By Katherine C. Lee

College Admission Essay Mistake # 10

Using the same essay for all of the colleges you apply to

All colleges have their own identity and mission statement. Pay attention to what their ideology is and think about what you can do to cater to it.

College Admission Essay Mistake # 9

Plagiarizing other students' work

DO NOT COPY FROM OTHER PEOPLE’S ESSAYS! Many students assume that if they copy directly from other people paper’s and sources that no one will find out. This assumption is definitely wrong. Often, the papers they copy from are littered with errors, and they don’t take the time to check.

College Admission Essay Mistake # 8

Using a thesaurus for too many words

This mistake can lead to a big awkward tangle of an essay. Many times if you use a thesaurus and extract overly verbose words, they will stick out like sore thumbs in your essay, and the first assumption the reader will make is that you used a thesaurus.

College Admission Essay Mistake # 7

Not streamlining the essay with the application

Many applicants do not pay attention to the unity of their essay and their actual application. It is jarring to the reader if the essay seems to portray a different picture of the student than the application. This can also happen when you plagiarize; things do not match up, and the reader will quickly discredit you.

College Admission Essay Mistake # 6

Trying to impress the essay reader

Do not try to impress the admission officer. They will be able to sense a pretentious voice beneath descriptions of grand earth-shaking events and ontological musings. Write about what you know and draw from your own life experience.

College Admission Essay Mistake # 5

Picking an inappropriate topic

In an attempt to be clever many people resort to self-deprecation and end up painting a less than flattering image of themselves. You may think it would be witty to write a paper about your less than perfect grades in high school, but this can come off as not taking responsibility for your actions.

College Admission Essay Mistake # 4

Making an essay into a resume

Many times people want to impress the reader so much that they completely ignore the essay prompt and make the essay into a list of their accomplishments. Unless this is specifically what they asked for, just don’t do it.

College Admission Essay Mistake # 3

Brownnosing

If you are sending a school an application, they will simply assume that you want to attend. You don’t have to “lay it on thick” by lauding their campus and faculty.

College Admission Essay Mistake # 2

PROOFREAD!

You CANNOT edit your essay too much. Write several drafts and edit each draft thoroughly for syntax, grammar, spelling and general structure. Admissions officers will immediately discredit you for making petty errors that would be easily fixable.

College Admission Essay Mistake #1

Not answering the question

The admissions committee uses certain essay prompts for a specific reason: they want you to answer it! So beware of steering away from the point and running off on tangents.

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