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Most college essays are not rejected for one big error. They lose force through a handful of small, common habits that make an essay sound like many others. The good news is that each one has a specific fix.
Here are the fifteen mistakes readers see most, grouped by where they happen, with what to do instead.
Content mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| 1. A résumé in prose: your achievements, one per paragraph | Pick one moment or habit and go deep. Your activities list covers the rest. |
| 2. Someone else is the main character | Keep the other person, but spend most of the words on what you did, thought and changed. |
| 3. Hardship told, response missing | Keep the setback short. Spend the space on your response and what it changed. |
| 4. A lesson anyone could write | Replace "I learned perseverance" with what this experience taught you that no other could. |
| 5. No reflection until the last paragraph | Add a line of thinking after each key moment. |
Read next: Topics to avoid, and how to rescue them
Writing mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| 6. A stock opening: a definition, a quotation, "ever since I was young" | Start inside a specific moment or detail. |
| 7. A thesaurus voice | Use the words you would use explaining this to a teacher you like. |
| 8. Telling the reader your qualities | Show the behavior and let the reader name the quality. |
| 9. Vague nouns: "things", "people", "experiences" | Name them: the object, the person, the place, the number. |
| 10. An ending that moralizes or names a college | End on an action or image that carries the meaning. The essay goes to every college. |
Read next: College essay hooks, with examples · How to end a college essay
Process mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| 11. Starting in October | Draft in the summer, or at least eight weeks before your first deadline. |
| 12. Too many editors | Ask one or two readers what they learned about you. Ignore line edits that change your voice. |
| 13. Letting AI write or rewrite sentences | Use feedback that diagnoses, never text that replaces yours. You affirm the essay is your own work. |
| 14. Pasting without previewing | Paste into the Common App, preview it, and fix lost paragraph breaks and curly quotes. |
| 15. Cutting words by cutting reflection | Cut background and scene-setting first. Reflection is the last thing to go. |
Read next: Can colleges tell if you used AI? · College essay format
What not to do in a college essay
- Do not write about a college by name. Save that for its supplement.
- Do not repeat your activities list in sentences.
- Do not argue a political position as a debate. Show your thinking and what you learned about other views.
- Do not share private details about other people without their permission.
- Do not submit an essay you have not read aloud at least once.
Questions
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