8 Best Tips on How to Format a College Admission Essay

Introduction

The admission essay is like the baptism of fire. This is the very first step to your academic life that will be replete with a lot of types of papers. And it is quite reasonable that you want this step to be a success. In the end, your further accomplishments start here. Of course, you need to make every aspect of your application essay perfect. So, it is time to consider the formatting. 

Many students underestimate the importance of proper admission essay format. However, this is the first thing that strikes your reader’s eye. If you lay hopes on your essay, you apriori have to be mindful of the format and structure. It is not just another paper like one of those you have submitted in high school. The application essay implies a personal component to impress the admissions committee. So, this is the kind of common courtesy to provide proper formatting.

Overall, the admission process implies a competitive element making students coming up to scratch. If you really worked hard to produce a perfect essay, incorrect formatting can ruin the enjoyment of your work. Thus, you have to bite the bullet and polish your paper. 

Let’s consider how to format your college admission essay and not to go flop!

College admission essay format: why does it matter?

Every year getting matriculated in college becomes more challenging. Current statistics tell us that acceptance rates fall below ordinary levels from year to year. For 2020, they vary between 4.9% to 15% depending on the university. So, making every aspect of your admission essay perfect is the very least you can do to enhance your chances for admission.

Thus, formatting plays an important role in the way your essay will be evaluated. We often hear “do not judge a book by its cover”. Your essay does not have a cover, but it has formatting. It is like a candy wrapper. It does not really influence the quality of your work but it does impact the way it will be perceived and treated. On the one hand, you may think that formatting should not make a difference as the content is much more important. But human psychology sets its own rules on how we perceive things. For example, your essay can be perfect but poor formatting will lower the overall impression. And it will be automatically estimated as middle-class. If your competitor provides an average paper but it corresponds to all of the main requirements including a proper format, it will be evaluated equally or even higher. That is why it is necessary to consider every single aspect of your work. 

The admission essay is more specific than any other kind of assignment. But the good news is that its formatting is more or less standard. The point is to carefully consider all necessary requirements. Now, let’s figure out what you have to keep in mind.  

8 Steps to Format Your Admission Essay

Formatting is a standard procedure. However, it can slightly depend on the way you are going to present your paper. There are two main ways to do it:

• To attach a formatted essay as a doc-file (other formats are also acceptable);
• To fill in space for the application essay on the college website. 

It is not always necessary to attach your file or send your essay via the website. Various institutions often have different requirements. So, you need to look through them carefully to make sure your application will reach the exact destination. Anyway, as a rule, colleges provide multiple ways to send your admission essay. For example, you can also send it by email or even by post. 

Take into account that if you prefer to transmit your paper by post, it can be lost or the admissions committee may simply overlook it. It is a rare thing, but it happens. So, many students opt for alternative ways to present their applications to feel safer. 

You may have other worries related to essay submission including proper formatting. Thus, these easy steps will help you to sort it out.

In Wrapping Up 

The proper formatting means too much to ignore. However, the success rate is difficult to predict as there is no guarantee. That is why you have to pay attention to what is at the core of your paper. If you doubt doing your best while writing an admission essay, you cannot be sure to come out with flying colors. Overall, there are a great many ways to power up your paper. For example, you can check this article to find some additional advice. 

The application essay should be based on your experience and refer to your future prospects. That is why it is essential to put your heart into it. For the same reason, it is not recommended to use templates. They are often too formal and do not help you to adapt your ideas. At the same time, the structure of your work should communicate the core points. So, you need to put some logic into it. That implies avoiding too short or too long paragraphs as well as discussing more than one idea in each.

On a final note, if you come to formatting, you are at the final stage of writing an essay. After you polish your paper, all you need to do is to send it and wait for the next part of the admission process. However, sometimes you really need to gather yourself up to start writing. And this feeling is familiar to many of us. It is also known as writing paper procrastination. So, if you want to struggle with it, this article will be helpful – Advice for Overcoming Writing Paper Procrastination.