By Evan Bailyn

As necessary as a grammatical college admission essay is, applicants tend to worry very little about grammar because of the plethora of editors available. From admission essay editing services to English teachers to parents, almost every student gets his essay proofread before sending it off to the college admissions office.

This lack of concern is understandable, as the resources available to high school seniors are indeed plentiful and simple enough to obtain. However, in my years as a college admission essay editor, I have seen many essays that the student claimed to be grammatically perfect and "only in need of some re-organizing and developing" that were far from acceptable.

The issue of how perfect an admission essay needs to be is worth considering. Some claim it should be flawless so that the reader does not become distracted or prejudiced against the student from the beginning. Others feel that a college admission essay should truly appear to be the work of a high school senior, not a polished adult writer. In my opinion, a college admission essay should have no mistakes at all. However, the student should not be using advanced grammatical constructions that seem to reflect the style of a more mature writer. For instance, when listing things within a paragraph, one has the choice of using commas to separate the items, or, if the items are many words long, semicolons may be used instead. For instance:

The couples expected to come to tonight's event are Jon and Sally; Edgar and Janice; Sal and Monica; and Donald and Dorothy.

Most students would not dare to use semicolons in this somewhat unconventional sense. This is the kind of construction that, while it is most grammatical, should be avoided in a college admission essay because it does not seem like the genuine product of a seventeen year-old student.

In general, the student should shoot for short, concise sentences, specific terms, fewer than three commas per clause, natural transitions, and very few complicated constructions.

Let's take two examples. Both are grammatically correct; however, the first will be overcomplicated, and the second will be highly readable and the type of product you would want to send to the admissions office.

1. My late grandfather, a celebrated navy veteran, was the initial reason I got interested in competitive boating, as he often shared his love of water with me. When I was six years old and couldn't even swim, he took me to the Mississippi for my first boat ride.

2. My late grandfather, Howard Baxter, is the reason I became interested in competitive boating. A celebrated navy veteran, he often shared his love of water with me. When I was six years old, he took me out on the Mississippi river in his Bow Rider. It was my first time on water. At that point, I did not even know how to swim.

The general rule with college admission essay writing, as with all writing, is: keep it short and to the point. If you abide by that rule with every sentence you write, you should be all right.

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