How to Format a College Essay

In the Fall of 2022, an estimated 17.9 million students were enrolled in degree-granting colleges across the United States. With Summer here at last, this means it's time for a new batch of college students to begin writing their college essays for their college admissions process. 

College admission applications are on the rise. Between 2019-2020 and 2021-2022, the number of college admission submissions increased by 21.3%. With more potential competition, it's important to craft an essay that will help you stand out and get noticed by your school of choice.

But writing the perfect college admission essay isn't always easy. You need to know how to format a college essay properly. You also need to understand some common dos and don'ts associated with writing an essay. 

If you're a college student looking for help with writing and formatting college essays, this guide can help. Keep reading below for more information and advice about essay formatting.

Focus on Your Personal Experience

College essays are a chance to share your personal life experiences with potential colleagues. You're putting your essence on the page. So it is vital that you tap into this when writing an essay. 

At the top 250 schools in America, your essay alone is worth 25% of your total application, so you don't want to leave anything to chance. That's why infusing your personal story of your upbringing and why you want to attend a specific university is so important.

Don't use premade templates to simply fill in the blanks. While they are helpful outlines for how to format a college essay, they are not a substitute for a well-written and personal essay. Doing this could come off as stale and formulaic and cause admissions to pass on your essay altogether.

Appropriate Font Styles and Sizes

Remember, your college essay is a reflection of you and your merits as a student. It must look professional and well-formatted. You need to follow the same font formatting structure as you would if you were creating a resume. 

Using the right font styles and sizes will help you get the right kind of attention. Avoid using cutesy and overly ornate fonts at all costs as they are hard to read and come off as unprofessional. Customary professional font styles include:

• Times New Roman
• Arial
• Calibri 
• Cambria

The recommended font size for how to format a college essay properly is 12pt. This makes it large enough to read without being too overpowering.

Properly Utilized Margins and Paragraph Idents

Nothing is more frustrating for college admissions members to read than an essay where the text runs over into the margins. It looks messy and amateurish. 

Always maintain clean margins in your college essays. It is recommended that you keep 1-inch margins all around your essay format at the top, bottom, left, and right of the page.

This is a standard and highly recommended tip for how to format a college essay cleanly. It will keep your essay visually pleasing and easy to read for the college admissions boards who will be looking at your essays.

For paragraph indents, simply use the Tab key to easily indent the start of each new paragraph set. Remember that 3-5 sentences is the recommended grouping for paragraph clusters.

Suitable Line Spacing

Line spacing is another factor in how to format a college essay that will add to your essay's overall appeal. While most universities are accepting essays done in a single-spaced format, you can use other spacing options.

It is recommended you use at least a 1.5 spacing when you write an essay for college admissions. This will make it easier for college admissions personnel to read. At most, you can use double spacing as long as this doesn't make your essay too lengthy page-wise.

However, if your college admissions application specifies a preferred line spacing method, always go with what they request.

Tips for Copy/Pasting Essays into a Text Box 

Some universities may still allow you to print out and mail in paper essays. However, a majority of universities are modernizing to either email or text-box essay forms for digital submissions.

If you can attach a Word document to an email for submission, your original essay formatting should stay intact. In a text box, though, your formatting may not stay consistent if you copy and paste your content. It may be necessary to go back through the content in the text box and ensure that the paragraphs and spacing are correct.

With a copy/paste text box, you may not have as much control over the font style and text size aspects. Some universities may have the option to let you adjust the font and text size. It will depend on their submission preferences. 

Dos and Don'ts of How to Format a College Essay

Before you submit your college essays, there are some things you need to verify and double-check. There are also some best practices you should engage in when it comes to the quality and consistency of your essay content. Here are some important dos and don'ts to follow for how to format a college essay that you can be proud of.

DO Verify That You Understood and Adequately Answered the Essay Prompt

You may have a beautifully written essay, but does it meet the main objective of the prompt? If your essay does not make a clear connection between your experience and the specific essay prompt chosen, you will need to rework it.

DO Use Your Unique Voice

You may think you have to sound like some stuffy tenured professor when writing an essay for college admissions, but this is not the case.

It's okay to use your natural voice in your writing, as long as you avoid using too much slang or abbreviations. You should also be sure to maintain the proper spelling and grammar structures.

DO Talk About Specific College Attributes and How They Apply to You

It's okay to briefly mention a few aspects of the particular university you are applying to as long as you mention how they relate to you. It shows you've done your research.

For example, you can mention a professor you've heard about or a particular class you are looking forward to taking. You may even want to mention an on-campus club you're interested in joining.

DO Paint a Descriptive Short Narrative of Your Life

You may not have a ton of space to go into every detail of your life, but you can let admissions see a short but poignant part of it. The goal is to make them feel like they are there with you. That's the beauty of good storytelling.

Include details like certain tastes and smells you remember (i.e., the salty sea air, fresh buttered popcorn, etc.). You should also include emotions and senses, like touch, that you remember to help impact your story.

DO Ask for Help and Guidance if Needed

Your college essay is about you, your personal life experience, and your decision to go to college. But it's okay to ask if you need some help with it. Parents, trusted friends, and school guidance counselors can give you a fresh set of eyes on your essay and offer you some helpful feedback.

DON'T Falsify Achievements or Write About Things You Have No Knowledge Of

In a college essay, it may be tempting to write about grandiose-sounding topics or accomplishments that make you sound more impressive. This isn't the best way for the university to get the most authentic picture of who you are as a college student. 

Always stay on topic with your college essays and write what you know from personal experience. 

DON'T Use the Same College Essay for Every College Application

If college is important to you, you need to take the time to write an essay that is unique to each university you apply to. College admissions members are trained to detect which essays are half-hearted attempts at copying and pasting instead of genuine efforts.

Besides, you may spend more time trying to figure out how to format a college essay written for a previous university than you do writing a new one from scratch. 

DON'T Use Your Personal Statement Essay as a Duplicate of Activities and Interests

Each part of your college essay and application gives you an opportunity to paint the bigger picture of who you are as a person. When it comes to your personal essay, though, don't become a broken record for things you've already mentioned, like extracurricular activities.

Instead, use this area to detail a specific story of your upbringing or a life-changing event that inspired you or helped shape you.

DON'T Rely Only on Spelling and Grammar Check Tools

You've put all this effort into writing an essay for college, so don't leave it to spellcheck software to check for any spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

Part of how to format a college essay correctly is to manually re-read it and check for these issues yourself. If you're not certain that you've identified any and all issues properly, let a friend or parent also read it over for additional clarity.

DON'T Repeat Back What You Think the College Admissions Wants to Hear

So many potential applicants fall back on trying to just parrot back university values chapter and verse. College admissions offices see this all the time and have learned that this is an attempt at fluff, not substance.

Your college essay is the opportunity to present the real you and stand out from the crowd. So write about yourself, not about the merits of the university itself.

Learn More About College Essay Tips at Honor Society Today 

College essays can be intimidating, but they are vital admissions components. Now that you better understand the ins and outs of how to format a college essay, you can be on your way to writing an essay that is sure to wow college admissions boards. 

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