There are so many college essays out there that fail to impress admission officers – most of these essays have common mistakes that make admission officers discard these into the reject piles. When you look for winning essays online, there are so many sources telling you exactly what to write in your essay.
But when we started researching what not to write in those essays, we came across very disappointing results. Most blogs online only spoke about the topics to avoid, but that alone won’t help. For this very reason, after intensive research, we have managed to find out the basic things you should avoid writing in an essay.
Stay tuned to find out more on the same!
What Not To Write In Your College Admission Essay?
So have you ever wondered what to avoid while writing your college admission essay exactly? If you are about to write your college admission essay, then you definitely need to know what you must avoid at all costs. Of course, you could take the help of a good essay writing service like IvoryResearch.
But in case you want to find out what to generally avoid in your college admission essay, scroll down now!
1. Never Focus On Your Extracurricular And Academic Accomplishments:
You already have your transcript for displaying both your academic and extracurricular achievements and accomplishments. The university is already aware of the awards you have received, the activities you have participated in, and the impressive grades you nagged – do they really need to hear it from you again?
Your essay is another opportunity – instead of writing about the number of soccer games you won, talk about the challenges you faced while playing soccer and how victory has shaped you as a person. You could also talk about your weaknesses in the game and your failure. Be yourself, and talk about yourself, not your multiple victories.
2. Never Opt For A ‘Happily Ever After’ Ending:
So you thought you could end your admission essay with a profound, ‘that day I understood the importance of kindness,’ and your admission officer will simply fall in love with your work and send you an acceptance letter. Of course, you are wrong – but you can make your admission officer fall in love with your essay.
You just have to avoid ending your essay with a generic happy ending. End your essay with a plot twist or a profound epiphany – your readers are smart. If you have already displayed growth, then you don’t need to specifically point it out in conclusion with a bland ‘therefore…’. Instead, play with endings and get into your dream college.
3. Never hold Back:
While writing your college admission essay, honesty is very important. More than honesty, you can maintain a fine line between not holding back and sharing too much information. This is precisely why you need to understand that your essay should aim to reveal you – who are you in reality?
Are you someone who has flaws? Do you make mistakes? Instead of presenting a goody-two-shoes who is never at fault, talk about the real you. After all, the best colleges almost always accept students who are real people – and real people are never perfect. Real people are full of flaws, and more importantly, real people are prone to making mistakes.
4. Never Give Out Too Much Information:
As we just mentioned, a good essay always maintains the right balance between holding back and giving out too much information. Now, understand that TMI is a real thing – the best of us get distracted in conversations and are likely to divert while writing our thoughts down, sometimes giving out too much information in the process.
You have to be careful about what you write about in your essay – after all, it’s your first impression in front of your dream college. Of course, no stories are technically off-limits in such cases. But at the same time, it is vital that you do storytelling right so that your story draws your readers to your experiences instead of shocking or scaring them.
5. Never Over-Edit Your Admission Essay:
While proofreading your essay is of vital importance, over-editing the same is not recommended. Of course, your first few drafts will need sufficient editing and proofreading, once your essay is completed, it’s best not to overthink the situation, over-editing your essay in the process. When you over-edit your essay, your voice gets lost.
Once you start showing your essay to too many people, you end up trying to make too many readers happy. Before you even realize it, your voice is no longer present in the essay. Instead, you will find your essay has become an entity owned by other people. So, it’s always best to avoid over-editing and cutting off your voice for a good essay.
6. Never Hide Behind Your Thoughts:
The worst admission essays are perhaps the ones in which students are confused in their own worlds, all caught up in an array of thoughts. For example, you are planning to write about all the world-changing thoughts that you couldn’t stop thinking about in your Yoga class. Ditch that right now – instead, pen down what you did once class was over.
This way, your essay will not be boring – plus, it clearly shows that you are hiding behind your thoughts. Nobody cares about what you think, especially your admission officers. Those officers want to know what you did instead. So, it’s always safe to not hide and, instead, talk freely about the challenges you faced and, more importantly, how you faced them.
Writing Your College Admission Essay: Things You ‘Must’ Avoid?
And that’s a wrap on the basic things to avoid while writing your college admission essay. So when you finally sit down to write your college admission essay, remember, it’s not about confusing thoughts, or your accomplishments, or happily-ever-afters – it’s about how these events shaped you as a person.
So what are your thoughts on the above points being the top elements to avoid while writing your admission essay? Feel free to tell us about your thoughts and prior experiences in the comments below.
HussaiN is a full-time professional blogger from India. He is passionate about content writing, tech enthusiasts, and computer technologies. Apart from content writing on the internet, he likes reading various tech magazines and several other blogs on the internet. Email ID: [email protected]