How to Format a College Essay?
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For seniors in high school, writing essays for colleges is an altogether new style. Because of this, many students need a clearer understanding of the correct structure and essay format. Should you use single-space or double-space between paragraphs? Do you require a title for this? Which narrative mode do you think works best with the subject matter that you’ve chosen?
This post will discuss the correct framework for a college essay and classic and unorthodox essay structures, and we will help you determine which structure may work best for you.
Guidelines for the General Formatting of College Essays
Whether you submit your essay in a text box or attach a document will determine the formatting choices available to you for your paper. We’ll go into the varied best practices for both of them later, but in the meantime, here are some general formatting suggestions for essay writing basics to keep in mind regardless of how you plan to submit your work:
- There is no requirement for a title; doing so wastes valuable space and brings down the total number of words.
- Maintain as close to the allotted word count as possible, staying within +/- 10% of the maximum allowed.
- Use a hanging indent or double spaces to divide the paragraphs properly.
If you are entering your essay into a text box:
- It is best to avoid using italics and bold when writing in text boxes because the formatting only sometimes carries across.
- Be cautious when writing essays that take on a specific shape, such as a balloon; text boxes will probably not respect that formatting. In addition to that, this method could also appear to be a gimmick, so proceed with extreme caution.
- Ensure each paragraph has a distinct beginning and end, as text boxes can remove indents and double spacing.
If you are attaching a document, please make sure to:
- Use a common typeface and size, such as Times New Roman in 12-point.
- Adjust the spacing between your lines to either 1.5 spaces or double spaces.
- Please use margins of 1 inch.
- Since it cannot be modified, save it as a PDF instead. This also removes any formatting issues that may arise with Microsoft Word, as older versions of the software are occasionally incompatible with the more recent formatting.
- Mention your last name and page numbers in the header or bottom of each page.
- You won’t be cut off immediately like you are in most text boxes, so make sure you pay extra attention to any word limits that may be present.
Do you have a pre-written essay that needs formatting based on MLA style? Read our guides on how to write an essay in MLA format.
Conventional Organizations for College Essays
Following our discussion about how to format an essay, let’s move on to the structure you should use for the rest of your writing. Three different formats are typically used for college essays. They are as follows:
- A narrative that takes place at the moment.
- A narrative that is told over a significant amount of time.
- Montage consisting of a series of anecdotes
Let’s go over each one.
A Narrative that takes place at the moment.
This is part of the narrative in which you share the story’s events as they happen one instant at a time. An effective essay type is the “in the moment” narrative because it allows the reader to experience the events, thoughts, and emotions with the writer. This structure works wonderfully for a particular experience that includes a substantial amount of internal conversation, feelings, and reflections.
A narrative that is told over a significant amount of time.
When you write an essay using this format, you tell a story that takes place over the course of several distinct occurrences. This storytelling technique works very well for any story arc with numerous parts. Consider using this format to emphasize how much you’ve grown over the years.
Montage consisting of a series of anecdotes
Because of this essay’s format, you can concentrate on the most significant aspects of a single narrative or showcase many (not necessarily connected) anecdotes that illustrate different aspects of your personality. A montage is a method of storytelling in which individual scenes are pieced together to produce a whole narrative. The film is the medium with which this method is most frequently connected. Imagine that your go-to movie comprises a montage of different sequences, some of which may need to be in the correct order.
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Unconventional Structures for College Essays
Unconventional essay formats do not fit into the categories that have been presented above. These tend to carry a bigger risk because it is simpler to lose the admissions officer’s favor, but they also carry a higher payoff if they are successfully carried out.
There are an infinite number of possible unusual structures, but the majority of them can be placed into one of two categories:
1. Experimenting with the format of an Essay
Writing your essay in one of the following formats could be a more creative way to demonstrate your range of interests than opting for the more common chronological format:
- As a movie script
- Incorporating a creative visual structure, such as constructing a picture with pauses in your phrases.
- As a discussion between Lincoln and Douglas with two opposing sides
- As a legal brief
- Using song lyrics
2. Linguistic Techniques
You may also experiment with the language that you use and the arrangement of the sentences in your essay by writing it like this:
- In iambic pentameter
- A portion of it in your native language
- In a computer-readable format or a programming language.
These linguistic strategies frequently take the form of a hybrid, in which parts of the essay are composed using the linguistic variety, and the other sections are composed primarily in English.
You should utilize an unusual organizational format. It will only help your chances if you try to impose an unorthodox strategy on the situation. Having said that, you should go with a creative structure if it comes easily to you, complements your personality, and is compatible with the material of your essay.
Tips for Coming Up with a Remarkable Subject for Your Essay
We are going to discuss the topic as well as the structure together. Why? Because one provides information to the other.
We mean “topic” to refer to your essay’s central idea or focus, which should reflect who you are and what you value. Our reference to “subject” refers to your paper’s central idea or focus. You should always “write about” yourself in a college essay.
Two fundamental structural techniques can produce successful results for any college essay. It’s not that these are the only two choices; you can use them for any and every writing assignment so that you’ll be required to respond.
Your response to the following question (and its addendum) will determine the structural method you use: Do you feel you’ve had to overcome huge obstacles throughout your life? Maybe less? (And do you wish to compose something regarding them?)
If your answer to both questions is yes, you should employ Narrative Structure.
If either of those answers is “no,” then you should look at Montage Structure.
Also, read our detailed guide on how to write an essay in APA format.
What does structure have to do with a great topic?
In our opinion, a montage essay, also known as an essay that does not focus on difficulties, has a greater chance of standing out from the crowd if the following are included in its topic or theme:
- Elastic (i.e., something that can be related to many different situations, values, and examples).
- Uncommon (something most likely won’t be written about by other pupils).
The following elements give a narrative essay a greater chance of standing out from the crowd:
- Obstacles that are difficult or tempting to overcome.
- Insights
These are not discrete options; they lie on a spectrum of possibilities.
Elastic
The meaning of “elastic” varies from person to person. We could connect mountain climbing with things like family, history, literature, science, social justice, environmentalism, personal development, and insight… and another person may not make the connection too much of anything. Perhaps some trees?
Uncommon
Thousands of students write about service trips, athletics, or music for their assignments each year. It’s not that you can’t write on these topics; it’s just that it will be far more difficult for your work to be noticed.
Difficult or Tempting Challenges
Things like receiving a bad grade or not making it into a sports team can be placed on the weaker end of the spectrum for “difficult or enticing difficulties.” In contrast, things like escaping war or living homeless for three years can be placed on the stronger side of the spectrum. Although it’s possible, writing a good essay about a problem that’s relatively easy is challenging.
Insight
The response “insight” provides to the inquiry “so what?” A good insight has a good chance of surprising the reader in some way, whereas a mediocre insight won’t. (An insight is something that you will develop in an essay during the process of writing it, rather than something that you will normally know ahead of time for a topic; although, it is helpful to recognize that some themes are probably simpler to pull insights from than others.)
To clarify, you can still write a wonderful montage even if the subject is very common, and you can still write a story even if it only delivers average insights. However, the level of difficulty will increase. Most likely quite high.
How to apply an effective format in your college essay & why is outlining important?
Even while some professional writers begin working on a story without having a clear idea of how it will conclude, they have many weeks to develop it. During this time, they may scrap large portions of it or even the entire draft altogether. You should only throw away significant portions or the entire document altogether. You should therefore create an outline.
How?
Construct a narrative with separate bullet points for Causes and Consequences, Actions, and Reflections. Use these components as a framework for your work.
That’s it in a nutshell.
Outline four to seven different ways your Essay links to various values through various events and, if you can think of them, various lessons and insights to create a montage (though these you might have to develop later during the writing process). For instance, the connections that can be made between auto maintenance and family, literature, curiosity, adventure, and personal development (through different details and experiences).
The following are some excellent examples of outlines:
Outline for the Narrative Approach;
Challenges:
- Abuse within the home (physical and verbal)
- Lack of independence due to a controlling father
- Harassment
- Sexism/bias
Effects:
- Impeded in attempts to pursue chances
- Isolated from the world and my family
- A lack of independence and a sense of freedom
- Faced discrimination
What Actions I Took in Response:
- I have followed my ambitions.
- Solo trips to Egypt, London, and Paris were completed.
- Challenged stereotypes
- Traveled to exotic locations and studied new cultures
- Built up self-assurance, independence, and courage through time.
- Developed into a more capable leader.
- Scheduled activities.
What I’ve Picked Up:
- Motivated to extend a lot more assistance to other people
- A better understanding of oppression and how to combat oppressive conventions was gained.
- Became closer to my mother, and my relationship with my father partially recovered.
- Need to experience freedom.
This is the essay that eventually turned into “Easter.”
Montage Approach Outline
Home
- Bojangles
- Family, history, and the written word are all important values.
- Examples include watching “Tailgate Special,” conversing with relatives and reading Nancy Drew.
- A tie to one’s family and one’s perception
Dance of the Chinese Sword
- The importance of culture and legacy, attention to detail, commitment, and originality are core values.
- Examples: the notebook, various shapes and choreographies
- Intricacies of culture and the capacity for connection
Lab 304
- Science and chemistry, as well as an insatiable interest
- Creating plat nanoparticles by synthesis
- The thrill of discovery and the challenge of reframing expectations
Academy of the Governor
- Values: Discovery and further development of oneself
- Among other things, knitting, physics, and politics.
- Importance of going outside of my comfort zone and learning new things while being willing to take chances
When it’s time to start afresh?
In the end, you will know if a subject will work once you attempt to write a few drafts. And who knows, it may turn out wonderfully. Nonetheless, remember the sunk cost fallacy and be willing to experiment.
If you’ve gotten deep into a personal statement issue and need help figuring out what to do next, you should first solicit feedback. Find someone to talk to about it who won’t bring their baggage of anxiety, worry, or dread into the analysis.
Is this a hot topic already? If not, may it become so? Is there a different way you could present yourself and your unique qualifications to a university?
This is why you do it: to achieve your goal. A well-organized and arranged document is just as useful as its content.
How to Format an Essay for College: Key Takeaways
Micro-level advice for formatting your college essay:
- Even if you plan to just copy and paste your essay into a text box, you should always first prepare it in a word processor.
- Ensure the formatting stays intact, the paragraphs stay separated, and the essay only gets cut off if you’re pasting it into a text box.
- Always use a legible font, keep your margins at 1 inch, space your words out appropriately (1.5 or double) and use a file format that is acceptable for the application requirements if you are attaching a document.
- A title is unnecessary and will reduce your word count unless otherwise instructed.
Suggestions for the overall structure of your college essay:
- Writing an effective college essay takes time and effort, and there is no foolproof method to ensure success.
- The two most crucial parts of any well-structured piece are the introduction, which sets the stage and introduces the topic, and the conclusion, which summarizes the argument and brings everything together. You have a lot of leeways to do whatever you want in the body of your essay as long as it makes sense.
- To avoid sounding too rigid and unimaginative, avoid utilizing an essay template.
Are you still confused about writing an essay for College? Then let us help you. Essay Basics’ expert essay writers are available at your service around the clock.
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