These types of college essays are a disaster – but here’s how to fix them

Writing a college essay can involve one or more common mistakes, including trying to be clever, shaping it too much into an autobiography, or thinking too much about where you want to go: college. There are so many things that you need to forget in order to produce a good essay. College is a dizzying thought: you need to clear your mind, and simply focus on the task at hand. Here are, for instance, the types of college essays that you should steer clear of.

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The complete autobiography
The essay isn’t a total autobiography. For one, it can be truly overwhelming (not to mention impossible) to attempt to put your whole life into a single piece. Instead, experts suggest narrowing your focus and writing about a specific experience, quirk, or hobby that reveals something personal and telling related to how you think or what you value in life. It should also highlight your strengths or illustrate an aspect of your personal background.


The Reader’s Digest story
This essay starts exactly like one – avoid it by not using the verb “to be.”

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The ‘everything’ essay
This disaster of a college essay touches on more than two ideas or topics at once. While your topic can range from personal to trivial, it should be carefully chosen, challenging you and sparking your natural creativity and insight. Read your essay questions or prompts twice, take time to think about what is being asked, and let it really sink in before letting those ideas flow. Answer questions like: Where do you feel most alive? What are your most important relationships? What makes you different from your peers?

The kilometric speech
One key to a good college essay is effective pruning. Cut, make the content super tight, and ensure that the end of every sentence organically gives rise to the next subject. Make everything flow. Beware forced transitions, too!

Andrew Curran is the William Armstrong Professor of the Humanities and Professor of French at Wesleyan University, where he also served as the Dean of the Arts and Humanities from 2009 to 2013. He specializes in the history, culture, and thought of 18th century France, with key interests in the history of race, the history of medicine, and the life and works of Enlightenment polymath and philosopher Denis Diderot. Read more on this site.