Using Contractions In Application Essays

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They like know that you’re confident and clear, and that you’re bringing them into the story instead of isolating them. So beware of passive construction even when there’s no actor.

The shortened words of #2 help the language seem less stiff and ease the flow of the sentence. When it sounds weird or it sounds better to place emphasis on each word by separating them (That Notice how the active sentence is shorter and clearer. We also understand that sometimes passive voice is necessary.

Some think that a college essay should resemble an academic essay (don’t use the word “I” and only use formal language, for example) but in our opinion, that’s impractical. Luckily, since college admissions officers get applications from around the world (and since students have vastly different ways of writing and speaking) they’re used to a variety of styles.

In essence, be somewhat casual while still using correct spoken grammar conventions.

In case you want to get into the details, here are the rules: a gerund is a word that adds “-ing” to a verb and uses it as a noun.

“I enjoy swimming.” A present participle is a word that adds “-ing” to a verb and uses it as an adjective or part of a verb.Just make sure that every sentence isn’t passive voice.Short, punchy, to-the-point language is a hallmark of effective casual writing.As we said, feel free to use “I” or “we” in your college essays. But it would be very rare for you to have a reason to address the admissions officer directly, unless you are somehow writing a note to a specific person. ” Even though the word “you” isn’t used, the sentence directs the action to the admissions officer.The same is true with imperative construction, a.k.a. In the case of the sentence above, there are a bunch of reasons why you shouldn’t say it (don’t beg to be accepted, tell them why you deserve to be selected instead).Once you’ve got a draft, read it out loud to yourself a couple of times. When someone reads your essay in their voice, how do they say it? If it helps, have someone read the essay out loud back to you to make sure you haven’t structured anything in a confusing way.Make sure it flows nicely and makes sense in your voice. The best way to strike a conversational tone is to pretend you’re saying it to someone else, write it down exactly as you said it, and then clean it up.That might be harder for visual learners who aren’t used to processing information in an auditory way, but it comes with practice.See the difference: In both cases the new phrase implies action.Now, there are times when “-ing” makes sense: if the sentence sounds weird without it or if you are literally in the middle of doing something.