6 Common App Essay Mistakes To Avoid | i've edited 50+ essays
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the creator addresses common mistakes in Common App essays that can detract from their impact. They critique the misuse of metaphors, the overuse of direct statements, the lack of personal catalysts, the focus on others rather than oneself, and the repetition of ideas. The creator shares unique tips to enhance essays, emphasizing the importance of personal narrative, descriptiveness, and maintaining reader interest throughout the application process.
Takeaways
- 📝 The video discusses common mistakes in Common App essays and provides tips to improve them.
- 🌊 Avoid half-ass metaphors that are introduced but not integrated throughout the essay; they should be significant and not cliché.
- 🙅♀️ Do not use direct statements like 'this taught me' or 'I learned'; instead, show personal growth and experiences.
- 🔄 Include a catalyst for personal change in the essay, but ensure it's something intrinsic to the writer, not external influences.
- 🤔 Focus on personal transformation and ensure the narrative is centered around the writer's experiences and growth.
- 🚫 Do not spend too much of the essay discussing other people; the focus should be on the writer's achievements and qualities.
- 📚 Use descriptive language to bring readers into the writer's life, but avoid excessive adverbs and filler words that don't add value.
- 🔄 Avoid repeating the same idea in different ways; each sentence should contribute something new to the narrative.
- 🔍 Ensure every word and sentence in the essay is essential and contributes to the overall narrative and personal story.
- 💡 The tips provided are the speaker's personal opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt, but they are based on reading many essays.
- 🔄 The speaker encourages viewers to revise their essays, removing clichés, direct statements, and repetitive ideas to make them more compelling.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video script?
-The main topic of the video script is discussing common mistakes to avoid when writing a Common App essay and providing tips to improve the essay.
Why did the author decide to make another video about the Common App essay?
-The author decided to make another video because their previous comment-up essay was very successful, and they wanted to ride that wave to share more tips and insights.
What is the author's opinion on using metaphors in the Common App essay?
-The author advises against using half-ass metaphors that are set up in the introduction but not integrated throughout the essay, as they can come off as forced and do not contribute to the narrative flow.
What should a metaphor in the essay represent according to the author?
-According to the author, a metaphor should represent a fresh and new perspective that is personal to the writer, and it should not be a cliché or generic one.
Why does the author discourage the use of direct statements like 'This taught me...' in the essay?
-The author discourages direct statements because they prefer the writer to show their experiences and feelings through actions and personal experiences rather than just telling the reader.
What is the importance of having a catalyst in the essay according to the author?
-A catalyst is important because it explains what caused the personal change or transformation that the writer is discussing, making the narrative more believable and compelling.
Why should the focus of the essay be on the writer themselves, even when discussing other people or events?
-The focus should be on the writer because the essay is about their personal growth and experiences, and the reader wants to understand why the writer is a good fit for the college, not others in their life.
What is the author's view on using excessive adverbs and descriptions in the essay?
-The author believes that excessive adverbs and descriptions can sound forced and elementary, and they should be used sparingly to bring the reader into the writer's life and experiences.
Why is it a mistake to repeat the same idea multiple times in the essay?
-Repeating the same idea is a mistake because it slows down the momentum of the essay, bores the reader, and does not contribute new information or insights about the writer.
What should every sentence in the essay contribute to?
-Every sentence in the essay should contribute to the narrative, bringing something new and essential to the understanding of the writer's experiences and personal growth.
What does the author suggest doing with the repeated ideas or unnecessary descriptions in the essay?
-The author suggests removing repeated ideas and unnecessary descriptions to make room for more meaningful development of the narrative and the writer's personal experiences.
Outlines
📝 Common App Essay Tips and Metaphor Misuse
The speaker discusses the unexpected success of their Common App essay advice video and decides to create a follow-up. They emphasize the importance of avoiding clichéd and forced metaphors in essays, as they can disrupt the narrative flow. The speaker suggests integrating metaphors throughout the essay to maintain coherence and authenticity. They also highlight the need for personal significance in metaphors to provide a fresh perspective, rather than resorting to generic comparisons.
🚫 Avoiding Direct Statements and Catalyst Clarity
The speaker criticizes the use of direct statements like 'this taught me' in essays, advocating instead for a more descriptive and personal narrative that shows rather than tells the reader about the writer's experiences and feelings. They also address the common mistake of lacking a clear catalyst for personal change within the essay, stressing the importance of identifying the driving force behind transformation. The speaker advises that even if external factors are involved, the essay should focus on the writer as the source of change, with a clear connection between the catalyst and the personal growth described.
🙅♂️ Focusing on Self and Avoiding Excessive Descriptions
The speaker warns against spending too much of the essay discussing people other than the writer, as college application essays should highlight the applicant's qualities and achievements. They urge applicants to be self-focused and avoid excessive or irrelevant descriptions that do not contribute to the narrative. The speaker also advises against the overuse of adverbs, which can come across as forced and elementary, recommending instead a more meaningful and concise descriptive approach that brings the reader into the writer's life and experiences.
🔄 The Pitfall of Repetitive Ideas in Essays
The final common mistake highlighted is the repetition of ideas within essays, which can slow down the narrative and bore the reader. The speaker emphasizes that every sentence and word should be essential and contribute something new to the essay. They advise against using repetitive transitions or reiterating points in different ways, which can detract from the overall impact and momentum of the essay. The speaker encourages writers to develop their ideas fully and make each part of the essay count towards a compelling and unique narrative.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Metaphor
💡Cliché
💡Direct Statements
💡Catalyst
💡Personal Transformation
💡Adverbs
💡Descriptiveness
💡Repetition
💡Narrative
💡Personal Experience
💡Common App Essay
Highlights
The video discusses common mistakes in Common App essays and provides tips to avoid them.
The creator has read 40-50 essays and identified recurring issues to share in the video.
Personal opinion is emphasized, suggesting viewers take advice with a grain of salt.
The importance of integrating metaphors throughout the essay is stressed, rather than just in the beginning and end.
Metaphors should be personal and not generic to bring a fresh perspective.
Avoiding cliché metaphors is suggested to prevent sounding like a cop-out.
Direct statements like 'this taught me' are discouraged; instead, show through actions and experiences.
The essay should be descriptive, personal, and specific to truly represent the writer.
Including a catalyst for personal change in the essay is crucial for narrative coherence.
The catalyst should come from the writer's own experiences, not external factors.
Focusing on others in the essay is a common mistake; the essay should center on the writer.
Excessive adverbs and filler words can detract from the essay's impact.
Descriptive language should enhance the narrative, not just fill space.
Repeating the same idea in different ways can bore the reader and slow essay momentum.
Every sentence and word should be essential and contribute to the essay's narrative.
The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to apply these tips to their essays.
An invitation for viewers to request more videos on essay tips is extended.
Transcripts
hey guys so recently my comment up essay
has been popping off
and doing way better than all my videos
on my channel
so i thought i would kind of ride that
wave and make another video about the
common app essay
and common mistakes that you should not
do because some of these make me want to
rip my hair out and it makes me cringe
so much
sorry guys and also the tips i came up
with that i'm going to share with you
later in this video
are tips that i haven't really seen
anyone else on youtube talk about in
their videos
so tune in for those because
they might help you a lot so even though
i stopped editing your guys's essays
i've still read quite a few of essays
like 40 or 50 essays so far
and i've seen a lot of common mistakes
present themselves and i found myself
writing the same comment over and over
again so i thought i would just make
this video
and tell you guys all at once like hit
you with those tips
and also keep in mind that all this is
my personal opinion
so take everything with a grain of salt
but also keep in mind that if i find a
cringy there's a high possibility that
your app reader and other people will
find it cringy as well
let's not stall let's just get into it
yeah
[Music]
so the first common mistake i see in a
lot of your guys's essays
is that a lot of people are trying to
half-ass their metaphors
so i don't like it when people set up
these huge elaborate metaphors in their
introduction paragraph and make it seem
like it's going to be
a significant part of their essay but
then they basically don't talk about it
or mention it again for the rest of the
essay
until the conclusion paragraph where
they just hit you with it they slide in
again with the metaphor and it's kind of
like i'm dark
and i'm like whoa where did that come
from like you didn't elaborate on it at
all
to me when people decide to use
metaphors in this way
it comes off as really forced to me and
like you're just trying to use a
metaphor for the heck of it
to make your essay a little more
interesting to the app reader
but i honestly think it does the
opposite thing where it just kind of
turns me off from your essay
so if you end up adding a metaphor into
your essay i would make sure that it's a
significant part of your essay
and it's integrated throughout the
entire essay instead of just like the
beginning and the end
that way i think it's going to be able
to maintain the flow of your narrative
and not sound so forced
since your narrative and the metaphor is
kind of intertwined and they won't be
able to work without each other
and another thing i'll add to this whole
metaphor thing i'm talking about is that
if you do decide to use a metaphor make
sure it's not a cliche and really
generic one
to me the point of a metaphor is to
bring a really fresh and new perspective
to how you're feeling slash
felt and it should be personal to you
i don't think you should just choose a
random object or something to make a
metaphor out of just for the heck of it
because you think it would fit
well with your narrative i think if you
decide to use a metaphor that object
should mean something to you personally
if you use a really generic metaphor
that everyone's heard of
it kind of defeats the purpose of the
metaphor where it's supposed to bring a
fresh
perspective people don't want to hear
the same thing over and over again where
they've read
hundreds of times and also when i read
these really generic cliche metaphors it
ends up sounding like a cop-out to me
where
they couldn't think of a good metaphor
so they just decide to use one that
someone else already came up with
and the second mistake i see a lot of
people making is they make these really
direct statements like
this taught me dot dot dot or i learned
dot dot dot i'm happy when i dot dot dot
i don't want to hear these direct
statements like avoid those direct
statements
i don't want you just telling me stuff
and telling me how you feel
i want you to show me through your words
your actions within the essay
and through personal experiences that
you had if you find yourself having to
use these direct statements to get a
point across in your essay i think you
should focus more on making your essay
more descriptive
more personal more specific and
incorporating more personal experiences
into it
so you can really show who you are
without just making
blank statements at the reader because
at the end of the day
readers are going to find your personal
experiences
a lot more compelling than you just
telling me who you are
through these statements get rid of
those direct statements right now go on
common app essay right now and get rid
of them
i'm pointing at you you need to do it
and the third common mistake i see in a
lot of essays is there's a lack of a
catalyst
and what i mean by that is in a lot of
common app essays including mine
a lot of people choose to use the
narrative of personal transformation
and a personal change that they went
through and i read a lot of essays that
follow this narrative but i found that
a lot of people don't really include
what
caused the change that they're talking
about a lot of the times they just say
something like it just wasn't the same
anymore i changed i became better
without actually telling me what caused
that change what caused them to be
better
like as a reader it's really hard for me
to believe that you just changed
overnight
just because just because you decided
that you want to be better
one night like that rarely happens
usually something pushes you
to make that personal change and going
off the catalyst point
a lot of people do end up including a
catalyst in their essay
but then that catalyst ends up being
something that's not themselves
or not coming from themselves or their
experiences
and it comes from another person or
thing
what i mean by that is i've read some
essays where people say
my parents made me dot dot dot my
parents cost me
dot dot dot losing my cat made me dot
dot dot
and they just say whatever change within
them
i think that's better than just not
including a catalyst at all but also i
think
at the end of the day the focus of the
essay should be you
even if it does have to do with that
person or that place
at the end of the day at the core of the
narrative it should come down to you
and you being the source of all this
personal change
and so an example i'm just gonna like
think of off the top of my head
don't use this hypothetically if someone
said
my fish died so i changed and now i'm
more organized
and as a reader when i hear that i'm
like first of all like
what caused like you to go from point a
of your fish drawing to point b
of being more organized i care as a
reader
more about the in-between and the
thought process
and the personal process that you went
through to get from point a to point b
rather than the actual like destination
if that makes sense
so like the way i would like frame it
would be oh my fish died because
i lost my fish food so i had to make the
personal
choice to become more organized so stuff
like that never happens again
that's a really weird example but it
kind of gets to the point of even if
another thing or person had to do
with that catalyst at the core it's
still you who made the decision to make
all these changes
i feel like i really explained that
badly but moving on
and the third common mistake i see on so
many
essays i think this might be the most
common mistake i see
is that a lot of people focus on people
that aren't them
for like the majority of their essay and
i don't understand why
they do this i cannot count the number
of essays that i read where people
spend like half of their essay like two
or three whole paragraphs talking about
someone something somewhere that
isn't them and i'm like why would you do
that
don't talk about how great your mom or
your cousin is and how they're the best
thing that's been created since life
spread
to be honest i don't really care about
them like at all i want to know how
great you
are how awesome you are and why i should
want you to attend my college
instead of your boyfriend like that's
not what i want college apps don't
follow this transitive property where if
other people in your life is amazing
then you're also amazing
like i'm not going to make that
connection i want you to tell me why
you're great
and why i should want you at my school
talk about yourself in your essay like
this is the one time where you should
just talk about yourself and be a little
bit narcissistic you know
hype yourself up don't hype other people
in your life up
of course like other people in your life
that had a significant impact on you
can be a part of your essay and i think
if you have an experience like that
you totally should but they should be at
most like one paragraph and then you
should transition
into you and talking about how great you
are
hype yourself up yeah and the fourth
mistake i see in a lot of essays is that
a lot of people
use an excessive amount of adverbs and
weird descriptions
in their essays while i was reading
essays i found that some people tried to
force descriptiveness
into their essay by saying [ __ ] like
while i sat
eagerly at my oak dining table i had a
earnest conversation with my
understanding mother about my uncertain
future while i
ate dry sourdough bread hungrily
like more than half of those descriptive
words and descriptiveness
don't tell me anything more about you
they're just kind of like filler words
where they're like
oh this makes me sound like i know what
i'm writing about like
no like i say so much that i want you
guys to be descriptive in your essays
but i want that description
to bring me into your life and this can
come in
various forms of being descriptive when
you talk about your background
being descriptive when you talk about
significant moments in your life
i want description there where i feel
like i get a clear image of those big
moments in your life i don't want to
know about your dry sourdough bread
also i'm not the biggest fan of when i
see people use a lot of adverbs like
hungrily
eagerly happily sadly
i feel like when people use a lot of
these adverbs it just sounds
really forced and really elementary to
me when i see
them just trying to add in these adverbs
to add a little pizzazz to their essays
moving on and the fifth and the last
mistake i'm going to be talking about
today that i see in your guys's
essays is repeating the same idea over
and over and
over and over again so many times
i think this might be the most common
comment i
comment on you guys's essays every
single sentence that you decide to
include
in your essay should be essential for
the narrative
and should bring something new to your
essay i really dislike it when people
just say the same thing
over and over again in different ways
under the disguise
of being descriptive and adding
description into their essay
and i've seen this a lot with
transitions where people
use the last sentence of the previous
paragraph
in a different way for their first
sentence
of the next paragraph like a random
example would be
if someone decided to end one of their
paragraphs with
something dot dot dot and i started my
first charity and then they
start their next paragraph with although
starting my own charity was very
fulfilling to me
blah blah blah like you're basically
just
saying the same thing back to back when
people use those repeats as
transitions and just in their essay in
general
it comes off as really elementary to me
and ultimately ends up slowing down the
momentum of the whole essay
and it leaves me bored like i should not
be bored even for
five seconds while i'm reading your
essay i should be constantly learning
something new about you
and when you choose to just repeat these
ideas
it just makes me kind of be like like i
already know this about you
why am i hearing it again so yeah just
don't do that get rid of those repeats
remember every single sentence
i might even say every single word in
your essay should have its place and
should be essential
for your essay to work and essential for
your narrative and after you delete all
those repeats in your essay
you'll have so many words left that you
can spend on developing your narrative
even more and developing the ideas you
already brought up
keep in mind it's not the number of
ideas you bring up in an essay
it's about how well you develop them and
how well you can portray that to the
reader and make it seem real and make it
seem like they're in your shoes
actually experiencing all these things
actually making all these realizations
you made in your life
and all these personal changes so yeah
that's gonna be the end of the video
today
and i hope you guys really enjoyed all
these tips i shared with you
and if you really like this video and
you want me to make more videos on
common mistakes and tips i see
when i'm reading your guys's essay
comment down below
like this video subscribe touch whatever
the ring
bell thing and i'll try to make more
videos
like this and i hope you guys have an
amazing day and i will see you guys soon
bye guys so destroy the evidence leave
not a trace
burn it and paper trash that way they
can deny possessing the illegal
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