13 Easily Avoided Essay Mistakes
There’s a lot about essay writing that is unknown… Will the reader like my topic? Does my writing style truly capture my personality? Am I a good fit for this school? What are admissions officers really looking for?!
So much happens after you press “submit” that is out of your hands. That’s scary! However, you shouldn’t let those concerns get to you. There are plenty of things in the essay writing and editing process that you do have control over. And, funny enough, sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest impact.
Below we’ve compiled 13 of the most common (yet easily avoided!) essay mistakes.
Take a look, and make sure you’re doing all you can to put your best foot forward.
You can also use this Checklist when reviewing your essays for these mistakes!
If you’re still stressing, please check out our helpful Mindfulness Strategies.
1) Forgotten Capitalization
Surprisingly, i’d see a lot of a lowercase “i” used throughout essays.
or sentences that don’t start with a capital letter.
Students would write about their hometown in michigan, but wouldn’t capitalize the state.
Sometimes essays on grandma sandy don’t capitalize the proper nouns.
Discussions of thanksgiving traditions would leave the holiday uncapitalized.
Resumes lists would forget that the “springfield wildcat’s swim team” should have capital letters.
2) Improper Punctuation
First and foremost, don’t underestimate how much people care about the oxford comma! We’ve seen some pretty heated discussions, strong opinions, and a sincere love for the comma before the final item in a list.
Avoid inserting random apostrophes where they don’t belong. It can drive people nut’s.
Two words: excess exclamations! Be careful with these! You don’t want to overuse them!
Unnecessary quotation marks. “Not everything is a quote.” - Me
3) Inconsistent Formatting
Wouldn’t it be frustrating if all of a sudden the formatting changed midway through an essay? The size or font didn’t match up? Maybe one section was italicized for no reason. Or some of the essay used tabs but the rest of the essay didn’t? Or if Corinne just switched to third person halfway through? And definitely stay away from the dreaded “one long paragraph” essay. It’s hard to read and your voice gets lost without the natural pauses. I’d hate to see any of this happen to you.
4) Using the Wrong School Name…
Seriously, never use another school’s name in your essay. This is especially the case in the “Why XYZ University” essay when you’re sharing what makes you a good fit for that specific school.
I know what you’re thinking… “does this really happen?”
Unfortunately, yes. It happens all the time.
5) … or a Non-Existent Major
Pro tip: please double check that the school actually has the major you’re writing about.
It’s a bit awkward when students write all about a culinary school that doesn’t exist, a nursing major that was eliminated 30 years ago, or get excited about pursuing a Business major when the school only offers Economics.
A quick search of the institution’s list of majors should help. And, as an added bonus, you may end up learning it’s not the right “fit” for you if the school doesn’t have what you’re looking for.
6) Not Answering the Question
This is another one that happens a ton! There’s been so many times when I’d read a fantastic essay that has nothing to do with the question being asked. Don’t forget schools are asking questions for a reason and looking for specific information about you.
For the personal statement (i.e. main essay), you can usually select “Topic of Your Choice” and it’s not an issue.
But the school specific questions should definitely answer whatever is being asked.
7) Ignoring the Word Limit
Don’t go over the word limit. Just don’t do it. Yes, it will cut off in the middle of a sentence and then you’re
8) Wrong Spelling or Word Choice
“My couch thinks I’m good at volleyball.”
Perhaps this is true if we’re talking about video games. However, I’m guessing this student probably meant to write “coach,” but spell check didn’t pick up on that one. Oops!
In addition to using spell check to make sure you didn’t miss anything, you’ll also want to proofread for the trickier errors that may be spelled correctly.
9) Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
I’d actually steer clear of using the same word over and over again in your writing. It’s true that we all have favorite words when we actually speak or write. But it’s actually a bit irksome to keep reading the same word in a given paragraph or sentence.
Getting rid of this repetition is actually what proofreading was made for.
10) Informal Writing
Be cognizant of your audience and try to keep away from informal writing. Admissions officers want to get a sense of your personality, but remember: it’s still a formal essay that you’re putting together.
Here are some things to avoid:
Writing with contractions: kinda, coulda, shoulda, ain’t, gonna…
Informal Grammar: utilizing “like” instead of “for example” or “such as”
Using abbreviations: idk, fwiw, lol, fyi, btw, bff, lmk, nvm, tbh, icymi, tl;dr
Employing slang terms or colloquial phrases: “it was lit,” “ope!,” “he’s so salty,” “I was shook,” “it was lowkey amazing,” “period.”
11) Swearing
While I can’t force you to take my advice, I’d strongly recommend using extreme caution when it comes to including swear words in your essay. Personally, I’ve never seen this work out very well. You can definitely get your point across without going down this path.
12) Overuse of Quotes
“Beginning a novel is always hard. It feels like going nowhere. I always have to write at least 100 pages that go into the trashcan before it finally begins to work. It’s discouraging, but necessary to write those pages. I try to consider them pages -100 to zero of the novel.”
~ Barbara Kingsolver
Using quotes to capture an idea can be amazing and powerful! But the college essay probably isn’t the right place for them. I’d try not to take up valuable real estate with someone else’s words.
My recommendation would be to stay away from block quotes, paraphrasing or having to cite outside sources, or using more than than one short quotation.
The admissions committee wants to learn about you. The more space that’s taken up by quotes, the less they get to hear your voice come through.
13) Writing on a Cell Phone
All of the mistakes discussed above seem to happen more frequently when you’re working on the small screen. I know phones are incredibly accessible for jotting down an idea when inspiration hits. Usually this happens at 3am for me when I wake up from a crazy dream. But why take the risk when it comes to your final essay submission? Take the time to type out your essay responses and go through the editing process on a larger screen.
If you don’t have access to a home computer, I completely understand! I’d recommend using pen and paper to write your first draft or two. Then maybe you can find a way to complete your final edit and submission on a school computer, at a library, or at a friend’s house. Some high schools might even lend you a computer to take home for the weekend or for an extended period of time if you ask your counselor or librarian!
BONUS: Poor Email Etiquette
Trust me, you don’t want to experience that “yikes” moment when you email or write to your admissions officer and spell their name wrong!
Check out the College Essay Journal for more college essay tips and tricks.