There’s no time like the present to nip cliches in the bud. The grass might be greener on the other side, but you can’t please everyone with your pithy quotes. Better to be safe than sorry when it comes to writing your essay, and don’t let the admissions officers judge a book by its cover…or an essay by its overused cliches. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger–so please, use your OWN authentic and expressive words in your essays. Unless you have, in fact, walked on the moon–in which case, shoot for the moon all you want.
Don’t use any common application essay clichés.
Inspired by the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, here are some tips for avoiding clichés in your essays.
● Never start an essay with a definition, especially for a word most people already know or a big obscure word that doesn’t have any personal meaning or connection to you. An alarmingly high number of applicants do this. It says nothing about you, it makes the essay more distant and sanitized, and it does not make anyone actually want to keep reading.
● Similarly, never start with a regurgitation of the prompt. This is also boring, commonplace, and wasteful of your precious word count.
● Overuse of big words is so common on application essays, it has become its own cliché as well. Your supreme vocabulary is not a good way to stand out.
● Be very careful starting out with a quote, especially one that is inspirational or by a famous person (Lincoln, Franklin, Jobs, MLK, Einstein, Gandhi, or almost any other famous author, philosopher, statesman, or businessman). Remember again that the essay is about you, and your own words will serve you better. There are rare exceptions where a quote has actually been very important to you. Proceed with caution.
● Using your own distinctive phrases can really make your writing pop and stand out in the reviewer’s mind. Whenever you’re tempted to use a cliche, replace it with a more specific, meaningful, personal, or even weird way of saying the same thing. These are far more memorable, creative, and expressive. They also aren’t as boring as watching paint dry reviewing trite writing supported by the rickety verbal scaffolding of cliches.
● Don’t end with a sweeping generalization about all of humanity or a trite aphorism or life lesson. No pithy quotes here either. Make sure that your ending, like the rest of your essay, is about you. Bad examples include:
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“In the end I learned more from them than they did from me.”
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“By striving to achieve greatness we can become more than we ever thought possible.”
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“Only by helping others can a person truly realize their potential in the world.”
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“I am far stronger than I knew and I’m excited to face the next set of challenges.”
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Any inclusion or permutation of the phrase “make the world a better place.”
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Any mention of shooting for the moon or landing among stars.
