How to revise a college essay, draft by draft

Draft 1: get it all down

Write the story and everything you think it means, at any length. Do not edit. A first draft that runs 900 words is normal and useful: it gives you material to choose from.

Draft 2: find the center

1. 1Underline the sentence that says what the story means. If there is not one, write it.
2. 2Cut or shrink any paragraph that does not serve that sentence.
3. 3Check the balance: the event should take less space than your thinking about it.
4. 4Move toward one focused story rather than several.

Draft 3: make it specific

• Replace general statements with the moment that proves them.
• Add the details you remember: names, places, objects, what people actually said.
• Cut anything another applicant could have written word for word.
• Check the opening and ending against our guide to starting and ending an essay.

Draft 4: make it sound like you

Read it aloud. Any sentence you would never say, rewrite in your own words. Vocabulary that sounds impressive but not like you is the most common reason an essay feels written by someone else. This is also the stage to fix grammar and trim to 650 words.

Final checklist before you submit

• Between 250 and 650 words, checked after pasting into the Common App box.
• The prompt you chose matches the essay, or you chose prompt 7.
• No college named in the essay, since it goes to every school on your list.
• Every sentence is yours. No pasted or rewritten text from a tool or another person.
• Someone who knows you has read it and recognized you in it.
• Read aloud one last time for typos.

Who to ask for feedback

One or two careful readers beat ten casual ones. Ask them specific questions: where did you lose interest, what do you learn about me, which sentence sounds least like me? Too many readers pull an essay toward the average, which is the opposite of what you want.

Questions