Common App Essay Mistakes

Are you in the process of writing your Common App essay and are looking for some guidance? This post is here to help you identify the top 15 mistakes made by students when writing their Common App essays - read on to learn what you should avoid including in your essay in order to boost your chances of successful college applications! 

Top Common App Essay Mistakes

1. Writing what you think the admissions officer wants to read: Your essay should be a reflection of you as a person - your strengths, weaknesses, personality, challenges faced, etc. and should be an authentic piece of work. The admissions officer likely has years of experience reading college application essays and will easily be able to tell the difference between authentic essays and those that include made-up stories. Hence, make sure to include only your own anecdotes if talking about a reflective prompt, or your own ideologies if you choose a more intellectual prompt. Write only what you truly feel or believe, not what you think the admissions officer wants to read - this is a chance for you to show your individuality, so make the most of it! A good example can be found here as the student is describing their own experiences.

    

2. Writing your whole life story: While the Common App essay is a way for colleges to assess the character of a student, it does not need to include the student's whole life story to have a good essay. Instead, focus on the experiences and stories that are most relevant to the prompt and talk about those in-depth. Remember the maximum limit is 650 words so you do not want to waste them on including irrelevant details! A good example can be found here as the student has explained their interests in relation to the topic without discussing their whole life story.

    

3. Overusing clichés: Many students try to use fancy language and expressions to try and impress the admissions officer, however, this is often ineffective as the admissions officer already knows that students try to be as fancy as possible in their Common App essays. Using phrases like "learned the value of", "broadened my horizons" or "helped me grow as a person" tend to be overused by students and may have the opposite of the intended effect as they will not make you stand out against the rest of the applicants who may also use such phrases. Instead, opt to use a more authentic tone when writing your essay - sometimes simplicity is better! A good example can be found here as the student has made sure to keep their story simple and focused rather than using clichéd language.

    

4. No explanation for achievements: Many students try to impress the admissions officer by listing all their achievements, for example playing a sport or instrument, participating in Model UN, being a part of the student council, volunteering, etc. This wastes words and is not an efficient way to highlight your strengths. Instead, choose to highlight 1-2 extracurricular activities that are directly related to the prompt and explain these in detail. This will keep your essay focused and succinct. A good example can be found here as the student has focused only one one extracurricular hobby.

    

5. Poor spelling and grammar: Even a perfectly structured Common App essay may be rejected by an admissions officer if the spelling and grammar are incorrect as this indicates that the student is not thorough and does not double-check their work. This is a very simple issue to avoid - simply run your essay through a spell checker or download software that checks your spelling and grammar as you go along the writing process. 

    

6. Starting too late: Starting late may not give you enough time to write the best essay possible, as well as write more drafts before submitting the final version. Starting early allows you to have more time to choose your prompt, create an outline, write a first draft, receive feedback and write more drafts until you reach the perfected version ready for submission. The last year of high school is often hectic so you want to give yourself enough time to balance both college applications as well as the high school workload. 

    

7. Overconfidence: While some students think that their story is the most impressive or that they are the most hardworking, admissions officers have probably seen thousands of essays each with compelling stories that may or may not have been more intriguing. Therefore it is important not to act overconfident in the essay and not to make yourself appear like the "best" applicant. While it is important to highlight your own achievements, your essay must not put down others. A good example can be found here as the student has talked about their own journey.

    

8. Off-topic: Some students choose a prompt and then deviate too far from the main topic chosen. For example, if the topic asks for someone who inspired you, you should briefly talk about that person but there is no need to spend a whole paragraph discussing them. The main focus of the Common App essay should be you, your past and how this has strengthened you for the future! A good example of a student that stayed on topic can be found here.
   
    

9. Not planning or preparing a draft: It is very important to ensure you cover all the necessary information in your essay. Creating a plan or draft ahead of time can help you organize your work and ensure that you include all the information that you would like to include. Writing your essay without preparing a draft could mean that you may miss some key points that should be included. 

    

10. Not using formal language: Remember that this is an official document for an application to prestigious higher education institutes. Your essay should not contain informal language, such as the way you would speak with your friends. The tone of the essay should be polite and formal throughout. Some students think that having an informal tone might make them sound more approachable by the admissions officer but this is not the case and has the opposite of the intended effect. 

     

11. Not getting feedback: Gaining an external perspective on how you have written your essay is crucial before you submit it. This allows another reader such as a parent ot guidance counselor to help identify any mistakes in your essay and give you feedback on how to improve on it. This helps ensure that you can submit the best possible version of your essay.

     

12. Getting too much feedback: While getting feedback on your essay is good, it's best not to overdo it by asking too many people for feedback. This is because different people may have different perspectives of how the topic should be addressed and might even give you conflicting feedback. Additionally, listening to too many people's advice takes away from the individuality of the essay as you may be more influenced by their thoughts rather than your own. Hence, stick to asking only 1-2 people for feedback on your essay. 

     

13. Repeating information from the application form: There is no need to repeat information that you have already presented in the application form as the admissions officer will have read that anyways. The essay has a word limit so you should ensure to use them to state any extra information about yourself that you want the admissions officer to know that was not or could not be placed in the application form. 

     

14. Being unrelated to the application form: You should ensure that the contents of your essay are related to some aspects from the application form. While you should not copy word-for-word from the application form, you must show some links between the two. For example, if your essay topic is to show how you exhibited leadership in the community, you could link it to the hobbies provided in the application form such as being the leader of a club, sports team, etc.

     

15. Trying to fit in too many points: Your essay should focus on one main topic or idea and should talk about that in detail. Students that try to include too many points cannot fully describe in detail how each of those points relates to the main topic within the word limit, leading to an incomplete analysis which is unlikely to score well with admissions officers. A good example can be found here as the student has highlighted only one main point.