specific experience, hobby, or personality quirk that illustrates your strengths, but also feel free to write about your weaknesses.

Honesty about traits, situations, or a childhood background that you are working to improve may resonate with the reader more strongly than a glib victory speech.

Grab the Reader From the Start

You’ll be competing with so many other applicants for an admission officer’s attention.

Therefore, start your essay with an opening sentence or paragraph that immediately seizes the imagination. This might be a bold statement, a thoughtful quote, a question you pose, or a descriptive scene.

Starting your essay in a powerful way with a clear thesis statement can often help you along in the writing process. If your task is to tell a good story, a bold beginning can be a natural prelude to getting there, serving as a roadmap, engaging the reader from the start, and presenting the purpose of your writing.

Focus on Deeper Themes

Some essay writers think they will impress committees by loading an essay with facts, figures, and descriptions of activities, like wins in sports or descriptions of volunteer work. But that’s not the point.

College admissions officers are interested in learning more about who you are as a person and what makes you tick.

They want to know what has brought you to this stage in life. They want to read about realizations you may have come to through adversity as well as your successes, not just about how many games you won while on the soccer team or how many people you served at a soup kitchen.

Let the reader know how winning the soccer game helped you develop as a person, friend, family member, or leader. Make a connection with your soup kitchen volunteerism and how it may have inspired your educational journey and future aspirations. What did you discover about yourself?

Show Don’t Tell

As you expand on whatever theme you’ve decided to explore in your essay, remember to show, don’t tell.

The most engaging writing “shows” by setting scenes and providing anecdotes, rather than just providing a list of accomplishments and activities.

Reciting a list of activities is also boring. An admissions officer will want to know about the arc of your emotional journey too.

Try Doing Something Different

If you want your essay to stand out, think about approaching your subject from an entirely new perspective. While many students might choose to write about their wins, for instance, what if you wrote an essay about what you learned from all your losses?

If you are an especially talented writer, you might play with the element of surprise by crafting an essay that leaves the response to a question to the very last sentence.

You may want to stay away from well-worn themes entirely, like a sports-related obstacle or success, volunteer stories, immigration stories, moving, a summary of personal achievements or overcoming obstacles.

However, such themes are popular for a reason. They represent the totality of most people’s lives coming out of high school. Therefore, it may be less important to stay away from these topics than to take a fresh approach.

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Write With the Reader in Mind

Writing for the reader means building a clear and logical argument in which one thought flows naturally from another.

Use transitions between paragraphs.

Think about any information you may have left out that the reader may need to know. Are there ideas you have included that do not help illustrate your theme?

Be sure you can answer questions such as: Does what you have written make sense? Is the essay organized? Does the opening grab the reader? Is there a strong ending? Have you given enough background information? Is it wordy?

Write Several Drafts

Set your essay aside for a few days and come back to it after you’ve had some time to forget what you’ve written. Often, you’ll discover you have a whole new perspective that enhances your ability to make revisions.

Start writing months before your essay is due to give yourself enough time to write multiple drafts. A good time to start could be as early as the summer before your senior year when homework and extracurricular activities take up less time.

Read It Aloud

Writer’s tip : Reading your essay aloud can instantly uncover passages that sound clumsy, long-winded, or false.

Don’t Repeat

If you’ve mentioned an activity, story, or anecdote in some other part of your application, don’t repeat it again in your essay.

Your essay should tell college admissions officers something new. Whatever you write in your essay should be in philosophical alignment with the rest of your application.

Also, be sure you’ve answered whatever question or prompt may have been posed to you at the outset.

Ask Others to Read Your Essay

Be sure the people you ask to read your essay represent different demographic groups—a teacher, a parent, even a younger sister or brother.

Ask each reader what they took from the essay and listen closely to what they have to say. If anyone expresses confusion, revise until the confusion is cleared up.

Pay Attention to Form

Although there are often no strict word limits for college essays, most essays are shorter rather than longer. Common App, which students can use to submit to multiple colleges, suggests that essays stay at about 650 words.

“While we won’t as a rule stop reading after 650 words, we cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention for as long as you’d hoped it would,” the Common App website states.

In reviewing other technical aspects of your essay, be sure that the font is readable, that the margins are properly spaced, that any dialogue is set off properly, and that there is enough spacing at the top. Your essay should look clean and inviting to readers.

End Your Essay With a “Kicker”

In journalism, a kicker is the last punchy line, paragraph, or section that brings everything together.

It provides a lasting impression that leaves the reader satisfied and impressed by the points you have artfully woven throughout your piece.

So, here’s our kicker: Be concise and coherent, engage in honest self-reflection, and include vivid details and anecdotes that deftly illustrate your point.

While writing a fantastic essay may not guarantee you get selected, it can tip the balance in your favor if admissions officers are considering a candidate with a similar GPA and background.

Write, revise, revise again, and good luck!

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About the Author

Pamela Reynolds is a Boston-area feature writer and editor whose work appears in numerous publications. She is the author of “Revamp: A Memoir of Travel and Obsessive Renovation.”

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How to Write College Application Essays

Use the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide:

College Application Essay Fundamentals 

How to prepare to write your essay , how to approach different essay types, how to structure your essay , how to revise your essay, how to find essay writing help , resources for teaching students how to write a college essay, additional resources (further reading).

Of all the materials in a college application, the essay provides the greatest opportunity for you to set yourself apart. Unlike the transcript or resume, the essay is creative and expressive; in it, you can show the admissions counselors who you are and what you can do (that is, how well you can write!). A good application essay should have a memorable main idea, a cohesive structure, and a strong introduction and conclusion. Although essay topics can vary by college, the most common prompts deal with personal experiences and aspirations for the future. This guide   contains a diverse set of resources to help you orient yourself to the college application essay and, ultimately, to write the most competitive essay possible. 

The college application essay is a requirement for admission to almost all institutions of higher learning. Though in some ways it resembles essays you've written in class or on standardized tests, in other ways it's a unique writing exercises with its own particular requirements. Use the resources below to help you understand how the essay should be structured and what kind of content to include. 

"How Long Should College Application Essays Be?" (Learn.org)

This webpage guides you through some basic tips on writing the college essay—including essay length, sticking to the prompt, and maintaining an original tone. 

"College Application Essay" (College Board)

This webpage from the College Board discusses the different types of application essays, what length you should aim for, and most importantly, why colleges value this aspect of the application so much. 

"College Essays, College Applications" (College Board) 

The College Board's website is a great resource for any student looking to apply to college. This webpage contains several links to helpful resources, including sample essays and genuine student interviews. 

"Timeline for College Applications" (College Essay Guy)

This colorful, one-page guide from a college application specialist offers an illustrated timeline for high school students looking to apply for college. 

Before putting your ideas down on paper, it's important to conceptualize your essay, to craft strategically your tone and style, and,  crucially, to choose a topic that suits you and the school to which you're applying. The resources in this section include writing tips, lists of common mistakes you should avoid, and guides dedicated to the college application essay.

How to Plan Your Essay

"3 Common College Essay Mistakes to Avoid" (CNBC)  

This article from CNBC broadly outlines the most common mistakes students make when writing their college application essays. Although these mistakes may seem obvious, even the most experienced writers can fall into these common traps.

"7 Effective Application Tips" (Peterson's)

This article from Peterson's (a company providing academic materials for test prep, application help, and more) lists seven pieces of advice designed to make your writing pop. 

"The Secret to Show, Don't Tell" ( The Write Practice Blog)  

You've heard it before: show, don't tell. This is a great writing tip, but how do you pull it off? Here, the writing blog  The Write Practice  outlines how you can make your writing more descriptive and effective. 

"Passive Voice" (University of North Carolina)  

Avoiding passive construction is a subtle yet effective way to upgrade any piece of writing. Check out this webpage from a university writing center for some tips on recognizing and avoiding passive voice. 

"Using Appropriate Words in an Academic Essay" (National University of Singapore)

There are many ways to upgrade your vocabulary. Often, words can be replaced with more impressive substitutes, phrases can be shortened or lengthened depending on context, and transitions can be used for a smoother flow. The link above expands on these strategies and offers several others. 

How to Brainstorm Topic Ideas

"Bad College Essays: 10 Mistakes to Avoid" (PrepScholar)

This article from a well-known tutoring service and test prep program describes what to avoid when writing your essay. Essays that are too graphic, too personal, or too overconfident are all problematic, and this article explains why. 

"5 Tricks for Choosing Your College Essay Topic" (CollegeXpress)

Lost on how to choose a topic? This webpage from CollegeXpress outlines five sources of inspiration you can mine for ideas as you're getting started.

"The College Admission Essay: Finding a Topic" (The Choice Blog)

This article from New York Times  blog The Choice  breaks down three essential questions to ask yourself when choosing a topic for your college essay. 

"COLLEGE ESSAY GUIDE: Choosing a Prompt for the Common Application" (YouTube)

In this five-minute video, a Yale student discusses how to choose a college essay prompt and how to approach the essay writing process. His channel is filled with original videos on the college application process. 

"Where to Begin? 3 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises" ( CollegeVine Blog)

Approaching the Common App essay prompts can be difficult. This blog post explains several tactics you can use to narrow down your options, such as writing down a list of your greatest convictions.

"Using First Person in an Academic Essay: When Is It Okay?" (WritingCommons.org)

Most high school students are told to avoid using the first person point of view; this can be confusing when writing college essays, which typically ask what  you  think. This article breaks down when (and why) it's acceptable to write in the first person. 

Although all college essays serve the same purpose - articulating why you should get into a college - they come in different kinds. While topics on the Common Application are relatively consistent from year to year, personal statements and so-called "supplemental essays" vary by institution. Each of these essays requires a slightly different approach. The resources in this section will prepare you to answer the various types of essay prompts you're likely to encounter. 

Common Application Essays

CommonApp.org

The Common Application's official website is the best place to start getting acquainted with the service to which the majority of US colleges and universities now subscribe - a service which allows you to streamline your application process and minimize duplication of materials.

"What's App-enning" Blog (Common App)  

The Common App runs a blog with a wealth of information on common application-related news, including periodic updates on common application essay prompts for each application cycle. You can practice brainstorming with old prompts, or even start preparing your application by looking at this year's prompts.

125 College Essay Examples (PrepScholar Blog)

Here, PrepScholar provides a variety of Common App essays that got their respective applicants into their desired schools. Along with the body text of the essays, the website provides analysis on  what  makes the essays so great. 

A Few Essays That Worked (And a Few That Didn't) (NYTimes Blog)

This article analyzes unsuccessful essays, illuminating the ways in which they fell short. Although you should exercise caution and adjust your approach to your specific school, it's always good to pick up on general things to avoid. 

Personal Statements

What Is a Personal Statement? (PrepScholar Blog)

Although personal statements and Common App essays are similar, not all personal statement essays are administered through the Common App. This article from PrepScholar's blog will provide you with everything you need to know about writing a personal statement.

Examples of Successful Statements (Purdue OWL)

The Purdue OWL online writing lab collate links on this page to several successful personal statement. It can be useful to read successful statements and to consider how and why the statements made an impact on their readers. 

Past Threads on Advice for Writing Your College Essay (Reddit Post)

Although not about the personal statement  per se , this Reddit post has links to several past threads that may be of use to any prospective college applicant. 

What 10 Things Should Your Personal Statement Include? (Which University UK)  

This site outlines ten things to consider when writing a personal statement, including outlining what you will bring to the course, not what the course will bring to you. 

Supplemental Essays

How to Write Great Supplemental College Essays (IvyWise Newsletter)

Supplemental essays can often be challenging, asking a range of questions from the mundane to the oddly specific. This article from college application site IvyWise will break down example prompts to make them more approachable. 

Write Your Supplemental Essays (College Essay Guy)

Looking for a comprehensive guide to supplemental essays? Look no further than this page provided by the "College Essay Guy," who breaks down how to write supplemental essays that ask different kinds of questions. 

An Awesome Guide to the UChicago Supplement (Dyad)

Dyad, a college mentoring service, walks you through how to approach UChicago's supplemental essay question. Although the article is specific to UChicago, it contains general tips that are helpful to any college applicant. 

Reading My Yale Supplement Essay (YouTube)

Josh Beasley is back in this short YouTube video, where he reads the supplemental essay that got him into Yale and extrapolates advice for current and prospective applicants. 

A college application essay (like any academic essay) should have an introduction, a conclusion, and body paragraphs. Additionally, it should have overall coherence (that is, it should make a point) and cohesion (that is, it should flow well from paragraph to paragraph). We've collected the most relevant resources here to help you structure your college essay correctly and efficiently. 

How to Make Your Essay Stand Out 

College Essays That Stand Out From the Crowd (NYTimes)

This NYTimes article includes links to several recent essays that caught the eyes of the admissions readers by taking risks. You can even listen to an essay being read aloud by a current Princeton student.

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays (Gen / Kelly Tanabe)  

If you have some time on your hands, this hefty PDF document contains 50 essays from successful Ivy League applicants. After reading these essays, consider what they have in common and how they might be a model for your own essay.

Make Your Application Essay Stand Out (CampusExplorer.com)

In this article from CampusExplorer, you'll find general tips on how to make your essay more appealing to the admissions readers. The writers include general writing tips as well as more targeted advice for the tone and audience of the application essay.

How to Write a College Application Essay that Stands Out (Boston University)

This short video from BU's own admissions department touches briefly on what impresses their admissions readers, including risk-taking, memorable stories, and honesty. 

Essay Structure (Monash University)

This chart from Monash University visually demonstrates how your content should be organized in order to keep your argument or story on track. 

How to Write an Introduction

How to Start a Personal Statement: The Killer Opening (Which University UK)  

Any good introduction both forecasts what your essay will be about and catches the reader's attention. This page will give you some helpful advice on starting your essay with a bang. 

How to Start a College Essay Perfectly (PrepScholar Blog)

This article from PrepScholar shows you how to "hook" your reader at the start of your application essay with colorful language, a vivid story, and an "insightful pivot" to your main point.

Let Me Introduce Myself (Stanford University)

This article from Stanford U's alumni page details the first-line openings of the essays for some current Stanford undergrads. 

Five Ways to NOT Start Your College Application Essays (PowerScore)

In this article, you'll learn five techniques to avoid, as they typically land a college application essay in the "reject" pile; these include beginning with dictionary definitions or famous quotations. 

How to Write a Conclusion 

Ending the Essay: Conclusions (Harvard University)

Harvard's writing center suggests bringing closure to your essay (that is, wrapping up your argument) while still expanding outward to broader applications or insights in your final paragraph.

Concluding Paragraph (Easybib)  

Although you may have used Easybib to make a bibliography before, did you know they have many resources on how to write a good essay? Check out this page for succinct advice on what your conclusion should entail. 

5 Ways to Powerfully End Your College Essay (College Greenlight)

This blog post instructs you to end with action (that is, a story or anecdote) rather than summary, giving you five ways to do this effectively, including addressing the college directly.

How to Write the Best Conclusion for a College Application Essay and Supplement (Koppelman Group)

The Koppelman Group, a college application consulting firm, warns you, above all, not to end "in conclusion" or "to conclude." They also provide targeted advice for the Common App and Supplement essays, respectively. 

No essay is perfect in its first-draft form; college application essays in particular are limited by word counts that can be difficult to meet. Once you've communicated your ideas, you'll want to edit your essay in order to make sure it's the best it can be. You'll also need to cut or add words to make sure it's within the specifications set by the institution. The resources in this section include tips and tricks for revising your college application essay. 

3 Ways to Increase Word Count (WikiHow)

Complete with illustrations, this WikiHow page outlines several ways you might go about substantively expanding your essay. These tips include clarifying points, reworking your introduction and conclusion, adding new viewpoints and examples, and connecting loose threads. 

Admissions 101: What an Essay Word Limit Really Means (Veritas Prep) 

In this blog post, Veritas Prep's college preparation tutors assure you that being a little over or under the limit is acceptable, recommending ways you can think about the word limit's purpose.

College Essay Word Limit - Going Under? (College Confidential) 

In this College Confidential discussion forum, students discuss the possible ramifications of writing under the word limit for a college essay. 

How to Increase Your Essay Word Count (WordCounter)

This article from WordCounter outlines different ways you might go about meeting word count, including addressing different viewpoints, adding examples, and clarifying statements. 

Hitting the Target Word Count in Your College Admissions Essay (Dummies.com)

This article details how to hit the target word count. Scroll down to the middle of the article for advice on where you should cut words from to meet word count. 

Some Tricks to Reduce Word Count (EastAsiaStudent.net)

This article recommends simplifying your style, deleting adverbs, deleting prepositions, and revisiting connectives and adjectives to reduce word count. 

Advice on Whittling Your Admissions Essay (NYTimes) 

In this New York Times article, Andrew Gelb discusses how to go about cutting down your admissions essay in order to meet the requisite word limit.

How to Shorten an Essay Without Ruining the Content (Quora) 

This Quora post from a concerned student yielded useful community responses on how to effectively shorten an essay without losing the original message. 

Feel like you've hit a wall revising your essay on your own? You're not alone, and there are plentiful resources on the web through which you can connect with fellow college applicants and/or professional tutors. The links in this section will take you to free services for improving your college application essay, as well as two of the top paid writing tutor services.

College Confidential Forums 

College Confidential is a free, public forum in which you can post your essay and receive feedback from current college students, current college applicants, and even teachers or other experienced users. 

/r/CollegeEssays (Reddit)

This subreddit is a great place to look for crowdsourced help on your essay, ask questions about college essays, or even find a private tutor. 

Essayforum.com

Essayforum.com provides another platform for students to share their application essays. Although this link takes you to the site's forum for applicants to undergraduate degree programs, you can submit and review essays in other categories as well.  Varsity Tutors

Varisty Tutors offers tutoring services from freelance tutors based on location. Prices and services vary, but their site is easy to use and there are many tutors available to choose from.

Princeton Review

Princeton Review, one of the largest providers of college preparation tutoring (ranging from standardized test preparation to essay help) offers online essay tutoring services with a free trial period. 

Using in-class time to prepare your students to write college application essays is, of course, rewarding, but can also be challenging. If you're a teacher looking to incorporate the college essay into your curriculum but you're not sure where to start, take a look at the useful resources below.

TeachersPayTeachers

College Essay Writing

This product includes material for more than one full lesson plan, including powerpoint presentations, assessments, and homework on the topic of college essays. 

Narrative Writing Ideas and Prompts

Appealing to students 9th grade and up, this product includes lesson plans, handouts, and homework for developing narrative writing for the college essay process. 

College Essay: Comprehensive 7-Session Workshop Series

This PDF includes entire courses, manuals, and handouts designed to teach students the ins and outs of the college essay process, either in an individual or group setting. 

College Essay Revision Forms & Rubrics

These PDFs provide students with visual organizers and rubrics to assess their own writing and learn how to become better college essay writers. 

Free Resources

Teaching the College Essay (Edutopia) 

Teaching your students about writing the college essay can be incredibly intimidating -- as a teacher, how should you approach the process? This article from Edutopia outlines how to go about introducing the college essay to your students. 

Essay Lesson Plan Ideas for College Applications (EssayHell)

If you're a teacher looking for a concrete lesson plan on college essays, this guide recommends using the first day to discuss the importance of the essay, the second day for brainstorming, and so on. Click on the link above to examine their full guide. 

Help Your Students Write a Killer College Essay (EdWeek Blog)

This blog post goes over various techniques designed to help your students choose an appropriate topic and write their essay with passion. 

The Biggest College Essay Mistakes & How to Fix Them (Talks With Teachers)

Looking to help your students avoid the minefield of mistakes in the college essay field? Check out this post from Talks With Teachers, a journal that shares "inspiring ideas for English teachers." 

Curious to read more about college application essays, or to see fun and unusual examples of what students have written? The articles, blog posts, and books in this section are a good place to start surveying the field.

One Over-the-Top Admissions Essay (Huffington Post)

This piece from the Huffington Post talks about a humorous response to a Stanford supplemental essay topic, the so-called "letter to my future roommate."

College & University - Statistics and Facts (Statista.com) 

In the process of writing your college essay, you may find yourself wondering who exactly goes to college, how many colleges there are in the United States, etc. This site gives the up-to-date statistics for various US demographics, both in aggregate and by university, as well as other information.

Who Made That College Application? (NYTimes)

This piece from the NYTimes outlines the history of the college essay from its origins in the 1800s, to the first "modern" college application, produced by Columbia University in 1919, to the present.  

How They Got Into Harvard (Staff of the Harvard Crimson)

This highly-rated collection of successful Harvard application essays, available on Amazon, is both an entertaining read and an instructive resource for anyone looking for exemplary essays to use as models. 

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How to Write Better Essays

9 College Essay Tips on How to Write Better Essays

Want to learn how to write better essays? We’re here to help. In this guide, we have collected the best college essay tips from our experienced team, who have guided hundreds of students through the college admissions process. Our experts have taught many students how to write better essays, helping them gain admission to some of the most competitive schools in the country. 

This guide will teach you how to write better essays and provide you with 9 college essay tips to keep in mind as you write your supplemental essays and personal statements. Our admissions experts have extensive experience with college essay prompts and the college application essay format. They’ve guided hundreds of students through how to write better essays. 

In addition to our college essay tips, this guide will provide insight into college essay prompts, supplemental essays, and other tips on how to write better essays overall. We’ll go over the different essay prompts you may encounter and offer some tips on tackling common essays. This guide will also detail how to use essay examples to help with your writing process. We’ll also offer tips on how to help your essays stand out. If you’re looking for college essay help, continue reading below. 

College Application Requirements

While the college essay is a major part of the college admissions process, it’s not the only element to consider. Many college application requirements include transcripts, extracurriculars, recommendations, as well as supplemental essays. You may also need to submit a college resume and a separate personal statement in addition to your Common App essay . It’s important to pay attention to the college application deadlines as well. Different schools will have different college application requirements, including different college essay prompts. 

Your grades and extracurricular activities can provide colleges with a great overview of your school performance. However, the best college admissions essays give schools a deeper understanding of your identity and goals. College essay prompts are designed to help admissions officers decide who may be a good fit for their campus. Many college essay tips will focus on showcasing your personality and highlighting aspects of your high school career that colleges may not know about. If you’re looking to learn how to write better essays, we’ve detailed the kinds of college essay prompts you may encounter below. 

Common App essay vs. supplemental essays

Through the college admissions process, you will encounter both the Common App essay and supplemental essays. The Common App essay , sometimes known as a personal statement, has a 650-word limit. Students have a choice between seven college essay prompts, and they can send the Common App essay to multiple schools. The college application essay format allows students to highlight a personal interest, accomplishment, or important story. The best college admission essays leave a great impression on the reader and make them feel as if they know the author in a personal way. Researching college essay tips and college essay ideas can help you learn how to write better essays. 

In addition to the Common App essay, you will also encounter supplemental essays. Supplemental essays are typically shorter than the Common App essay, often between 150-300 words. Supplemental essays are school specific, and are designed to see how much you know about the school you’re applying to. In the next section, we’ll detail the different kinds of supplemental essays you may encounter. We’ll also give you some college essay tips to help you learn how to write better essays. 

What is a supplemental essay?

Supplemental essays are essays assigned specifically by a school. While the college application essay prompts may be similar, it’s important to make sure each essay is unique for each school. The supplemental essay allows schools to get more information about you and your interests outside of your Common App essay and overall college application. Not all schools will have supplemental essays, but it’s important to allot time to write these additional essays. Some schools will have 2-3 additional essay prompts, which could mean a lot of extra writing if you aren’t prepared. 

There are many different kinds of supplemental essays. Some schools have very short essay prompts, such as Columbia . These may ask students to list influential books, movies, and ways they explore their interests.  Other schools ask for additional personal statements in addition to the Common App essay, such as Harvard. Some schools will list the supplemental essays as optional, such as the Fordham supplemental essays. CollegeAdvisor recommends students complete every supplemental essay for each school on their college list . This includes all “optional” college essay prompts. 

Here are some college essay tips for some of the most common supplemental college essay prompts. These college essay topics are found at many colleges, and it’s likely that you will encounter them at some point through the admissions process. Reading these tips can help you when pondering what to write your college essays about .  These tips can help you learn how to write better essays and help brainstorm some college essay ideas:

Tips to Write Better Essays

1. Why School Essay 

The Why School essay is one of the most common college essay prompts. This essay asks you to explain why you’re interested in that specific school. As you tackle these college essay prompts, make sure to pinpoint your exact reasons for applying. 

2. Why Major Essay

The Why Major Essay is designed to help schools understand why you’re interested in your intended major. Try to explain your interest, and how that school will help you with your goals—see the UPenn supplemental essays for an example. 

3. Cultural Diversity Essay 

Many schools use the Cultural Diversity Essay to get to know your background better or allow you to highlight important aspects of your identity. The Tufts supplemental essays include a Cultural Diversity Essay. This prompt asks students to explain how their background has shaped who they are. 

4. Personal Challenge Essay 

The Personal Challenge Essay allows students to describe an obstacle they have overcome. Many of the best college essays highlight a student’s personal struggle, but it can be challenging to not overshare . Be sure to read college essay examples to help you strike the right balance. 

5. Extracurricular Activities Essay

The Extracurricular Activities Essay allows you to elaborate on your college resume. It offers you an opportunity to discuss your favorite club, sport, or community project. The Yale supplemental essays   include an Extracurricular Activities Essay, asking students to reflect on how they have worked to enrich their community. 

6. Unique or Oddball College Essays 

Some colleges are known for their unique essay prompts, such as the University of Chicago . These college essay prompts require students to get creative, and some of the best college admission essays come from a unique or oddball prompt. While these prompts may be intimidating, they can be a great opportunity for you to flex some creative muscles. They can also be a lot of fun to write, so don’t shy away from them!

7. Short Essays 

Short college application essay prompts can be some of the more challenging essays to write. Learning how to write better essays can help you with the short essay prompts, as you need to be concise and thoughtful about what you include. Every word will matter in a short essay prompt. So, think carefully about what you want to say and how you will say it. This will help you write the best college admission essays possible.

You may encounter a number of different supplemental essays, but all of them have the same goal—to help admissions officers learn more about you and your goals. If you’re still feeling stuck on your essays, U.S News has a great guide on How to Write a Supplemental Essay . Harvard also has great essay writing resources, including 12 Strategies to Writing the Perfect College Essay and student perspectives on the college essay. Vanderbilt has also compiled some essay writing tips, and the Smith College essay tip sheet can also come in handy. 

Do colleges care about supplemental essays?

While it’s hard to say exactly how supplemental essays factor into the admissions process, we do know that colleges care about your essays. The supplemental essay is the best opportunity for you to speak directly to the colleges you’re applying to. As such, it can serve as a great way for admissions officers to get to know you better. While college essay topics can feel silly or repetitive, it’s important to dedicate time and effort to your essays. 

One of the more common college essay mistakes is re-using the same essay for multiple colleges. While you can strategically re-use sentences and phrases, it’s important to make sure that each essay is unique to each college. Colleges want to ensure that the students they admit are passionate about their campus, and the best college essays effectively communicate that passion. The common college essay topics are designed to help admissions officers learn more about you, so it’s crucial to take them seriously. 

Case Study: Ivy League Essays

Let’s think about two hypothetical students, Lisa and Leo. They both have similar SAT scores, GPAs, and strong recommendation letters. They both were heavily involved in extracurriculars and met the admissions criteria for many Ivy League universities . Lisa wanted to learn how to write better essays, while Leo assumed the essays wouldn’t weigh as heavily as the other parts of his application. Lisa started to research college essay tips, read college essay examples , and familiarized herself with the college application essay format. She made sure to read different articles on how to write better essays, such as this one by U.S. News and Forbes’ The Perfectionist’s Guide to the College Essay . 

Leo wasn’t too concerned about college essay tips or learning how to write better essays. He did not seek college essay help and turned in the same Why Major essay to many of his top choices. While Lisa took care to make sure each of her college application essay prompts was unique and varied between each school, Leo assumed nobody would read the essays. Come Decision Day, it’s no surprise that Lisa was accepted to her top choice, and Leo was waitlisted. 

You can see why Lisa would have an advantage over Leo—taking enough time and effort to learn how to write better essays can help increase your chances of admission. Developing creative and unique college essay ideas can be a challenge, but it is worth the effort. If you research common college essay tips and read different college essay examples, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you learn how to write better essays. 

What makes a great college essay?

With so many resources and college essay tips, it can be hard to determine what makes a great college essay. When learning how to write better essays, it can be helpful to have some guidelines to keep in mind. We’ve collected 5 key components of the best college admission essays to help you learn how to write better essays: 

How to Write a Great College Essay

1. Compelling Hook

A compelling hook can be the difference between a good college essay and a great college essay. If you’re wondering how to start a college essay, introducing an interesting personal story or anecdote can be a great way to set up a compelling hook in your first paragraph. Learning how to write better essays will help you develop compelling hooks to help capture the reader’s attention. Part of writing a compelling hook is to land the ending as well, so be sure to finish strong.

2. Personal detail not offered elsewhere in application 

The college application essay format is designed to help you highlight details that may not be present elsewhere in your application. The best college admissions essays help add to a student’s application and offer insight that helps create a holistic profile. If you want to learn how to write better essays, then brainstorm details or stories that may be missing from your overall application. 

3. Original and engaging topics 

While many of the college application essay prompts will be repetitive, it’s important to make sure your essays have original and engaging topics. Think outside the box and try to approach your essays creatively. After all, learning how to write better essays can help you come up with original topics that will help your essays stand out. If you’re feeling stuck, U.S News has 10 Tips to Inspire College Essays to help. You can also read this U.S. News article on common essay topics and what admissions officers think of them. 

4. Unique and personal voice 

One of the biggest college essay tips is to develop your unique and personal voice. This can be the hardest part about learning how to write better essays. However, it’s crucial in making sure your essays stand out. Your essays should reflect your own voice and help the reader get to know you as an individual. Developing your own writing voice is a great skill that can take significant time and effort. If you’re struggling on developing your voice, Forbes has a great guide you can read here . 

5. Grammatically sound and free of errors 

It’s common to find college essay mistakes in the first, second, or even third drafts – making the proofreading process crucial. Ensuring that your college essay is free of errors, and follows all applicable grammatical rules, will make a great impression on admissions officers. Learning how to write better essays will help you catch any errors you make. U.S. News has a great guide on Grammar Do’s and Don’t for college essays if you’re concerned about using the proper rules.

Overall, the best way to incorporate these components is to invest a lot of time and effort into your essays. Make sure to ask for college essay help through proofreading, editing, and read-throughs. Having multiple teachers, mentors, and relatives read through your essays will help ensure the best versions are submitted. Learning how to write better essays takes a lot of time and practice, so the earlier you can start, the better.

How do I make my college essay stand out?

With college admissions becoming more and more competitive, it’s important for your college essay to stand out. If you’re interested in learning how to write better essays, we’ve compiled 9 college essay tips to help you. From help on how to start a college essay to breaking down the college application essay format, our college essay tips are designed to help you each step of the way. 

Our essay tips are designed for students across all stages of the application process, from freshmen and sophomores looking to get a head start to seniors deep in the application season. If you’re looking for more step-by-step guides, Forbes has a great guide on How to Write A College Essay. You can read it here . 

Our 9 college essay tips will help you write standout essays and help capture exactly what you want to communicate to colleges. 

9 College Essay Tips

Tackling the essay portion of your college admissions process can be daunting. In this guide on how to write better essays, we have discussed a lot of useful college essay tips including college application requirements, what makes a great college essay, and how you can write the best college essays possible. Now, we’re going to give you some practical college essay tips that will apply to any prompt you’ll encounter. 

Only the best college essays will rise to the top, so it’s important to know how to write better essays, especially if you apply to reach schools such as Ivy League universities . When considering how to write better essays, it’s important to look at college essay examples like the Tufts supplemental essays, Fordham supplemental essays, UPenn supplemental essays, and Yale supplemental essays. Additionally, always check out college admissions sites to see if they have specific tips for their essays. For example, here are some tips on the Smith College essay. 

With plenty of available resources and college essay tips, like this guide on how to write better essays, you can write the best college admission essays. Our college essay tips come directly from experts who have guided hundreds of students through the college admissions process, like these tips from experts at Vanderbilt . You can also check out our Success Stories , where you can read about real CollegeAdvisor students’ journeys!

Wondering how to start a college essay and how to write better essays? Great! Because we will now discuss 9 college essay tips. These tips will show you how to write better essays that showcase your unique qualities.

#1: Start Early

Wondering how to write better essays? The first thing you need to know is to start early. You might have heard the first of our college essay tips before, but experts agree that you need to give yourself ample time to tackle college essays. This means enough time to develop college essay ideas, complete drafts, and review them multiple times. That way, you can steer clear of any college essay mistakes. This can be tedious, but it is an imperative part of writing the best college admission essays.

U.S. News suggests that students wondering how to write better essays should start writing the summer before senior year. Schools often release their college essay prompts at the end of summer. Ideally, by the fall you will have drafted your personal statement , finalized your college list, and started working on other aspects of the Common App. This ensures you have a solid foundation when college essay prompts are released. Additionally, this will make it less stressful to dive right into the writing process.   

Most importantly, starting early gives you plenty of time to write multiple drafts before college application deadlines . These can be as early as October or November for those applying Early Action or Early Decision. Regular Decision deadlines are generally in December or January. So, figure out when you intend to submit your college applications. Then, make a priority list of essays in the order of their due dates.

Planning your essay strategy

In addition to your Common App essay , many colleges ask applicants to submit supplemental essays. These ask students to explain what interests them about a particular school or major. These college essay prompts are generally released in the late summer. They also tend to be shorter than the main essay. So, when budgeting your time, don’t forget about school-specific supplemental essays!

Moreover, starting early gives you ample time to familiarize yourself with college application requirements. You can review the essay requirements for each of the colleges you’re interested in on their websites. There, you will find the college essay prompts, word limits, and other college application essay format guidelines. This guarantees that you are well prepared and write the best college admission essays. 

Whether you’re writing the Tufts supplemental essays, Fordham supplemental essays, UPenn supplemental essays, Yale supplemental essays, or responding to the Smith College essay prompts, you’ll need to follow the school-specific guidelines. So, make sure you understand what makes each of these college essay prompts unique.

#2: Practice Writing about Yourself

College essays ask students to be personal and vulnerable in their writing, which may be unfamiliar to them. However, it’s an essential aspect of how to write better essays. Telling personal details about yourself and your goals does not mean simply restating your college resume . But, it also doesn’t mean you should overshare or “trauma dump.”

While you may excel in crafting research reports, personal writing can be challenging. There are a few contexts outside of the college admissions process where you will be asked to write about yourself. This is where the second of our college essay tips on how to write better essays comes into play: practice writing about yourself.  

There are various strategies you can use to practice. First, you can begin by writing a daily journal. Inevitably, you will have to write about yourself, your thoughts, and your actions. Next, you can audio record yourself talking and write from that. This will ensure your writing captures who you are and even has a conversational tone. You might also try free-writing. Just set a timer and write until it goes off! The more often you do this, the easier it will get. And, you’re bound to find some meaningful gems among the scribblings.

Targeted essay practice

Another good way to get acclimated to writing about yourself is to look at college application essay prompts from prior years and practice responding to them. These college essay prompts will likely be similar to those in your application cycle. Finally, read college essay examples written by other students to get a feel for how to respond. These exercises are key components when considering how to write better essays.

Reading college essay tips is great, but remember that practice is key. Learning to write about yourself is a vital skill when learning how to write better essays. 

#3: Familiarize yourself with the essay prompts

The most common types of supplemental essays and college essay prompts are as follows: 

• Why School Essay
• Why Major Essay
• Cultural Diversity Essay
• Personal Challenge Essay 
• Extracurricular Activities Essay
• Unique or Oddball College Essays
• Short Essays

College essay prompts generally fall into one of these specific college application essay format categories. So, it’s essential to familiarize yourself with them in advance to know how to write better essays. By reviewing past college essay prompts and college application essay formats, you can practice your responses in order to write the best college admission essays. No matter if you’re writing Tufts supplemental essays, Fordham supplemental essays, UPenn supplemental essays, Yale supplemental essays, or Smith College essays, familiarizing yourself with a wide variety of essays will give you an edge. This will increase your admissions odds at selective schools. 

Reading sample college essays

Additionally, to gain a better understanding of what universities look for, it’s beneficial to read through college essay examples of why school essays. Familiarizing yourself with why school college application essay formats will provide insight into the specific aspects of the responses that admissions officers value. So, college essay examples can teach you what to expect from these sorts of college application essay prompts. This is a key component in any student’s “how to write better essays” plan. 

Checking out other college application essay formats, such as examples of extracurricular activities college application essay prompts, can help you figure out how to write better essays about your own extracurriculars. Namely, you’ll want to focus on the impact they’ve had on you and, subsequently, your current path to higher education. 

When preparing to write your college essays, consider the word limit of the college application essay prompts. This will determine how much or how little you can include in your writing. Sometimes, less is more. And, it’s always best to aim for the suggested word limit. 

By following these college essay tips on how to write better essays, you can prepare yourself to tackle college essay prompts and craft outstanding responses. Familiarizing yourself with a variety of prompts will ensure you’re ready for anything when it comes to college essays. 

#4: Take time to research

Before you start writing, you should learn more about the schools you are applying to. One of the most important college essay tips on how to write better essays is spending time researching the colleges on your list. This will allow you to uncover specific opportunities that align with your goals. And, you should want to be just as good of a fit for the school as it is for you. Moreover, a key part of how to write better essays is including school-specific details.

However, you should not only research the basic things like the college essay prompts and college application requirements. Instead, you should focus on things that are specific to the school and coincide with your interests. What major are you considering? Why is the campus setting appealing to you? What organizations do you want to get involved in? Are there professors that you’re excited to learn from? Foregrounding these details gives you a chance to prove to the admissions team that you have invested time and energy into finding the best college for you.  

Learn all that you can so that you can submit a well-informed and persuasive application. Your essay should show how the college meets your needs and how you plan to contribute to the campus environment. 

Make sure to mention any unique aspects of the school or curriculum that could contribute to your overall career goals . The more details you use, the better you will be able to paint a picture of why you belong at that school. Researching the college you are applying to will enable you to gather relevant information about its values and opportunities. Then, you can use the specific details that attract you to the school to write the most impactful essays.

#5: Outline your essays

Outlining your essays is one of the most crucial college essay tips in the “how to write better essays” process. Outlines allow you to organize your thoughts, structure your college essay ideas, and ensure your essays effectively convey the intended message. 

Outlines are beneficial because they help you clarify your main points and maintain focus throughout your essay. They enable efficient use of your word limit and aid in college essay ideas development. Additionally, outlines contribute to the overall time management process. 

It can be easy to get distracted while writing and go off on a tangent. That’s okay when it comes to free-writing practices. However, when it’s time to write your actual essay, you’ll need to be more focused and intentional with your writing. By creating a solid plan, you will set yourself up for a successful essay writing process.

#6: Never repeat yourself

Supplemental essays provide applicants with an opportunity to provide additional information to the admissions committee, highlighting why they are a strong fit for the school. That’s why the sixth of our college essay tips on how to write better essays is to never repeat yourself . Your essays should be used to expand upon different college essay topics, experiences, and perspectives.

You’ll likely run into a scenario in which the school you are applying to requires two types of supplemental essays. Let’s say you choose to write about similar or adjacent college essay topics for both. For example, you discuss your passion for community service in both essays, elaborating on different aspects within each. While this approach may seem coherent, it’s generally a better choice to write about two entirely different subjects for the essays. Writing about different topics demonstrates that you are a well-rounded applicant and would contribute to various aspects of the college community. 

When elaborating on extracurricular activities listed on the Common App, you’ll need to provide additional details and deeper meaning. Be strategic and don’t restate what has already been mentioned. Instead, use this opportunity to dive deeper into specific projects, achievements, leadership roles, and personal growth. 

#7: Showcase your voice

Your writing voice is the unique and distinctive style, tone, and personality that comes through in your essays. Think of it as your way of expressing your thoughts and ideas on the page. When writing your college essays, an admissions team should be able to “hear” your voice. 

An important element of how to write better essays is writing with an authentic voice . Your college essays should sound like you. So, unless you frequently use Shakespearean language, avoid it in your college essays. 

Use these college essay tips as tools to show who you are, what you value, and how you think. By making sure your authentic voice comes through, you can do just that. It’s vital that your essays are an authentic, personal, and vulnerable representation of who you are. Remember, you are what you write . 

#8: “Show” don’t “Tell”

You’ve probably heard it before, but #8 on our college essay tips on how to write better essays reaffirms the importance of showing, not telling, in your college essays. Your college essays give you the opportunity to show the admissions team who you are beyond your academic achievements. Entertaining or intriguing anecdotes are more effective at explaining your qualities and passions than just statements. 

Think about your most meaningful and favorite life stories. Do they show something about your personality, values, interests, or character?  You should use relevant anecdotes in order to show the admissions officers how you embody certain traits or beliefs, as opposed to just stating you have them.

Let’s take a look at this example of “show” vs “tell” writing:

“Tell” Writing: “I am compassionate and want to help others. I have volunteered at a local homeless shelter, which has been very rewarding.”

“Show” Writing: “Last summer, as I was volunteering at the local homeless shelter, I experienced an indescribable sense of fulfillment. I served a tired-looking woman with three young children a hot plate of food. She met me with gratitude and relief in her eyes, and I met her with a warm smile. At that moment, I saw my small act of kindness make a tangible difference in someone’s life and knew that I wanted to pursue a career that would do the same.”

As you can see, the “show” writing example paints a vivid picture and engages the reader by providing specific details and descriptions. This creates a more impactful and memorable narrative while providing evidence of the argument being made: the student is passionate about helping others. If you decide to write about a common topic like service, do it because your experience has led to thought and reflection, not because you feel like it’s what admissions officers want to hear. 

If you want to know how to write better essays, whether writing Tufts supplemental essays, Fordham supplemental essays, UPenn supplemental essays, Yale supplemental essays, or Smith College essays, showing and not telling is key. You’ll notice it in all exceptional college essay examples.  

#9: Ask for help!

You should approach the editing phase of your college essays with the same importance as the writing phase. This phase is connected to the first of our college essay tips: start early! The earlier you start planning your essays, the more time you’ll have to ask parents, teachers, and advisors for college essay help. Having an outsider look at your essay will teach you a lot. So, make sure you dedicate sufficient time to this critical phase. 

When you feel like your essay is ready for review, use multiple resources to increase the chances of producing an error-free essay. Begin with writing assistant programs, like spell-check, for basic errors. Then, ideally, seek college essay help from at least two knowledgeable adults. Their feedback can help when considering how to write better essays. Additionally, look to these tips from Harvard experts and Harvard students on how to write standout college essays. 

Give yourself time to receive external feedback on your college essay topics and ideas as well as grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Following these guidelines will help you to complete your college application essays before the application deadline. This will ensure you submit work that impresses admissions officers and is free of college essay mistakes. For perfectionists, this Forbes guide to the college essay may be exactly what you’re looking for. 

After reading all these tips, you should now know how to start a college essay. You can always reach out to our advisors at CollegeAdvisor for college essay help by scheduling an appointment here . We also have guides on writing college essays and supplemental essays, as well as examples of college essays that worked. However, when in doubt during your writing process, revisit these tips for a reminder of how to write better essays.

Learning how to write better essays

Many students struggle with figuring out how to write better essays during the college admissions process. They may think they can’t write the best college admission essays or master the college application essay format. However, with the college essay tips listed above and good college essay help, anyone can learn how to write better essays. What makes a great college essay is a combination of practice, revision, and time. 

Are you trying to master how to write better essays? Start by giving yourself enough time to work on your college application essay prompts. Many of our college essay tips require time to research, outline, and plan before you even start writing your first draft. The more time you have to revise and fix your college essay mistakes, the better your essay will be.

Following college essay tips is also important because you may not have experience with this kind of writing. College essay prompts and supplemental essays require different skills than essays for your high school classes. For example, teachers often discourage writers from being too personal in academic essays. However, college essay prompts require a great deal of personal information, and the best essays include authentic personal experiences.

When learning how to write better essays, you can always learn from past successes. Reading essays that worked is a very popular way to gain insight into the college application essay format. Moreover, they may provide inspiration for your own essays, of which there will likely be several. Many colleges ask for multiple supplemental essays, so reading widely will prepare you for the endless college essay prompts available.

Approaching Different Types of Essays

In truth, your understanding of how to write better essays for college will only deepen with practice. In other words, writing for various college essay prompts will improve your final product. Of course, reading sample essays for a variety of topics beforehand will widen your perspective and prepare you to write. With that said, you do actually have to write something—put all those tips and knowledge to good use.

Each essay will demand something different from you: extracurricular experiences, academic aspirations, and challenges faced. While the end goal remains to showcase your best sides to admissions, it can be challenging depending on the prompt. By reading and writing multiple genres of essays, you’ll figure out the best approach to any prompt.

Nowadays, there are many different college essay topics to choose from; some will be better suited to you than others. Knowing what prompts will bring out the best side of you is essential to writing great essays. And don’t worry too much about writing about a never-before-seen or wholly unique experience. Despite what some may say, common topics aren’t off-limits—you just need to fine-tune them to showcase your strengths.

Writing within a short word count is another difficult aspect of how to write better essays. Most academic essays are several pages in length, whereas some college application essay prompts allow fewer than 150 words. Short essays especially require careful word choice and, often, more than one revision. The best college essays are highly polished, refined college essay ideas—basically, start early to get ahead.

Reading College Essay Examples

One of the best ways to learn how to write better essays is to read successful college essay examples. Many college websites will post essay examples from their most recent incoming class. In these, you can see what admitted students wrote about and get some college essay ideas of your own. 

With that said, beware of plagiarism. You should never copy supplemental essays that were written by somebody else. Not only is it considered plagiarism, but it also will not help you answer the college essay prompts better. Developing your authentic voice, with some inspiration gained from research, is the best technique for how to write better essays.

If you’re looking for examples for a wide range of college essay prompts, CollegeAdvisor.com has you covered there, too. We’ve compiled some of the best college essays, all written by students like you who were accepted into top colleges. These sample essays and their accompanying college essay tips are excellent models for learning how to write better essays.

Another place to find great college essay help is this article featuring 10 different essays that earned their writers’ acceptance at the end of the admissions process. This article features every possible college application essay format, including Common Application essays and different variations of supplemental essays. Regardless of your college essay prompts, you can find college essay tips for how to write better essays. Unconventional college essay topics are particularly difficult to brainstorm for, so these examples can help you figure out how to start a college essay. 

More Essay Guides from CollegeAdvisor

At CollegeAdvisor.com, we know the value of looking over a variety of successful college essay examples. That’s why we’ve compiled essay guides covering the college essay prompts for over 100 of America’s top universities. From the UPenn supplemental essays to the Yale supplemental essays and Tufts supplemental essays, our guides will help you prepare for any college’s prompts.

Because each school’s essays are different, specific essay guides are an excellent place to start. If you’re seeking college essay tips for supplemental essays at a particular school, the best source is successful essays. Our articles also include guides on how to write better essays for Ivy League schools , the UC system , and much more.

What about college essay tips for non-specific essays? While each school’s supplemental essays are different, nearly all of them require some sort of personal statement . This may be through the Common Application , Coalition Application , or an alternative college application essay format. Certainly, there are many articles out there with general college essay tips, like those from U.S. News or Forbes . However, there is no better way to learn how to write better essays than reading full examples.

Use your network

Finally, don’t be afraid to consult your personal network for college essay tips. Do you have a friend, older sibling, or high school alum who attends a college on your list? You can ask them about their essay or about their experience at the school. If you live nearby, you may even be able to accompany them there to walk around campus.

Their perspective could be very valuable since they’ve already gone through the admissions process and been accepted there. Their insights into your personality can also help you consider which college essay prompts will best serve you. When looking into how to write better essays, make sure you take advantage of all the resources available to you.

Making your supplemental essays stand out

We’ve gone over a lot of advice for how to write better essays. By now, your head may be swimming with all the college essay tips and topics we provided. So let’s get back to basics and figure out the most essential things to writing great essays.

To summarize, we wanted to highlight three more college essay tips to help your supplemental essays stand out from the crowd . And, especially if you’re applying to popular schools, there will be a big crowd.

Depending on a school’s size, an admissions officer may read hundreds or thousands of applications during the college admissions process. And because college application requirements are the same for every applicant, they’re likely reading hundreds of responses to the same college essay prompts. Therefore, making your essay stand out is a great way to make a positive first impression on your application.

How to Write a Standout Essay

1. Prepare with Research

The first of our additional college essay tips is to do your research. Supplemental essays often ask students why they want to attend the school or explain how they embody the school’s values. In order to write supplemental essays on these topics, you should know what makes the school appealing to you. Consider a virtual or in-person campus tour, and definitely visit the school website. This research will provide a solid foundation for your essays. Detailed, passionate college essays whose writers did their research stand out among generic essays with only surface-level knowledge of the school. So, write about what moves you, and show that you’ve thought about pursuing those passions at that school. 

2. Be Genuine

The second tip for how to write better essays is to be authentic. One of the most common college essay mistakes is writing what you think the admissions officers want to hear . Instead, use the essay as an opportunity to showcase your personality and character.

Don’t just list your accomplishments or try to cram every single accolade you’ve received into an essay. Rather, pick out some personal stories to share that answer the prompt while also providing information about you. The best college admission essays showcase qualities and tell stories not found elsewhere in your application.

3. Don’t Skimp on Time

Finally, anyone who knows how to write better essays knows that time management is paramount. These college essay tips are incredibly useful only if you allow yourself enough time to implement them, so start early! The Common Application opens on August 1st each year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a head start. Take some time to think about which topics are best for you, or research supplemental essays from your preferred colleges. The earlier you start, the better off you will be. 

An early start means more time to edit—after all, the best college admissions essays go through several rounds of revision. Good editing requires time and patience, which is why starting on your essays early is essential. Taking the time to try several college essay ideas and choose the best ones will ensure that you submit your best work. You also need time to rest. Sometimes, learning how to write better essays means taking a few days’ break, then coming back to writing with fresh eyes!

Starting early also gives you more time to write multiple essay drafts and share them with people for feedback. In addition to giving yourself enough time, it is important to ask for help with how to write better essays. Even if you consider yourself to be a strong writer, college application essays require very specific skills. Support during the admissions process can come from family members, friends, and teachers and will take many forms. Just make sure that your editors are not writing the essay for you or making changes that undermine your own voice. 

CollegeAdvisor is here to help

We have already established that the best college admission essays are written with lots of help and support from others. Personalized guidance is important when learning how to write better essays. An expert can often help you put these college essay tips into practice with your own writing. After all, the college application essay format is pretty different from other forms of writing you’re likely used to. In light of that, it helps to work with someone familiar with college essay topics and college application essay prompts.

College admissions can be extremely stressful. The sheer number of college application requirements that need to be completed for each school is daunting, even if you are a strong student. Plus, the skills and knowledge required for a college application are different from the ones high school classes call for. So, if you’re struggling with how to write better essays, know that you’re not alone. There are many resources available to help you. 

Those resources include CollegeAdvisor.com. In addition to our numerous free articles, we offer personalized admissions help to hundreds of students worldwide. If you’re trying to write your best college admission essays, we can lend a hand.

Getting Help from CollegeAdvisor

At CollegeAdvisor.com, our team of 400+ Admissions Experts and former Admissions Officers has helped hundreds of students approach the college admissions process with confidence. Whether you need help with how to start a college essay or already have a draft, our experts can help you create the best college application essays possible! We offer one-on-one guidance to students as they complete every aspect of their college applications, including essays. We’ll help you brainstorm topics, create drafts, edit your writing, and more so that you feel confident when you press “submit.” 

In addition to your personal college advisor, we also have a dedicated Essay Editing Team whose job is helping students with how to write better essays. They work with your college advisor to provide additional college essay help. This team of specialists will receive your essay and return it within 48 hours with targeted feedback and guidance on how to write better essays. Plus, you can keep sending drafts as you revise so that the feedback you receive will evolve as your essay does.

Finally, where applicable, CollegeAdvisor offers students the chance to have an “application dress rehearsal.” Here, your full application, including essays, is reviewed by one of our former Admissions Officers. They will review the college application essay format with you, check your materials, and flag any issues they see with the application.

They’ll also provide specific feedback based on their experience in admissions offices at the top universities nationwide. They know how admissions officers think and will use that knowledge to help you with how to write better essays. In addition, these former admissions officers will help you prepare for interviews if your school requires them. 

College Essay Tips – Final Thoughts

When it comes to college essay prompts, there are many different approaches for how to write better essays. Different college essay prompts will require different techniques. For example, the Fordham supplemental essays may require different skills and perspectives than the Smith college essay. However, the college essay tips we’ve compiled here can be used with a wide range of college application essay prompts. These tips for how to write better essays come from experts in the field with years of admissions experience.

Don’t be afraid to share essays with your advisor, a trusted teacher, or a family member for additional college essay help. They may be able to see errors that you missed and provide a new perspective on your writing. At the same time, since they know your personality, they can tell you if your writing is representative of your potential.  In addition, seeking support from a CollegeAdvisor.com expert can give you the added confidence that the advice you are receiving is backed by years of experience. 

Experts you can trust

Our experts can help you not only with how to write better essays but also with any other part of your college application requirements. Supplemental essays and college essay prompts are just one part of the admissions process where our advisors can assist you. We also offer help with financial aid, college list development, test prep, and much more.

To see all the ways that CollegeAdvisor.com can help you with your college applications, sign up here for a quick consultation with one of our experts. For even more free resources and examples of college application essays explore our site. For starters, check out this article about the Common Application essay prompts and this one for essay topic ideas.

This article was written by senior advisor, Jess Klein , Bailey Bennett, and senior advisor, Alex Baggott-Rowe . Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, is it okay to use the same essay for multiple college applications.

Hey everyone, I'm in the process of drafting my college essays, and I'm wondering if it’s frowned upon to use the same essay for different college applications. Do admissions officers expect each essay to be unique or is it okay if the core essay is the same but tailored slightly for each school? Any advice on how to efficiently tackle this part of the app would be a lifesaver!

Hello there! Absolutely, you can use the core of a well-crafted essay for multiple applications. This strategy is not only efficient but also allows you to present your strongest narrative consistently across different schools. Admissions officers understand the pressures of the application process and expect that students may use a central essay as a base. However, customization for each school you apply to is key – particularly if the prompt is asking for something specific about that institution or how you would contribute to their community.

To tackle this efficiently, start with a solid, reflective essay that speaks to who you are and why you’re a noteworthy candidate for college admission. Then, for each application, make sure to weave in elements that are specific to each school, such as mentioning particular programs, facilities, or traditions that excite you about attending, showing that you’ve done your research and are genuinely interested.

A tip for managing your time and effort: create a chart of the colleges you are applying to and their essay requirements. Look for overlaps in themes or topics, and then plan out how to personalize the core essay for each school. Don't forget to thoroughly proofread for any school-specific references before you submit to each college. An errant school name from another application is an easy giveaway that you’re recycling essays, which can come off as careless. Best of luck with your applications, and keep focused on conveying your unique story and enthusiasm for each school!

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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.

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What I’ve Learned From My Students’ College Essays

The genre is often maligned for being formulaic and melodramatic, but it’s more important than you think.

By Nell Freudenberger

Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either their upbringing hasn’t supplied them with several hundred words of adversity, or worse, they’re afraid that packaging the genuine trauma they’ve experienced is the only way to secure their future. The college counselor at the Brooklyn high school where I’m a writing tutor advises against trauma porn. “Keep it brief , ” she says, “and show how you rose above it.”

I started volunteering in New York City schools in my 20s, before I had kids of my own. At the time, I liked hanging out with teenagers, whom I sometimes had more interesting conversations with than I did my peers. Often I worked with students who spoke English as a second language or who used slang in their writing, and at first I was hung up on grammar. Should I correct any deviation from “standard English” to appeal to some Wizard of Oz behind the curtains of a college admissions office? Or should I encourage students to write the way they speak, in pursuit of an authentic voice, that most elusive of literary qualities?

In fact, I was missing the point. One of many lessons the students have taught me is to let the story dictate the voice of the essay. A few years ago, I worked with a boy who claimed to have nothing to write about. His life had been ordinary, he said; nothing had happened to him. I asked if he wanted to try writing about a family member, his favorite school subject, a summer job? He glanced at his phone, his posture and expression suggesting that he’d rather be anywhere but in front of a computer with me. “Hobbies?” I suggested, without much hope. He gave me a shy glance. “I like to box,” he said.

I’ve had this experience with reluctant writers again and again — when a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously. Of course the primary goal of a college essay is to help its author get an education that leads to a career. Changes in testing policies and financial aid have made applying to college more confusing than ever, but essays have remained basically the same. I would argue that they’re much more than an onerous task or rote exercise, and that unlike standardized tests they are infinitely variable and sometimes beautiful. College essays also provide an opportunity to learn precision, clarity and the process of working toward the truth through multiple revisions.

When a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously.

Even if writing doesn’t end up being fundamental to their future professions, students learn to choose language carefully and to be suspicious of the first words that come to mind. Especially now, as college students shoulder so much of the country’s ethical responsibility for war with their protest movement, essay writing teaches prospective students an increasingly urgent lesson: that choosing their own words over ready-made phrases is the only reliable way to ensure they’re thinking for themselves.

Teenagers are ideal writers for several reasons. They’re usually free of preconceptions about writing, and they tend not to use self-consciously ‘‘literary’’ language. They’re allergic to hypocrisy and are generally unfiltered: They overshare, ask personal questions and call you out for microaggressions as well as less egregious (but still mortifying) verbal errors, such as referring to weed as ‘‘pot.’’ Most important, they have yet to put down their best stories in a finished form.

I can imagine an essay taking a risk and distinguishing itself formally — a poem or a one-act play — but most kids use a more straightforward model: a hook followed by a narrative built around “small moments” that lead to a concluding lesson or aspiration for the future. I never get tired of working with students on these essays because each one is different, and the short, rigid form sometimes makes an emotional story even more powerful. Before I read Javier Zamora’s wrenching “Solito,” I worked with a student who had been transported by a coyote into the U.S. and was reunited with his mother in the parking lot of a big-box store. I don’t remember whether this essay focused on specific skills or coping mechanisms that he gained from his ordeal. I remember only the bliss of the parent-and-child reunion in that uninspiring setting. If I were making a case to an admissions officer, I would suggest that simply being able to convey that experience demonstrates the kind of resilience that any college should admire.

The essays that have stayed with me over the years don’t follow a pattern. There are some narratives on very predictable topics — living up to the expectations of immigrant parents, or suffering from depression in 2020 — that are moving because of the attention with which the student describes the experience. One girl determined to become an engineer while watching her father build furniture from scraps after work; a boy, grieving for his mother during lockdown, began taking pictures of the sky.

If, as Lorrie Moore said, “a short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage,” what is a college essay? Every once in a while I sit down next to a student and start reading, and I have to suppress my excitement, because there on the Google Doc in front of me is a real writer’s voice. One of the first students I ever worked with wrote about falling in love with another girl in dance class, the absolute magic of watching her move and the terror in the conflict between her feelings and the instruction of her religious middle school. She made me think that college essays are less like love than limerence: one-sided, obsessive, idiosyncratic but profound, the first draft of the most personal story their writers will ever tell.

Nell Freudenberger’s novel “The Limits” was published by Knopf last month. She volunteers through the PEN America Writers in the Schools program.

Your Best College Essay

Maybe you love to write, or maybe you don’t. Either way, there’s a chance that the thought of writing your college essay is making you sweat. No need for nerves! We’re here to give you the important details on how to make the process as anxiety-free as possible.

What's the College Essay?

When we say “The College Essay” (capitalization for emphasis – say it out loud with the capitals and you’ll know what we mean) we’re talking about the 550-650 word essay required by most colleges and universities. Prompts for this essay can be found on the college’s website, the Common Application, or the Coalition Application. We’re not talking about the many smaller supplemental essays you might need to write in order to apply to college. Not all institutions require the essay, but most colleges and universities that are at least semi-selective do.

How do I get started?

Look for the prompts on whatever application you’re using to apply to schools (almost all of the time – with a few notable exceptions – this is the Common Application). If one of them calls out to you, awesome! You can jump right in and start to brainstorm. If none of them are giving you the right vibes, don’t worry. They’re so broad that almost anything you write can fit into one of the prompts after you’re done. Working backwards like this is totally fine and can be really useful!

What if I have writer's block?

You aren’t alone. Staring at a blank Google Doc and thinking about how this is the one chance to tell an admissions officer your story can make you freeze. Thinking about some of these questions might help you find the right topic:

• What is something about you that people have pointed out as distinctive?
• If you had to pick three words to describe yourself, what would they be? What are things you’ve done that demonstrate these qualities?
• What’s something about you that has changed over your years in high school? How or why did it change?
• What’s something you like most about yourself?
• What’s something you love so much that you lose track of the rest of the world while you do it?

If you’re still stuck on a topic, ask your family members, friends, or other trusted adults: what’s something they always think about when they think about you? What’s something they think you should be proud of? They might help you find something about yourself that you wouldn’t have surfaced on your own.  

How do I grab my reader's attention?

It’s no secret that admissions officers are reading dozens – and sometimes hundreds – of essays every day. That can feel like a lot of pressure to stand out. But if you try to write the most unique essay in the world, it might end up seeming forced if it’s not genuinely you. So, what’s there to do? Our advice: start your essay with a story. Tell the reader about something you’ve done, complete with sensory details, and maybe even dialogue. Then, in the second paragraph, back up and tell us why this story is important and what it tells them about you and the theme of the essay.

THE WORD LIMIT IS SO LIMITING. HOW DO I TELL A COLLEGE MY WHOLE LIFE STORY IN 650 WORDS?

Don’t! Don’t try to tell an admissions officer about everything you’ve loved and done since you were a child. Instead, pick one or two things about yourself that you’re hoping to get across and stick to those. They’ll see the rest on the activities section of your application.

I'M STUCK ON THE CONCLUSION. HELP?

If you can’t think of another way to end the essay, talk about how the qualities you’ve discussed in your essays have prepared you for college. Try to wrap up with a sentence that refers back to the story you told in your first paragraph, if you took that route.

SHOULD I PROOFREAD MY ESSAY?

YES, proofread the essay, and have a trusted adult proofread it as well. Know that any suggestions they give you are coming from a good place, but make sure they aren’t writing your essay for you or putting it into their own voice. Admissions officers want to hear the voice of you, the applicant. Before you submit your essay anywhere, our number one advice is to read it out loud to yourself. When you read out loud you’ll catch small errors you may not have noticed before, and hear sentences that aren’t quite right.

ANY OTHER ADVICE?

Be yourself. If you’re not a naturally serious person, don’t force formality. If you’re the comedian in your friend group, go ahead and be funny. But ultimately, write as your authentic (and grammatically correct) self and trust the process.

And remember, thousands of other students your age are faced with this same essay writing task, right now. You can do it!

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Writing College Essays for Different Applications

Madeleine Karydes

Lead admissions expert, table of contents, why do colleges request a personal essay.

• What Should You Write About in a College Application Essay?

Can You Submit the Same Essay to Multiple Colleges?

Tips for writing your college application essay.

Stay up-to-date on the latest research and college admissions trends with our blog team.

One of the key components of any college application is the personal essay. It’s also the requirement that tends to create the most anxiety for applicants. 

You might be wondering what you should talk about in your college application essay, how to structure your essay, or how to stand out from the crowd and catch the attention of the admissions committee. 

The good news is, that by following a few tips and basic principles of writing essays, you can quickly get the hang of personal essays. Instead of being anxious about the essay, you can use it to round out a successful college application package. 

Here’s what you need to know before starting your college application essay:

The personal essay has long been a requirement for college application packages. Why have so many colleges and universities insisted for so long that applicants include an essay? In short, it’s the best way to get to know the person behind the numbers.

Colleges and universities receive thousands of applications. Elite schools receive ten of thousands of them. And a large number of these applicants will look equally qualified to attend. They all have impressive GPAs, high SAT or ACT scores, and a long list of extracurriculars. 

In these situations, admissions officers use the college application essay to distinguish between competing applicants. It’s a way to get past the numbers and see the character and creativity of the applicant – important skills for college that aren’t visible in test scores alone. 

What Should You Write About in a College Application Essay ?

There are two principles you should follow when sitting down to write your college application essay: be yourself, and be honest.

Be yourself

College application essay prompts vary from school to school, but most of these prompts are ultimately asking the applicant to talk about themselves. They want to get to know the you behind the high GPA and long list of activities. 

What are your goals or your values? What motivates you? Where do you come from and how did you get here? And, ultimately, what will you bring to the campus community?

Here’s an opportunity to let your personality and your unique life experiences shine – the opportunity to be yourself. Use it! 

And while writing your personal essay, don’t forget the second principle for this task: be honest. Unfortunately, fearing their personal story might not be what the college admissions officers are looking for, or thinking they have to exaggerate to stand out, some applicants are not truthful in their college application essays. This behavior puts you and your entire future at risk if it’s discovered. Just don’t do it. 

Remember, schools want to know the real you. And the real you is more than enough to find the right college match. To truly catch the eyes of the admissions officers, focus on writing the essay in a compelling and well-structured manner while being truthful about the content. 

The Best College Application Essay Ideas

So, you’ve seen the essay prompt, but aren’t quite sure how to answer it? Here are some topics you might consider when preparing to write your essay:

• A challenge you overcame
• A successful project you led
• Your family’s experience living abroad
• A meaningful life lesson you learned from someone close to you
• Your work as an activist
• Your experience leading a successful group
• How you overcome adversity
• The person in your life who has influenced you the most
• Your plans for what you will do with your college degree

These are just some of the best college application essay ideas. Ultimately, what you write will need to be tailored to the school’s prompt, so be sure to read those carefully before sitting down to write. 

How to Structure an Essay

Now that you know what you’re going to write about, it’s time to think about how to structure your story. Admissions essays are usually short (250-500 words), so getting the structure right is key for making the story flow and be sure it includes the key information up front. 

That’s why you should focus on the go-to formula for essay writing: the 3-part structure. 

If you’ve ever taken a writing class, you’ve likely come across the concept of the 3-part essay. This rule says that all essays should have an introduction, thesis, and conclusion to make them readable, interesting, and impactful. Let’s take a closer look at each section:

• The Introduction (the “Hook”)

Use the introduction (the first 2-3 sentences) to catch the reader’s attention. Here’s where you tee up the rest of the story you’re going to tell in your college application essay.  Hook the reader here and they’re more likely to remain focused on what you have to say later. 

• The Thesis (the “Main Idea”)

A thesis statement outlines the main argument, point of view, or insight that the essay intends to deliver. It is the entire reason we write essays in the first place: to declare something to the world. Based on the prompt you’ve been given, this is the section where you answer the question or deliver the central message of your personal essay.  

• The Conclusion (the part that makes them remember you!)

Now that you’ve caught the reader’s attention and presented them with your main argument, it’s time to wrap it all up with a memorable ending. A strong essay never ends abruptly. Instead, it often takes the reader back to the beginning, to remind them how they got to this point in the first place. The conclusion ties it all together, and ensures the reader won’t soon forget what they just read. 

College admissions officers read hundreds of personal essays. It’s only human to start to go quickly through ones that don’t catch your attention, or forget ones that don’t end strongly. Using three 3-part structures gives you room to make impactful statements that will excite the reader and help your essay stand out. 

You have what you think is the best college application essay idea, but can you use it for multiple submissions? The short answer is yes, you can. The longer answer includes a few caveats. 

First, you can send the same essay to multiple colleges. Your story is yours, and it is true to you no matter which school is on your application to-do list. However, if there is anything in your essay that is specific to the school itself, you’ll want to be sure to edit it before sending it to the next school. 

For example, did you mention the name of the school in your essay? Forgetting to remove the name of College X before sending your essay to College Y is an easy way to have your application swiftly denied by College Y. 

Yes, you can submit the same essay to multiple colleges. Just be sure to make any necessary edits before you do. 

In summary, here is a list of tips to help you when you start writing your college application essay:

• Be yourself in your essay – let your personality shine  
• Be honest – stick to your truth
• Find the best college application essay idea that highlights the story of you
• Use the 3-part essay structure for clarity and impact
• Edit before sending your essay to multiple colleges

Don’t let anxiety about completing the personal essay section of your college application package stop you from acing this task. By following a few tips and basic principles of writing essays, you’ll be able to use this requirement to your advantage, and ultimately snag acceptance letters from your top schools. 

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April 29, 2024

Can You Use the Same Personal Statement for Different Schools?

There are some common questions we admissions consultants hear often from college and graduate school applicants: “I’m applying to six schools, and each one requires essays/personal statements . A lot of the content will be similar! Can I reuse the same essay for different schools? How can I keep the quality and not burn out while writing so many personal statements?”

We understand. We sympathize. Best of all, we have practical solutions for determining whether you can reuse any of your essays for more than one school. The good news is that what makes practical sense in terms of efficiency and not reinventing the wheel also makes sense in terms of quality – if you view the process not as “reusing” but as “adapting.” It is a very rare case indeed where reusing an essay almost verbatim would be advisable. On the other hand, the core content of a personal statement covers points that are important to your candidacy and would naturally be relevant to multiple applications. As you rework your personal statement for subsequent applications, sometimes the quality improves as you reflect further and discover new subtleties.

So, if various schools are asking similar questions, it’s logical to consider using – or really, adapting – some or perhaps even much of your previous essay response(s). However, the school’s essay lengths might be different, and your wording will vary based on the nuances of the question. Most important, many personal statements include some discussion of the specific program the candidate is applying to, and this part would certainly require fresh input for each school’s essay. Read each question out loud, so you can clearly hear exactly what the schools are asking. Many times, an essay prompt has more than one question within it. You don’t want to overlook any of the questions in a prompt. The key is to be guided first by the question and then, more broadly, by your understanding of the character of the school/program – and adapt your essay content (and tone/style) accordingly.

Additionally, we have this advice: 

1. Make sure each essay has a distinct theme.

You can do this by developing different aspects of a single experience. For example, if you plan to write about your first summer as a counselor at a sleepaway camp, in one essay, you could describe how you worked to build a relationship with a lonely camper and helped them develop their self-confidence and participate in more activities. During the same summer, you might also have been in charge of the drama group. This could offer the substance for a very different essay about teaching and organizing a group of highly energized, sometimes rowdy young teens. Don’t waste an opportunity to write about multiple aspects of the same experience that opened different doors to personal growth. Most significant experiences in our lives are truly multifaceted and offer various “threads” that are interesting to explore in essays. Don’t just reuse content by rote copying and pasting; instead, probe it to discern its most valuable points for the essay at hand. You’ll likely find that you can stretch your available material to cover more bases.

2. Chart your list of essays and the qualities you associate with them.

With multiple essays/personal statements to manage, consider using a spreadsheet to list each question, the school asking it, and which experiences, accomplishments, and skills you can associate with those questions. This will help you avoid using the same experience, accomplishment, or skill for more than one question at a given school and will also help you see where you can adapt some previous material for a new application.

3. Portray your multidimensional self.

Make a list of what you feel are your ten most positive qualities . Your list might include such traits as intellectual curiosity, an eagerness for new experiences, a sense of humor, strong DIY skills, and leadership capabilities. That was fun! Now, make a much shorter list (two or three items at most) of what you would consider your weakest traits. These might include procrastination, too much binge watching, and impatience. As you draft your essays, keep these different layers and textures of your personality in mind. (Sometimes, schools will ask you to identify a weakness and explain how you have worked to overcome it, so being aware of your shortcomings isn’t necessarily detrimental to your application!) Having this list front and center will spark additional insights and angles for your essays. As a result, you will reward the adcoms with a rich, multidimensional portrait of you as a human being.

4. Name dropping? Better double check the names!

If you do reuse and adapt material for different applications, check carefully (and then check again ) to make sure you don’t forget to change, for example, “Michigan” to “Chicago” in the new application essay. Sending a “Why I want to go to UPenn” essay to the Yale adcom or a “Why I want to go to Columbia” paragraph to NYU wouldn’t bode well for you! Believe me, it happens.

5. No matter how similar the essay questions are, never simply cut and paste an entire essay.

As we noted earlier, no two questions will ever be exactly alike. As you write or edit from a different essay, keep the school you are writing for front and center in your mind.      Individualize each essay as much as possible to accommodate each program’s unique culture, personality, and “flavor.” And by all means, reread the essay prompts when you feel you are nearly done to ensure that you really have answered every one of the adcom’s questions within the prompt.

Do you need help writing (or adapting) your application essays? Could you benefit from an expert’s assistance in identifying the strongest elements of your experience and profile? We can help! Work one-on-one with an experienced advisor who will help you get accepted !

After a successful career in business publishing, Cindy Tokumitsu has worked for more than 20 years with Accepted. Every year, Cindy’s clients have been accepted to top MBA, law, and med programs. She is a pioneer in the niche of EMBA application consulting. Want an admissions expert to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Grad School Statement of Purpose , a free guide
• How to Project Professionalism, Positivity, and Confidence in Your Statement of Purpose
• Statement of Purpose versus Personal Statement

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College essays are an entirely new type of writing for high school seniors. For that reason, many students are confused about proper formatting and essay structure. Should you double-space or single-space? Do you need a title? What kind of narrative style is best-suited for your topic?

In this post, we’ll be going over proper college essay format, traditional and unconventional essay structures (plus sample essays!), and which structure might work best for you. 

General College Essay Formatting Guidelines

How you format your essay will depend on whether you’re submitting in a text box, or attaching a document. We’ll go over the different best practices for both, but regardless of how you’re submitting, here are some general formatting tips:

• There’s no need for a title; it takes up unnecessary space and eats into your word count
• Stay within the word count as much as possible (+/- 10% of the upper limit). For further discussion on college essay length, see our post How Long Should Your College Essay Be?
• Indent or double space to separate paragraphs clearly

If you’re submitting in a text box:

• Avoid italics and bold, since formatting often doesn’t transfer over in text boxes
• Be careful with essays meant to be a certain shape (like a balloon); text boxes will likely not respect that formatting. Beyond that, this technique can also seem gimmicky, so proceed with caution
• Make sure that paragraphs are clearly separated, as text boxes can also undo indents and double spacing

If you’re attaching a document:

• Use a standard font and size like Times New Roman, 12 point
• Make your lines 1.5-spaced or double-spaced
• Use 1-inch margins
• Save as a PDF since it can’t be edited. This also prevents any formatting issues that come with Microsoft Word, since older versions are sometimes incompatible with the newer formatting
• Number each page with your last name in the header or footer (like “Smith 1”)
• Pay extra attention to any word limits, as you won’t be cut off automatically, unlike with most text boxes

Conventional College Essay Structures

Now that we’ve gone over the logistical aspects of your essay, let’s talk about how you should structure your writing. There are three traditional college essay structures. They are:

• In-the-moment narrative
• Narrative told over an extended period of time
• Series of anecdotes, or montage

Let’s go over what each one is exactly, and take a look at some real essays using these structures.

1. In-the-moment narrative

This is where you tell the story one moment at a time, sharing the events as they occur. In the moment narrative is a powerful essay format, as your reader experiences the events, your thoughts, and your emotions with you . This structure is ideal for a specific experience involving extensive internal dialogue, emotions, and reflections.

Here’s an example:

The morning of the Model United Nation conference, I walked into Committee feeling confident about my research. We were simulating the Nuremberg Trials – a series of post-World War II proceedings for war crimes – and my portfolio was of the Soviet Judge Major General Iona Nikitchenko. Until that day, the infamous Nazi regime had only been a chapter in my history textbook; however, the conference’s unveiling of each defendant’s crimes brought those horrors to life. The previous night, I had organized my research, proofread my position paper and gone over Judge Nikitchenko’s pertinent statements. I aimed to find the perfect balance between his stance and my own.

As I walked into committee anticipating a battle of wits, my director abruptly called out to me. “I’m afraid we’ve received a late confirmation from another delegate who will be representing Judge Nikitchenko. You, on the other hand, are now the defense attorney, Otto Stahmer.” Everyone around me buzzed around the room in excitement, coordinating with their allies and developing strategies against their enemies, oblivious to the bomb that had just dropped on me. I felt frozen in my tracks, and it seemed that only rage against the careless delegate who had confirmed her presence so late could pull me out of my trance. After having spent a month painstakingly crafting my verdicts and gathering evidence against the Nazis, I now needed to reverse my stance only three hours before the first session.

Gradually, anger gave way to utter panic. My research was fundamental to my performance, and without it, I knew I could add little to the Trials. But confident in my ability, my director optimistically recommended constructing an impromptu defense. Nervously, I began my research anew. Despite feeling hopeless, as I read through the prosecution’s arguments, I uncovered substantial loopholes. I noticed a lack of conclusive evidence against the defendants and certain inconsistencies in testimonies. My discovery energized me, inspiring me to revisit the historical overview in my conference “Background Guide” and to search the web for other relevant articles. Some Nazi prisoners had been treated as “guilty” before their court dates. While I had brushed this information under the carpet while developing my position as a judge, it now became the focus of my defense. I began scratching out a new argument, centered on the premise that the allied countries had violated the fundamental rule that, a defendant was “not guilty” until proven otherwise.

At the end of the three hours, I felt better prepared. The first session began, and with bravado, I raised my placard to speak. Microphone in hand, I turned to face my audience. “Greetings delegates. I, Otto Stahmer would like to…….” I suddenly blanked. Utter dread permeated my body as I tried to recall my thoughts in vain. “Defence Attorney, Stahmer we’ll come back to you,” my Committee Director broke the silence as I tottered back to my seat, flushed with embarrassment. Despite my shame, I was undeterred. I needed to vindicate my director’s faith in me. I pulled out my notes, refocused, and began outlining my arguments in a more clear and direct manner. Thereafter, I spoke articulately, confidently putting forth my points. I was overjoyed when Secretariat members congratulated me on my fine performance.

Going into the conference, I believed that preparation was the key to success. I wouldn’t say I disagree with that statement now, but I believe adaptability is equally important. My ability to problem-solve in the face of an unforeseen challenge proved advantageous in the art of diplomacy. Not only did this experience transform me into a confident and eloquent delegate at that conference, but it also helped me become a more flexible and creative thinker in a variety of other capacities. Now that I know I can adapt under pressure, I look forward to engaging in activities that will push me to be even quicker on my feet.

This essay is an excellent example of in-the-moment narration. The student openly shares their internal state with us — we feel their anger and panic upon the reversal of roles. We empathize with their emotions of “utter dread” and embarrassment when they’re unable to speak. 

For in-the-moment essays, overloading on descriptions is a common mistake students make. This writer provides just the right amount of background and details to help us understand the situation, however, and balances out the actual event with reflection on the significance of this experience. 

One main area of improvement is that the writer sometimes makes explicit statements that could be better illustrated through their thoughts, actions, and feelings. For instance, they say they “spoke articulately” after recovering from their initial inability to speak, and they also claim that adaptability has helped them in other situations. This is not as engaging as actual examples that convey the same meaning. Still, this essay overall is a strong example of in-the-moment narration, and gives us a relatable look into the writer’s life and personality.

2. Narrative told over an extended period of time

In this essay structure, you share a story that takes place across several different experiences. This narrative style is well-suited for any story arc with multiple parts. If you want to highlight your development over time, you might consider this structure. 

When I was younger, I was adamant that no two foods on my plate touch. As a result, I often used a second plate to prevent such an atrocity. In many ways, I learned to separate different things this way from my older brothers, Nate and Rob. Growing up, I idolized both of them. Nate was a performer, and I insisted on arriving early to his shows to secure front row seats, refusing to budge during intermission for fear of missing anything. Rob was a three-sport athlete, and I attended his games religiously, waving worn-out foam cougar paws and cheering until my voice was hoarse. My brothers were my role models. However, while each was talented, neither was interested in the other’s passion. To me, they represented two contrasting ideals of what I could become: artist or athlete. I believed I had to choose.

And for a long time, I chose athlete. I played soccer, basketball, and lacrosse and viewed myself exclusively as an athlete, believing the arts were not for me. I conveniently overlooked that since the age of five, I had been composing stories for my family for Christmas, gifts that were as much for me as them, as I loved writing. So when in tenth grade, I had the option of taking a creative writing class, I was faced with a question: could I be an athlete and a writer? After much debate, I enrolled in the class, feeling both apprehensive and excited. When I arrived on the first day of school, my teacher, Ms. Jenkins, asked us to write down our expectations for the class. After a few minutes, eraser shavings stubbornly sunbathing on my now-smudged paper, I finally wrote, “I do not expect to become a published writer from this class. I just want this to be a place where I can write freely.”

Although the purpose of the class never changed for me, on the third “submission day,” – our time to submit writing to upcoming contests and literary magazines – I faced a predicament. For the first two submission days, I had passed the time editing earlier pieces, eventually (pretty quickly) resorting to screen snake when hopelessness made the words look like hieroglyphics. I must not have been as subtle as I thought, as on the third of these days, Ms. Jenkins approached me. After shifting from excuse to excuse as to why I did not submit my writing, I finally recognized the real reason I had withheld my work: I was scared. I did not want to be different, and I did not want to challenge not only others’ perceptions of me, but also my own. I yielded to Ms. Jenkin’s pleas and sent one of my pieces to an upcoming contest.

By the time the letter came, I had already forgotten about the contest. When the flimsy white envelope arrived in the mail, I was shocked and ecstatic to learn that I had received 2nd place in a nationwide writing competition. The next morning, however, I discovered Ms. Jenkins would make an announcement to the whole school exposing me as a poet. I decided to own this identity and embrace my friends’ jokes and playful digs, and over time, they have learned to accept and respect this part of me. I have since seen more boys at my school identifying themselves as writers or artists.

I no longer see myself as an athlete and a poet independently, but rather I see these two aspects forming a single inseparable identity – me. Despite their apparent differences, these two disciplines are quite similar, as each requires creativity and devotion. I am still a poet when I am lacing up my cleats for soccer practice and still an athlete when I am building metaphors in the back of my mind – and I have realized ice cream and gummy bears taste pretty good together.

The timeline of this essay spans from the writer’s childhood all the way to sophomore year, but we only see key moments along this journey. First, we get context for why the writer thought he had to choose one identity: his older brothers had very distinct interests. Then, we learn about the student’s 10th grade creative writing class, writing contest, and results of the contest. Finally, the essay covers the writers’ embarrassment of his identity as a poet, to gradual acceptance and pride in that identity. 

This essay is a great example of a narrative told over an extended period of time. It’s highly personal and reflective, as the piece shares the writer’s conflicting feelings, and takes care to get to the root of those feelings. Furthermore, the overarching story is that of a personal transformation and development, so it’s well-suited to this essay structure.

3. Series of anecdotes, or montage

This essay structure allows you to focus on the most important experiences of a single storyline, or it lets you feature multiple (not necessarily related) stories that highlight your personality. Montage is a structure where you piece together separate scenes to form a whole story. This technique is most commonly associated with film. Just envision your favorite movie—it likely is a montage of various scenes that may not even be chronological. 

Night had robbed the academy of its daytime colors, yet there was comfort in the dim lights that cast shadows of our advances against the bare studio walls. Silhouettes of roundhouse kicks, spin crescent kicks, uppercuts and the occasional butterfly kick danced while we sparred. She approached me, eyes narrowed with the trace of a smirk challenging me. “Ready spar!” Her arm began an upward trajectory targeting my shoulder, a common first move. I sidestepped — only to almost collide with another flying fist. Pivoting my right foot, I snapped my left leg, aiming my heel at her midsection. The center judge raised one finger. 

There was no time to celebrate, not in the traditional sense at least. Master Pollard gave a brief command greeted with a unanimous “Yes, sir” and the thud of 20 hands dropping-down-and-giving-him-30, while the “winners” celebrated their victory with laps as usual. 

Three years ago, seven-thirty in the evening meant I was a warrior. It meant standing up straighter, pushing a little harder, “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am”, celebrating birthdays by breaking boards, never pointing your toes, and familiarity. Three years later, seven-thirty in the morning meant I was nervous. 

The room is uncomfortably large. The sprung floor soaks up the checkerboard of sunlight piercing through the colonial windows. The mirrored walls further illuminate the studio and I feel the light scrutinizing my sorry attempts at a pas de bourrée , while capturing the organic fluidity of the dancers around me. “ Chassé en croix, grand battement, pique, pirouette.” I follow the graceful limbs of the woman in front of me, her legs floating ribbons, as she executes what seems to be a perfect ronds de jambes. Each movement remains a negotiation. With admirable patience, Ms. Tan casts me a sympathetic glance.   

There is no time to wallow in the misery that is my right foot. Taekwondo calls for dorsiflexion; pointed toes are synonymous with broken toes. My thoughts drag me into a flashback of the usual response to this painful mistake: “You might as well grab a tutu and head to the ballet studio next door.” Well, here I am Master Pollard, unfortunately still following your orders to never point my toes, but no longer feeling the satisfaction that comes with being a third degree black belt with 5 years of experience quite literally under her belt. It’s like being a white belt again — just in a leotard and ballet slippers. 

But the appetite for new beginnings that brought me here doesn’t falter. It is only reinforced by the classical rendition of “Dancing Queen” that floods the room and the ghost of familiarity that reassures me that this new beginning does not and will not erase the past. After years spent at the top, it’s hard to start over. But surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become. In Taekwondo, we started each class reciting the tenets: honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet. 

The thing about change is that it eventually stops making things so different. After nine different schools, four different countries, three different continents, fluency in Tamil, Norwegian, and English, there are more blurred lines than there are clear fragments. My life has not been a tactfully executed, gold medal-worthy Taekwondo form with each movement defined, nor has it been a series of frappés performed by a prima ballerina with each extension identical and precise, but thankfully it has been like the dynamics of a spinning back kick, fluid, and like my chances of landing a pirouette, unpredictable. 

This essay takes a few different anecdotes and weaves them into a coherent narrative about the writer’s penchant for novel experiences. We’re plunged into her universe, in the middle of her Taekwondo spar, three years before the present day. She then transitions into a scene in a ballet studio, present day. By switching from past tense to present tense, the writer clearly demarcates this shift in time. 

The parallel use of the spoken phrase “Point” in the essay ties these two experiences together. The writer also employs a flashback to Master Pollard’s remark about “grabbing a tutu” and her habit of dorsiflexing her toes, which further cements the connection between these anecdotes. 

While some of the descriptions are a little wordy, the piece is well-executed overall, and is a stellar example of the montage structure. The two anecdotes are seamlessly intertwined, and they both clearly illustrate the student’s determination, dedication, reflectiveness, and adaptability. The writer also concludes the essay with a larger reflection on her life, many moves, and multiple languages. 

Unconventional College Essay Structures

Unconventional essay structures are any that don’t fit into the categories above. These tend to be higher risk, as it’s easier to turn off the admissions officer, but they’re also higher reward if executed correctly. 

There are endless possibilities for unconventional structures, but most fall under one of two categories:

1. Playing with essay format

Instead of choosing a traditional narrative format, you might take a more creative route to showcase your interests, writing your essay:

• As a movie script
• With a creative visual format (such as creating a visual pattern with the spaces between your sentences forming a picture)
• As a two-sided Lincoln-Douglas debate
• As a legal brief
• Using song lyrics

2. Linguistic techniques

You could also play with the actual language and sentence structure of your essay, writing it:

• In iambic pentameter
• Partially in your mother tongue
• In code or a programming language

These linguistic techniques are often hybrid, where you write some of the essay with the linguistic variation, then write more of an explanation in English.

Under no circumstances should you feel pressured to use an unconventional structure. Trying to force something unconventional will only hurt your chances. That being said, if a creative structure comes naturally to you, suits your personality, and works with the content of your essay — go for that structure!

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Can You Use the Same Essay for Different College Applications?

Personal statement or the primary essay, supplemental essays, additional information essay. I’m so confused! Can I use the same essay for all my college applications? You can use the same personal statement and additional information essays for all of your college applications. The supplemental essay is a bit different as it tends to be more specific school focused. Here is a breakdown of the types of application assays and whether or not using the same essay for different college applications is appropriate.

Personal Statement or Primary Essay Can Be Used for All College Applications

Your personal statement will probably be the longest essay you will write. Although there are general prompts you can follow to write this essay, in reality, this can be any topic you choose, as long as it is about you. Many times Signature College Counseling doesn’t begin with the prompts, but rather delves into who the student is, uncovering their unique story. But, we digress here. Can you use this essay for different applications? Yes, that is the point of this essay! When you write it and copy the personal statement essay into the Common App or Coalition Application (or the like), it will be sent to ALL of the schools that you apply to using that application, if that school requires and allows you to do so (which really are 99% of the colleges you apply to). So, this is good news – one, single essay getting sent to many schools!

Supplemental Essays Should Be Unique for Each School’s Application

Supplemental essays are responses to prompts asked by a specific school. They are typically shorter in length and more focused. Questions typically include “Why do you want to attend this school?” or “Why have you selected this major?”. Sometimes, the prompts can be more esoteric, like, “Select a person in history or who is currently living who you would like to have dinner with and tell us what you would like to discuss with them” or “Please tell us five interesting facts about you.” Here’s the thing, you may think that you can copy and paste “why this school” essay or “why this major” essay to another school that asks the identical question, but I will tell you that the exact opposite is the case. You want to be absolutely sure and do your research to express to that school why you have chosen them. Be specific and make sure you do your homework so the reader doesn’t feel that you have just copied this essay from one that you had written for another school. Trust me, they know when you do so. Do not speak in generalities, be specific and heartfelt.

That being said, when we have students that have to write a series of essays, inevitably there is a series of themes that transcend throughout. So, you may not be able to copy an essay word for word, but you absolutely will be able to take portions of an essay, or essays, that you have written and apply it to another college’s supplemental essay. This doesn’t happen all of the time, but it definitely does occur.

The Same Additional Information Essay Can Be Used for Different Schools

An additional essay is not required and is not used by every student. It should be used when you need to clarify or explain something in your high school career or personal life, or expand on an activity that is necessary to do so since the 150 characters in the activity section or your resume doesn’t do justice to. This just names a few reasons to use this section. And yes, this essay gets sent to ALL of your schools through the Common App or Coalition Application.

What Does This All Mean for You?

There are essays you will write that will go to all of your schools and there are essays you will write that you can take all or part of and apply them to another college’s supplemental essay prompts. The most important thing is that you put forth effort and give your all to writing your essays since this is a way for your application to come to life, for the readers to get to know you and who you are. Be thoughtful, make sure your essays are written to best reflect who you are, be sincere and genuine, and make sure they are grammatically correct. Everything speaks.

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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.

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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When should I start writing my college essay?

Because you'll want to tailor each application to each school, expect to write multiple personal essays. Advisers typically recommend starting these pieces during the summer before your senior year of high school. This will give you ample time to concentrate on writing a college essay before you're hit with schoolwork.

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