College essays play a very important role in students’ academic lives. In fact, many were rejected by admissions teams solely because of their essays. These are things that are beyond grades and test scores.
Still, many of the students fail to write a perfect essay. Most of them make the same mistakes that make their essays sound bad, ignoring the fact of how much effort they have put into writing them. Also, how strong the stories they have to tell, or have already told, are in their essays.
This happens because students usually think that good college essays are actually about perfect grammar. Some give credit to the fancy vocabulary, too. Yet both these elements can make an essay feel good. To make your essay a good piece, consider expressing yourself with true honesty. In this blog post, you will learn about avoiding common pitfalls while writing college essays.
Most Common Pitfalls of College Essays
A good essay doesn’t rely on a single element. Multiple things make a college essay perfect. And here are some of the most common pitfalls that students should avoid while writing their essays.
1. Choosing a Generic Topic
The first and most repeated mistake is picking up generic topics. Most of the essays we read in college revolve around:
- Winning a big game
- Doing community service
- Facing a school challenge
The topics we just mentioned are now very common. So, if you are going to write on these topics, the examiner has probably already gone through many of them. This will lose their interest in your essay and probably will stop you from getting the best grades.
If you want to make your essay stand out, you will have to come up with a different topic. Try writing about the topics that have somehow affected the way you think. This will help you write an essay that instantly captures readers’ interest. And the more they are interested in your essay, the more the chances of you getting higher grades.
2. Not Focusing While Writing
Writing is a job that cannot be done without focus. And that is where many of the students fail—maintaining focus on the topic. Some students try to include too many stories or achievements in one essay. They think that this way they can impress the readers. But the thing is that when you say so much, especially in the text, your message becomes unclear.
A strong college essay should have one main idea. However, avoid unrelated stories or long details. They can distract readers from your main message, too. A focused essay feels organized and easy to follow, which makes a better impression.
3. Ignoring the Prompt
When writing essays, sometimes the prompts and questions are provided by the college. And that is where many of the students make mistakes. They don’t fully answer what the prompt really asks. Doing this only hurts their reputation by telling them that you didn’t pay attention to instructions while writing.
However, this can be avoided by focusing on the prompt before writing. Begin by identifying the key words such as:
- Describe
- Explain
- Reflect
These words let?you know what sort of answer they are looking for. While?writing, see if each paragraph reflects links back to the prompt.
Staying on subject is a?way to demonstrate your ability to follow instructions and articulate your views. These are the attributes that colleges find?most appealing.
4. Overusing Complex Language
Some students believe that using big or complicated words makes their essay sound smarter. But in reality, it often has the opposite effect. When you use overly complex language, it only makes your essay unnatural. In fact, readers also fail to connect with such essays.
So, don’t make your college essays sound like a dictionary. Use simple words that express your ideas clearly. If you are facing difficulty with the word choice, do one thing. Get assistance from an AI text rewriter. It will help you rewrite the same essay within the same context. And within the wording that you want it to be.
5. Neglecting Structure and Flow
Lack of sentence structure?and the flow in sentences could be yet another downfall that will affect some sort of essay poorly. No matter how?wonderful a story a student writes in the essay, people are simply not going to like it if there’s just no structure, because then the good parts of the story are too tough to read and digest.
One of the ways these issues reveal?themselves is when students are writing essays, bouncing back and forth between various ideas, without any clear transitions. And?so that’s where they begin to make their essays hard to follow.
An organized essay should have a beginning,?middle, and end. And here’s how?you should structure and write your essay.
Begin by telling your topic and the main idea?you want to tell your readers.
Next, head over to the?body section, where you will elaborate on your story or experience. This is where you’d throw?in reflections, as well. They’re?going to expose what you know so far.
Conclude with what you learned from?the experience and how it influenced who you are now.
Additionally, use transition words?to link thoughts together! It’s these small words that make?it possible for your essay to easily transition from one thought to the next.
Remember, a great essay doesn’t have?to be built around physics or health. It merely has to lead the?reader through it, clearly and lucidly, from start to finish.
6. Skipping Editing and Proofreading
Many students write their essays and submit them right away. Skipping editing is a serious mistake. Even a great story loses its power if it’s full of grammatical mistakes, typos, or unclear sentences.
After finishing your draft, take a break before editing. After the break, read your essay draft aloud twice, while having a complete focus on catching the errors. During this reading, you should look for the following:
- Spelling mistakes
- Grammar and punctuation errors
- Missing information
- Duplicate information
- Unclear structure
Once you have done that yourself, have a double-check. For this, you should run your essay through an AI essay checker. It will help you notice errors more easily. In fact, it will also help you in spotting any unintentional plagiarism in your essay.
For any reason, if you do not want to use technology, you can also ask someone, like a teacher or friend, to read it.
Fresh eyes can spot mistakes you might miss. However, don’t let others rewrite your essay completely. It should still sound like your voice.
7. Forgetting Authenticity
Authenticity in writing is an essential aspect of college essays. But many of the students fail to maintain. And the reason is usually that, while writing, they focus solely on impressing the readers (probably admissions teams). They keep writing what they think will catch the reader’s eye. Well, this is an entirely wrong approach.
Only those essays stand out that are written with a real feel. So instead of writing to impress readers, write what you really feel about the topic. Or share an experience of yours with the topic if you have any.
Colleges want to know who you really are. So while writing, avoid pretending to be someone that you are not in real life. And as mentioned earlier, sharing real experiences and genuine emotions can help you get this done.
Here we would like to mention another crucial element. Many students are used to having a bad experience with a topic. They avoid writing about them. Well, it is okay to write about them, whether there are mistakes or weaknesses. Doing this will show that you have learned from those mistakes and dare to accept them.
8. Submitting Without Following Formatting Guidelines
Another error?made by many learners is to ignore formatting rules. Even if your essay has a good story, not?following basic formatting guidelines can destroy you. Colleges typically do have special requirements in terms of font and formatting, either in your essay or other common?application materials. To not notice these details is sloppy and?a disregard for the instructions.
For example, if the essay limit is 600 words and you submit 850, it sends a message that you can’t follow directions. Similarly, using fancy fonts or unusual spacing makes the essay harder to read.
The solution is simple. Read the instructions carefully before you write?or submit.
Just be sure?your essay is consistent with the guidelines. This is professional and shows respect for the?process. And finally, little details like these?can have a significant impact on how your essay is received.
Final Talk
This blog post explains a common pitfall that severely impacts college essays and ruins students’ efforts. Yet the mistake seems smaller; believe us, they’re usually the culprits behind a rejected essay. If you are a student working on an essay and want to make it strong, avoid the pitfalls mentioned.
While writing, try to stay focused and never ignore the essay prompt. Plus, consider writing in simple language while following the academic guidelines. Before submitting, make sure to check the originality of your essay as any unintentional plagiarism can harm its authenticity.
Remember, your goal is not to impress with fancy words but to express your real self clearly and honestly. A well-written, genuine essay always stands out and leaves a lasting impression.
