Application Essay Checklist

Is Yours Ready to Go?

The college admissions process is a human one – real people are reading your application. The essay section is your chance to have a conversation with the people who weigh in on your application and admissions decisions, and tell them what matters to you and what you are all about. 

You don’t have to be the greatest writer in the world to put together a great essay; the more time and effort you put into it, the more likely you are to have a well-crafted essay that shows you off in the best possible light. Most colleges receive thousands of applications, many of them with similar grades and test scores. The essays provide insight into whether a student would be a good fit with the campus community and culture. You are showing off your accomplishments and achievements, but also describing who you are as a person. Be honest with yourself as you answer the questions on this checklist. 

It can be hard to be objective about your writing, but there ARE things you can look out for once you have a draft down. Use this checklist to gauge the quality of your essay from a practical standpoint, and see if you have utilized this part of the application to your best advantage. 

1. Is it personal? Does it talk about who you are and what you care about?

The answer to this should be YES. A prompt doesn’t have to explicitly ask you who you are and what matters to you (although some do). When given options students often worry about which prompt is “better” than the others, but the answer to that question almost always is – the prompt that allows you to tell a strong story that is about you is the best one for you to go with. The keywords here are ABOUT YOU. 

Some prompts, like the Common App Essay topics, directly ask you to reflect on a time, incident, or topic that is significant to you. While you do need to provide some context and set the scene, it is important to remember that you need to talk about your experience, learning, or the influence it has had on you – more than the specifics of the incident or experience itself. A reader should understand why the subject you have chosen to talk about is important to you.

If the prompt is asking you about a favourite book or movie, don’t write a summary of the piece you have chosen. Instead, use the space to talk about how it made an impact on you and your life. 

There is no best prompt, or right or wrong answer, as long as the essay showcases who you are. Make sure it talks about you, through whatever story you choose to tell about yourself. 

2. Are you repeating yourself?

The answer to this should be NO. Every essay is a lot of work, but it’s also an opportunity. You are a complex, multifaceted individual, with several aspects to your personality. The essays are an opportunity to show them off, so why waste precious space on saying the same things over and over again? 

Use different spaces to highlight different things about yourself. College is about more than academics – and so are you. 

3. Did you answer the prompt?

It happens – you start writing, have a draft, edit it, have a second draft, asked for advice, changed it again… or started out with one thought in mind and the words came out differently than intended. That’s perfectly fine! But you still need to answer the question.                                                                 

It boils down to this – can you follow basic instructions? Can you answer the question? Can you showcase yourself in the context of the question asked? The answer is yes, you can. 

Sometimes this also happens when students try to use an essay written for something else to answer multiple questions. Work smartly if you’re doing this – as long as it is your original work, and you aren’t repeating yourself (remember Question 2 from a minute ago?), go ahead and let it be a multi-purpose piece of writing, but do make sure that it answers the question being asked. 

This brings us to part 2 of this question – did you answer all parts of the prompt? Some prompts have multiple questions – usually asking for an incident or experience, and a related follow-up right after. You need to answer all parts. 

The answer to these questions needs to be YES. 

4. Did You Follow the Instructions?  

This is something that is mentioned very often, all through school – read the instructions thoroughly. Essays come with word limits. These can be like the Common App, which is 250-650 words, or just an upper limit of 100 – 400 words. 

The lower limit is a minimum, but not a recommended number. Try to stick to the rule of thumb of 10% – i.e. your word count should be at least within 10% of the upper limit. So if the limit is 600 words, try not to go below 540 words. Some online applications don’t allow for more than the character or word limit anyway, but in the case of uploading documents, it is best to stick to the count mentioned in the instructions. 

This extends to other supplementary documents too – if a question requires a video response and asks it to be 90 seconds, stick to 90. 

Will someone notice if you’re a bit over? Are they really going to scrutinize it to that extent? In a sea of 650-word essays, one that is 700 does stand out, and not for the reasons you’d want it to. The answer to this question should be YES. 

5. Did get it reviewed and make revisions? 

The answer here should be YES. Please DO get your essay reviewed, either by a teacher, a family member, peer, or an advisor. The ideal person to review your essay is someone with strong writing skills who knows you and can give you honest feedback on whether your essay is doing you justice. Having more than one person reviewing your essay will give you a more well-rounded outside opinion on it, and will help you choose which revisions to make based on feedback. 

6. Did You Proofread? 

Proofreading is more than running a spell-check or using something like Grammarly. In addition to errors in grammar and spelling, read your essay out to yourself after a bit of a break – does it flow well? Is it very formal and stiff, or does it sound like you? Remember, real people are reading your essay, and are doing it in an attempt to get to know you better. Check that you have maintained consistency in spelling and tense as well. 

Proofread with a fresh set of eyes – i.e take a break after you have worked on it. It makes it easier to pick out errors or areas of improvement after a break. The answer to this should be a resounding yes, and please also proofread right before hitting submit.