can i use contractions in college essays

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, what's the deal with using contractions in college essays.

Hi peeps, just wondering if anyone knows whether contractions are frowned upon in college essays? I want my essay to sound conversational, but don't want to come off as unprofessional. Thoughts?

Hi there! It's great that you want your essay to sound conversational and approachable. The use of contractions in college essays has been a topic of debate, but the truth is, it’s perfectly fine to use them! The key here is to maintain a balance. If your essay is conversational and reflects your authentic voice, contractions can help it flow more naturally and make it more relatable to the reader. Colleges appreciate an essay that sounds like a real student wrote it, not like it’s been overly formalized or edited by an adult. Think about how you naturally express yourself and let that guide your use of contractions.

For example, if you're describing a personal experience and you say, "I can't imagine a scenario where I would've made a different decision," the contractions make the sentence sound genuine. However, if the narrative is in a more serious or reflective part, you might choose not to use contractions to emphasize the tone. Just remember, the most important aspect is that the essay should sound like you. So, if you'd normally use contractions in conversation, it's okay to use them in your essay. Best of luck with your application!

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Can you Use Contractions in College Essays? (and Should you?)

Contractions in College Essays

College application essays are an integral part of the application process because they show admission officers a full picture of a student, rather than just their stats, like their test scores and extracurriculars. Thus, students feel the need to write a ‘perfect’ college essay but are confused regarding the level of formality and grammar rules when writing a college essay. One common question that comes up is whether students can use contractions. Contractions are ways of shortening words by combining two words into one. Contractions are used often in oral communication and informal written communication because they are efficient and easier to pronounce in speech They are very common when we write informally, and it’s hard to catch them if we aren’t paying attention. I just used two of them in the last sentence!

Confusion Regarding Using Contractions in your Essay for Applications

Most students need clarification about using contractions in their essays because contractions are traditionally considered informal. A personal statement or college essay is seen as a more formal piece of writing, as college officers are the audience. We use contractions when talking or texting our friends, and most students feel like a college essay is a more important piece that needs to be polished and serious. We have been trained to not use contractions when writing papers for our English classes because when writing professionally, people prefer if we spell out each word. After all, it means we’re “paying attention to our writing” instead of just writing whatever comes to mind. Thus, I can understand where the confusion regarding this topic arises.

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What do the “Experts” Say?

Collegeboard, one of the most popular and reliable resources for college, states that using conversational language is key to writing a personal application essay and that it should feel as though you are talking to a friend. I would assume this would mean contractions are welcome to be used, as I use contractions when talking to my friends. Also, according to several other college consulting companies, the rule of not using contractions is meant to be broken. Sharon Epstein from First Impressions College Consulting explains that your personal statement should sound like a story, and using contractions you are comfortable with will make it sound more authentic than if it is very polished and formal. She does specify against using would’ve and should’ve as they are too casual, if you want to heed her advice. Almost all college advisors state that if contractions make your writing more natural and authentic to the story you are telling, then go ahead and use them! Most college admissions officers would prefer to see an authentic version of the student in their essay, rather than someone holding back, and writing in a very formal and professional manner. Some officers may even think the essay was written without any self-reflection if the words sound awkward.

What my Advice Would be

According to me, using contractions in a college essay is useful for so many reasons. Firstly, contractions make what personal stuff you are narrating authentic and genuine. It makes the essay flow better as a narrative, instead of reading like a formal letter and it is easier for the audience to connect to your story. It is also a handy tool if you are above the word count and want to reduce it (don’t use contractions just to reduce the word count though!!). Most of us college-going kids use contractions, and the officer reading our essays wants to learn why we would be a good fit for their school. We should aim to make our essays as personal and easy to read as possible. If contractions are a common part of your informal speech or writing, I would recommend using them.

In Conclusion, It Depends on How you Write!

If I was asked the title of this blog, I would answer by saying you definitely can use contractions in your application essays, and you should if you feel comfortable with them. At the end of the day, it is important that the audience feel as though you have written this essay with thought and depth. Not using contractions, when you constantly use them would stunt your creative process, and make it harder to edit and proofread. On the other hand, using contractions when you do not feel comfortable using them in daily life would be a major flaw, because you will feel awkward when you write. This is definitely a case-by-case rule, and it is YOUR essay, so choose the writing style you feel most comfortable with. Happy writing and remember, this is YOUR personal statement, not a stunted version of yourself!

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6 Grammar Rules You Should Break When You’re Writing Your College Essay

June 14, 2018 by Sharon Epstein Leave a comment

“You can do that?” she asked. “I’ve always been told not to use contractions.”

Like my student, you’ve probably been given a list of grammar rules to follow when you’re writing an English paper. But here’s the catch:

Your college essay isn’t an English paper. You’re telling a story. You’re writing in your own voice. You’ve got creative leeway.

Now to be fair, grammar rules are important. They help us clearly express what we want to say. They allow us to reach our reader in an effective way.

But it’s a big, creative world out there.

Look at me, for example. I wrote dialogue for soap operas. My characters didn’t avoid slang or contractions. If I wanted them to say, “Are you friggin’ kidding me, Alice? I’m outta here! I’m getting a divorce!”—they said that. I love how words sound and how I can combine them to make an impact. This is my style. The college essay is your style.

6 Grammar Rules You Can Break While You’re Writing a Great College Essay:

1. Don’t  Use Contractions. Your essay should sound like you’re telling a story. It should be in a conversational tone. We all speak in contractions, so go ahead and use them. (Although, I avoid “would’ve” and “should’ve” because I think they’re too casual for college essays.)

2. Don’t   Use Sentence Fragments. Surprise! You might actually want to use a sentence fragment in your essay. A sentence fragment is short, so it’s like putting an exclamation mark on an idea. Think about using one when you want to emphasize a point. Here are three examples of sentence fragments:

I needed to find a new way to study. Because mine wasn’t working out .

The mountain was the tallest I’d ever seen. Which is why I knew I had to climb it . 

I finally remembered the answer. After the test had ended.

3. Don’t You Can Start Sentences With And , But and Or .  Want to start a sentence with a conjunction? Go ahead. In fact, you’ll be in good company. Here’s a quote from the Chicago Manual of Style , a guide that’s widely used in publishing:

“There is a widespread belief—one with no historical or grammatical foundation—that it is an error to begin a sentence with a conjunction such as and, but or so . In fact, a substantial percentage (often as many as 10 percent) of the sentences in first-rate writing begin with conjunctions. It has been so for centuries, and even the most conservative grammarians have followed this practice.”

4. Don’t End sentences with a preposition. We’ve been taught not to end sentences with prepositions, so we re-write our ideas to conform to this rule. For instance, when we want to say , “What space did you park the car in?” we change it to, “In which space did you park the car?”

This type of change often makes a sentence sound more formal. College application essays, though, should be more conversational, and that’s why ending sentences with prepositions is okay.

5. Don’t Use I. You probably know you should use “I” when you write your college essays. But it’s not always easy to write in the first person, especially if you’ve been taught not to voice your personal opinion. It can feel uncomfortable to make that transition.

You can disappear from your story if you write in the third person. For example, if you write, “A change in study habits was needed,” you’ve taken yourself out of the sentence. It feels like you’re a distant commentator, the outsider looking in. Put yourself back in your story. Use I. Instead, of saying, “A change in study habits was needed,” say, “ I decided that I needed to change my study habits.” And don’t be haunted by the third person.

6. No one-sentence paragraphs . One-sentence paragraphs can be amazing.

Toss the notion that all your paragraphs have to be at least three to five sentences. Sure, some paragraphs will be that long. But if a one-sentence paragraph will make your point, provide a transition, or be part of your creative flow, go for it. Don’t go overboard—you’re not writing a poem—but if it works with the rest of your essay, one-sentence paragraphs can do amazing things.

So, traveler, you’ve arrived in the territory of self-expression. You’ve traveled here to tell your story. You’ll still follow some important grammar rules: you’ll use descriptive words, choose the active voice, and make sure your subject agrees with your verb. But it’s time to stretch those creative limbs. And if you’re still not sure breaking these grammar rules is the right way to go, just open up one of your favorite books, by any good author, and read a few paragraphs. Some grammar rules are meant to be broken. So go right ahead.

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Author: Sharon Epstein

College consultant, teaching students how to write memorable college application essays, grad school and prep school essays, and succeed at job and college interviews.

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Grammar Do's, Don't of College Application Essays

Wise use of words, grammar and punctuation can help you write a strong, compelling essay.

College Application Essay Grammar Tips

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When writing a college application essay it's best to avoid using contractions, slang or cliches.

Serious college applicants spend a lot of time crafting and telling their stories in application essays. But it’s also critically important that the essay is well written as much as it is well planned, because a few spelling, grammar or style mishaps can give the reader a poor view of an otherwise amazing personal statement.

Just like you could spend months designing the perfect outfit for the prom but have it ruined by wrinkles or stains, you’ll want to make sure that your application essays are free from distracting elements that detract from what you want your audience to see of you.

As you edit your college essay, use this checklist to ensure you produce your best work.

• Write in active voice.
• Vary punctuation.
• Balance paragraphs.
• Don't use contractions, slang or cliches.
• Don't try to sound like Shakespeare.
• Don't jump around chronologically.

Write in Active Voice

In English, many actions can be expressed in either passive voice or active voice. For instance, you can say, “I was accepted by NYU” (passive) or “NYU accepted me” (active).

While the passive voice has its place in writing, the active voice is usually more desirable on college applications. Not only is it more concise, but it also reads as more powerful and proactive.

Consider, for example, the difference in meaning between “I was offered an internship opportunity” and “I pursued an internship opportunity.” The active voice works better because it highlights the applicant’s take-charge attitude, an attribute that colleges value.

Vary Punctuation

A few less-common yet well-placed punctuation marks can give your application essay a sophisticated edge.

For example, consider adding a semicolon to connect two closely related sentences, a colon to introduce an explanation for a claim or a set of em dashes to enclose an important interruption within a sentence. The key is to not get carried away repeating the same mark too many times or using rarer marks where a simple comma or period would do the trick.

Before submission, check your essay for comma splices, the mistake that occurs when a comma is used to separate two full sentences.

Balance Paragraphs

Even though the content may be high quality, an essay containing some short paragraphs and some lengthy ones is visually unpleasing. Readers — admissions counselors, in particular — like to see relative uniformity, or balance, in writing. Because these individuals often skim hundreds of essays a day, coming across a particularly long paragraph can be daunting.

So, keep your paragraphs on the shorter end of the spectrum. Try to limit them to five to seven sentences each, or fewer if your sentences are long. Your paragraphs do not all need to be the same length, but you should avoid significant differences in length that could be jarring.

Don’t Use Contractions, Slang or Cliches

Avoid contractions like "don’t," "it’s" and "they’re" in your essay because they will give your writing an informal feel. Instead, separate and write out the full words.

For this same reason, avoid slang and overused words like “cool” or “amazing” and replace them with longer and less-common words, such as "exhilarating" or "memorable." Also, steer away from cliches, well-known expressions such as “the last straw” or “the light at the end of the tunnel.” Rather than using recycled language, try to express the idea in your own words.

Don’t Try to Sound Like Shakespeare

In response to the previous tip, students sometimes take formal language to an extreme, endeavoring to include as many four- or five-syllable words as possible in their essay. However, this is ill-advised because it will make your essay read as stuffy and unnatural.

Your essay should sound like something you wrote, but have a few sophisticated words peppered throughout it. To that end, you may wish to consult a thesaurus a few times as you craft your essay or after you are finished. This step will help you to substitute common words for more elegant ones. However, you should not change so many words that readers would need a dictionary to make sense of your essay.

Don’t Jump Around Chronologically

In a college application essay, it is inevitable that you talk about the past (your experiences), the present (your interests) and the future (your goals). As you outline your essay, give some thought to how you will order these ideas.

Many students prefer to start with the past and progress chronologically toward the future. Others may start with the present, then discuss the past and end with the future. There is no right or wrong sequence; the order of events should match the type of narrative you want to tell.

However, jumping around too often — for example, from past to future to present within the same paragraph — could dizzy your reader. Therefore, it may be best to limit each paragraph to one general time frame.

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The Editor’s Manual

Free learning resource on English grammar, punctuation, usage, and style.

• Contractions

When to Use (and Not Use) Contractions

Use of contractions

Contractions, which are words in which some letters or sounds are omitted (e.g., don’t for do not ), are common in speech and informal usage but generally avoided in formal writing.

• Informal: We don’t know what happened.
• Formal: We do not have sufficient information yet to form a hypothesis.

Contractions are often used and completely acceptable in everyday speech.

• I’m happy to help.
• She’s here.
• I don’t know.
• What’s that?

Only if you want to stress a certain word would you not use a standard contraction in speech and informal usage.

• You do not want to get involved in this. The use of do not instead of the contraction don’t helps stress the adverb not .

In informal writing

In writing, contractions convey an informal tone and replace talking to the reader. They sound normal and natural in creative writing and personal communication.

• I’m on my way.
• That’s fine. Don’t worry.
• It’s all right.
• Sorry I couldn’t take your call.
• Maya knew she shouldn’t answer, but she did.

In ad copy, marketing slogans, and other signage, contractions can help save space and make your message sound conversational and friendly.

• Because you’re worth it. ( L’Oreal )
• Let’s go places. ( Toyota )
• There are some things money can’t buy; for everything else, there’s MasterCard. ( Mastercard )

In creative writing as well, contractions, which are common in speech, can make dialogue sound more natural.

• “Now you said you’d do it, now let’s see you do it.” “ Don’t you crowd me now; you better look out.” “Well, you said you’d do it—why don’t you do it?” — Mark Twain , The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)

In formal texts

Avoid using contractions in academic and other formal writing. Using the complete instead of contracted form lends an appropriate air of formality to the document.

• Informal: We haven’t accounted for changes in pressure in this study. Formal: We have not accounted for changes in pressure in this study.
• Informal: We couldn’t collect sufficient real-world data. Formal: We could not collect sufficient real-world data.
• Informal: It’s important to account for bias. Formal: It is important to account for bias.
• Informal: We haven’t reviewed the financial statements of the subsidiaries yet. Formal: We have not reviewed the financial statements of the subsidiaries yet.

Avoid using contractions in cover letters, personal statements, academic papers, business proposals, and legal documents.

• Informal: I’d appreciate the opportunity to discuss this further with you. Formal: I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this further with you.
• Informal: I’m hardworking and self-motivated. Formal: I am hardworking and self-motivated.

In negative questions

An exception is negative questions, in which contractions are used in both formal and informal usage.

• Shouldn’t / Should not we wait until morning? “Should not we wait until morning?” would sound odd and archaic, even in formal usage.
• Isn’t / Is not the sample ready yet?

Again, you may use the word not separately if you want to stress it.

• Unstressed not : Aren’t you listening? Stressed not : Are you not listening? But not “ Are not you listening?”

Finally, always use the contracted instead of full form in negative question tags.

• Poco said he’d call, didn’t he?
• We should call back, shouldn’t we?

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Standard contractions are common and sound natural in everyday speech.

Will not is generally used in its contracted form in speech and informal usage ( won’t ). To emphasize the word not , the full form is used instead.

Contractions sound natural in dialogue, which represents a real conversation.

Contractions, which lend an informal tone to writing, are generally avoided in formal texts.

Negative contractions are used in questions in both formal and informal usage.