Line spacing - either 1.5 or double-line spacing.
Which structural approach you use depends on your answer to this question (and its addendum): Do you feel like you’ve faced significant challenges in your life … or not so much? (And do you want to write about them?)
Narrative Structure is classic storytelling structure. You’ve seen this thousands of times—assuming you read, and watch movies and TV, and tell stories with friends and family. If you don’t do any of these things, this might be new. Otherwise, you already know this. You may just not know you know it. Narrative revolves around a character or characters (for a college essay, that’s you) working to overcome certain challenges, learning and growing, and gaining insight. For a college essay using Narrative Structure, you’ll focus the word count roughly equally on a) Challenges You Faced, b) What You Did About Them, and c) What You Learned (caveat that those sections can be somewhat interwoven, especially b and c). Paragraphs and events are connected causally.
Academic essays at college level are usually : you develop a clear about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.
The essay writing process consists of three main stages:
We think there are two basic structural approaches that can work for any college essay. Not that these are the only two options—rather, that these can work for any and every prompt you’ll have to write for.
The of an is divided into an that presents your topic and , a containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a wrapping up your ideas.
The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.
The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.
A guide to crafting and formatting your essay
The of an is divided into an that presents your topic and , a containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a wrapping up your ideas.
Understad the formatting components of an essay
The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your . We recommend trying QuillBot’s for metrics like the readability level and word count.
Understad how to go about writing a submisson essay for college
Add a citation whenever you , , or information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.
Learn the different steps that go into writing a reserach paper
(And to clarify: When we say, “topic,” we mean the theme or focus of your essay that you use to show who you are and what you value. The “topic” of your college essay is always ultimately you.)
My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and ).
“Uncommon”—every year, thousands of students write about mission trips, sports, or music. It’s not that you can’t write about these things, but it’s a lot harder to stand out.
If you’re attaching a doc (rather than pasting)
“Difficult or compelling challenges” can be put on a spectrum, with things like getting a bad grade or not making a sports team on the weaker end, and things like escaping war or living homeless for three years on the stronger side. While you can possibly write a strong essay about a weaker challenge, it’s really hard to do so.
Is there a college essay template I can use?
This is an outline of what a five-paragraph essay looks like. To view a “written text” version of a five-paragraph essay/outline, click here: Five Paragraph Essay Sample and Outline.