I have edited dozens of college essays but what never fails to surprise me is the diversity of writing skills among applicants. Some students are strong writers while others might need a little more guidance. 

Either way, all students make mistakes when writing college essays regardless of writing level.

In this article, I will mention common mistakes I have seen students make and ways you can avoid them. Some of them might sound obvious or easy but that’s exactly why they are neglected in the first place!

I will also include real-life examples. However, I will paraphrase them to preserve the anonymity of students whose essays I have edited.

Click here for parts two and three.

Mistake #1: Poor writing skills

Nothing turns a reader off faster than poorly written college essays. This includes spelling errors, improper grammar, lack of clarity, and wordiness. 

Keep in mind that admission officers will ultimately be your reviewer. They receive HUNDREDS (if not thousands) of college essays each year and will only spend a few seconds glancing at each one.  

If your college essay is poorly written then you can safely assume it’s going to be ignored or be frustrating to read.

This often happens because many students fail to set aside enough time to write a high-quality essay – one that is clear, concise, and personal.

I recommend giving yourself at least one month to write your college essays from start to finish (the operative words are “at least”).

What you can do: Give yourself enough time. Go through multiple drafts and always proofread. If you need additional help, you can use free resources like Grammarly or hire a professional editor.

Mistake #2: Parroting the same information

Repeating the same information in a similar or redundant manner disrupts the flow and readability of your essays, wastes space, confuses the readers, and could be downright annoying.

While it’s definitely okay to revisit a topic, you must provide new insight or a fresh perspective. 

Just be careful since there is a difference between expanding on a topic and presenting the same information all over again.

What you can do: Organize all of the related information into the same paragraph(s) and summarize them or offer a new perspective (expand).

Mistake #3: Excessively short or long essays

Another big mistake to avoid is writing college essays that significantly fall below or above the word count.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Does my response answer the prompt directly and in-depth?
• Does my response clearly and concisely convey my message?
• Have I mentioned all relevant and important information?
• Am I satisfied with my response?

In my experience, short essays often translate to generic responses or missing crucial details that would have helped your readers learn more about you.

Alternatively, long essays show a lack of constraint and planning. Always assume you lose “points” in the college admission process for going over the word count. Some schools may not even consider it. 

While avoiding extremely short essays is an unspoken rule, this one is set in stone. They literally took the time to add the word limit to the prompt, which is one of the few breadcrumbs they will ever give you – so use it!

I don’t have a magic number as to how much you should write but I would say that well-written essays will naturally fill at least 70% of the word count. 

Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all rule so use your common sense. If you wrote your story in-depth, reflected deeply on those experiences, and are happy with the quality of your work then go ahead and submit it. You know your situation best.

What you can do: Ask yourself the questions above and use common sense. You must be happy with the quality of your work by the time you submit it.

Mistake #4: Too many stories

A common mistake in essay writing is introducing many stories or points that are loosely related.

Students often do this for a number of reasons. But in most cases, it’s because they’re narrating their resume (#41) or are writing whatever comes to mind due to writer’s block. 

The issue with introducing so many stories is that it dilutes your main one. It’s like working hard on a painting then starting over with a new one. 

Remember, it’s better to focus on a single thing well than many things not so well.

I get it, I’ve been in your shoes and know how difficult it is to just pick one extracurricular out of the many you’ve dedicated your life to.

However, in the long run, this is the best option to preserve clarity in your essays and to stay on point. Keep in mind that you’re writing for your audience, not yourself.

And all of your extracurriculars will already be in your online application so you wouldn’t be telling them anything new.

What you can do: Pick an event, experience, or extracurricular that is the most meaningful to you and has pushed you to be a better person. Expand on that idea and write about it in-depth.

Mistake #5: No emotional satisfaction

Remember, the goal of your college essays is to leave a lasting impression on your audience. 

What they want is a story that communicates your growth, resilience, curiosity, leadership, willingness to take risks, and service to others (each prompt will only focus on one).

You want them to walk away knowing just as much about your life as you do. They should feel what you felt and see what you saw. 

If you do this correctly, then you’ll have a cheerleader on your side, not an admissions officer.

What you can do: Show them how you demonstrated the quality the prompt is asking for. Let us see your life through your eyes.

Mistake #6: Poor “zoom” skills

A concept I coined is called “zoom” skills, which refer to zooming in on important details and zooming out on irrelevant ones.

They are used to minimize redirections (#10) and irrelevance (#11). If done improperly, it can speed up/slow down the pace of your story, which will affect the quality of your essays.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Is this information directly related to my story/point?
• Is it required to understand my story/point?
• Is it good to know or important to know?

Many students struggle with knowing when to emphasize certain parts of their story and mistakenly zoom in on secondary information or neglect important ones. 

A great way to think about it is to “lean in” on parts you want to highlight and “lean back” on parts you don’t.

What you can do: Practice your “zoom” skills and ask yourself the questions above. The information you provide must be the minimum needed to understand your story.

Mistake #7: Taking too long to get to your point

As it was alluded to in the previous point, the pace of your story is another important factor to consider when writing your essays.

This is because people naturally don’t like stories that progress too quickly or too slowly.

Imagine if you watched your favorite show on Netflix and all of its seasons were condensed into a single episode. I bet you would be livid. 

This also applies to readers in general.

You must pace your story in a way that makes sense – zoom in on important details and zoom out on unimportant ones.

What you can do: Use your “zoom” skills to focus on important parts of your essay and briefly go through unimportant ones. Have someone with fresh eyes look through your essays.

Mistake #8: Not “taking your story home”

Missing the opportunity to highlight a turning point in your story or not ending it when it should be can be detrimental to your essay since it will start to sound drawn out.

The thought that always comes to my mind when encountering this mistake is “OK you said your piece, now let’s take this baby home.”

When you miss these golden opportunities, it also negatively affects the quality and interest in your essays. 

This is why many students who aren’t necessarily “creative” writers do better in the admission process than their creative counterparts because they understand the mechanics and processes that make effective and persuasive writing, such as flow, structure, and organization.

What you can do: It could be helpful to divide your essays into three parts (intro, body, conclusion) to give each one the care and attention it deserves. Alternatively, you could also use arrows to map out your story.

Mistake #9: Flip-flopping

Flip-flopping happens when a student has already introduced a resolution in their essays but then brings up another problem instead of wrapping it up and reflecting on lessons learned.

Besides confusing the readers with an unrelated story, this makes it seem like you are indecisive and didn’t learn anything from the previous problem.

Adding another story will also increase the likelihood that you won’t have enough space at the end to reflect on your experiences in-depth.

What you can do: Pick one experience that is the most meaningful and had the greatest impact on your life. Write about it in-depth and only focus on that.

Mistake #10: Frequent “redirections”

I often mention the word “redirection” to students, which is another word I coined to refer to new ideas that have little to no value or relevance. 

They often come in the form of side stories, unrelated monologue, cheeky comments, and the introduction of unimportant characters to name a few.

Simply put, they are anything that shifts your readers’ attention away from your main point or story. 

It could be helpful to liken your readers’ attention/view to a camera and the quality of your “movie” will depend on the way you present your information.

This means if you constantly “pan the camera,” you are not going to have a happy reader.

Here’s an example:

“My dad who is an entrepreneur would always find potential museums during his business trips to tell me back home. He would look at old paintings and statues and tell me how much he misses being there when he is home.”

This essay was supposed to be about the writer’s own interests in museums and why s/he wants to pursue a history degree. The redirection about their father is completely irrelevant and unnecessary.

The main issue with redirections is that it challenges your role as the narrator of YOUR own story since it takes away your reader’s focus from your main point to something else.

Put another way, it takes away your control of the narrative.

I see many students make this mistake ALL the time by adding details they think will be helpful or give context to their story when it actually does the opposite.

Keep in mind that the goal isn’t to eliminate redirections because sometimes it is important to give context and add depth to your story. The difference is you must be purposeful and strategic in doing so.

What you can do: Use your “zoom” skills to minimize unnecessary redirections in your college essays.

Mistake #11: Irrelevant information

One major area students often struggle with is providing consistent and relevant information.

They could be writing about a meaningful experience one moment and then suddenly shift to what a side character is doing. 

This is similar to redirections (#10) but the key difference is all irrelevant information are redirections but not all redirections are irrelevant information.

Simply put, redirections deal exclusively with control of the narrative/readers’ attention while irrelevant information deals exclusively with tangents.

Here’s an example:

“I ran back home after failing my math test and passed the mailman named Bill Johnson, who was wearing the standard blue uniform and seemed to be struggling with a stack of mail as he exited his vehicle. I slammed my bedroom door and burst into tears.” 

As you probably noticed, the main idea of this passage was failing the math test and not feeling too good about themself, not the mailman.

What you can do: Ask yourself the same questions as “zoom” skills (#6).

Tip: Any sentence that begins with “One time…” is probably a tangent.

Mistake #12: Not proofreading

Another big mistake to avoid is submitting free-written essays. 

Don’t get me wrong, I think free-writing could be helpful in the brainstorming phase but you can’t submit it as is. 

You need outlining, editing, and proofreading to smooth out the rough edges. What ultimately leads to a winning essay is one that is structured, organized, and well thought out.

Remember, essay writing is an iterative process!

This means it has to go through many revisions to be polished and ready to go. I recommend having at least three full drafts before submitting it. 

It’s also important that it has a structure.

Here’s the basic outline I used to structure my college essays (in order):

1. Status quo – what your life was like before the inciting event.
2. Inciting event – an experience that changed your mindset or life.
3. Resolution – actions you’ve taken, lessons learned, reflections, etc.

However, there are many types of story structures to choose from and you can make it as simple or as complex as you like. 

But a word of advice: Don’t be overly ambitious.

Keep it simple and choose one that you can manage. You have to strike a balance between being too short and simple versus taking your readers through the weeds.

What you can do: Outline your essays by making a list of “big” ideas/themes you want to write about and add points under them. Alternatively, you can instead use arrows to map out your story.

Mistake #13: It’s boring

In a previous point (#8), I mentioned that organization, structure, and flow are more important than creative writing but keep in mind that this is relative.

The goal is to craft a college essay that is effective, persuasive, and interesting. To do so, you have to focus on both the macro (structure, organization, flow) and micro (creative writing) levels.

This is why I recommend all prospective applicants be readers to get an understanding of what society deems to be interesting and valuable work.

Good sources include newspapers, journals, books, and pretty much any literary work that interests you.

Here are some of my favorites:

• New Republic (3 free articles/month)
• New Yorker (4 free articles/month)
• NPR News (free)
• NYT (not free – go to a library)
• Reuters (free)
• Scientific American (free options)
• The Economist (not free – go to a library)
• WSJ (not free – go to a library)
• Yahoo News (free)

Of course, I’m not suggesting that you become a modern-day Mark Twain or Shakespeare. 

What I am saying, however, is for you to understand the basics to – at the very least – not be monotone or mechanical in your writing.

What you can do: Go over some short reading material (ex: journals) 2-3 weeks before starting your essays. Take note of their structure, organization, flow, wording, and writing style.

Mistake #14: Others taking initiative on your behalf

Out of all the mistakes in this article, this is arguably the WORST one.

Keep in mind that the point of college essays is to demonstrate your independence and initiative-taking. Nothing screams helicopter/bulldozer parenting and coddled children than this.

Only talk about the things you did. If you want to mention something you both did together, emphasize your part and de-emphasize theirs (or just don’t mention them at all).

Here’s an example:

“I was devastated when I failed my math exam. After my mom talked to my teacher, we made an arrangement for me to retake a harder version at a later time.”

As I alluded to earlier, this looks extremely BAD because the point of college essays/applications is to demonstrate your leadership and independence (among other qualities) and this contradicts that.

What you can do: Only focus on your role and the actions you’ve taken to resolve your own problems. You should also emphasize (not fabricate) your role and de-emphasize the role of others without twisting the truth.

Mistake #15: Not writing in first-person

You always have to keep the spotlight on yourself. Remember, it’s called a “Personal Statement” or “Personal Insight Questions” for a reason.

Here’s an example:

“The Youth City Council Board is a way for youth to be a voice of change in their community. Members advise the mayor on matters related to improving the quality of life among young residents…”

This is what I recommended instead:

“I served on the Youth City Council Board to be the voice of change in my community. In this capacity, I had the opportunity to advise the mayor on matters related to…”

As you can see, these simple revisions significantly changed the interpretation of the original passage. Now we understand the relevance it has to the writer and their role in it. 

What you can do: Do your best to write in first-person and focus on your role and the actions you have taken. Elaborate on its relevance and importance to you.

Mistake #16: Using passive voice

The reason why using passive voice isn’t always a good strategy is because it makes it seem like you’re just along for the ride and not taking an active role in your life.

Here’s an example:

“[College name] attracted me because of its….”

I recommended this instead:

“I am attracted to [College name] for its…”

Passive voice also tends to make sentences more wordy and complicated than it has to be but can be useful if used appropriately and in moderation.

I do want to emphasize that passive voice is necessary in some cases, such as to give context to your story, so use your judgment to determine whether it makes sense for you. 

As long as you aren’t abusing passive voice, then it’s definitely okay to use.

What you can do: Do your best to balance active and passive voice to make your message clear and concise.