College Essay Checklist

 

If your essay checks all of the boxes below, you’ve avoided the most common problems admissions counselors see in submitted essays. Congratulations!

  • My topic helps the college to know more about me beyond what is on my activities list.
  • I understood that essay word limits are not goals and that more is not necessarily better.
  • I avoided inappropriate topics.
  • I’ve had several people read my essay to see if it sounds like me.
  • I checked my essay for run-on sentences and sentence fragments.
  • I made sure the majority of my sentences didn’t start with “I”.
  • I chose an upbeat topic.
  • I used stories from my life to illustrate my points.
  • I understood the difference between being unique and being weird.
  • I avoided generic answers to essay questions, particularly for “Why this college?” essays.
  • If your essay would work for any other college, you need to make the essay more specific.
  • If your essay would work for any other applicant, then you need to make it more personal.
  • My essay is kind to the reader. It easily leads the reader along my trail of thoughts.
  • I checked the punctuation to make sure I used it correctly.
  • I didn’t try to impress by using words from a dictionary or thesaurus that aren’t words I would normally use.
  • The essay sounds like me.
  • I used spellcheck, but I didn’t trust it alone to find or correct all my mistakes.
  • I avoided Wendy’s list of forbidden words and phrases.

 

Download checklist
as printable PDF.

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Thank you for editing my supplemental essays. It really helped to have a set of professional eyes look at my writing! Your support and feedback has definitely helped me improve.

 

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Thank you for the time and attention you gave to Ella’s materials. Your thoughtful feedback on her essays was especially helpful. We’ve gotten “unstuck” and are moving along.