How to write a killer college essay

Don’t fear the blank page. With a little structure and some forward planning, essay writing doesn’t have to be scary.

That deadline is coming. You can feel it every time you check your calendar. Your semester’s been leading up to moments like this, when you finally put your learning into practice. And that’s why it’s so difficult to start college essays.

It’s daunting, but as long as you leave yourself a decent amount of time there’s no reason you can’t (whisper it) enjoy putting an essay together. This article will show you how.

You’ll learn how to approach your writing itself, how to bring in outside sources, the things you should look for while editing, and more.

First up — what exactly is an essay?

The word essay comes from the Old French word ‘essai’, meaning ‘attempt’. Any essay, on any subject, is really an attempt to make and sustain an argument. So the first order of business is deciding what argument you want to ‘attempt’ and test it out.

What’s the main drive of the argument? What are the counterarguments? Does a specialist in this area take a different viewpoint to yours? Who or what have you got to back you up? No argument is perfect, and it’s better to acknowledge alternative views than to ignore them.

When you’re starting your research and preparations for the essay, summarize the key points you want to get across, and the order you want to make them in. This will help you make a logical, organized attempt at the question or subject.

This step requires some forward planning. As any good writer will tell you, the actual drafting of a piece of work should take you less time than your research and editing stages.

So let’s talk about research.

Getting started

The research time you were planning? It won’t be enough.

It’s easy to sacrifice quality research time when you feel under pressure to get your essay written, and it can be tough work to get through sometimes. But in-depth research (well used) is the secret sauce of any killer essay.

Luckily, research is just as much about assembling what you’ve learned already and getting it on the page as it is about uncovering new information.

The rest of this article will assume you already have all the information you need to start writing your essay. But if you do struggle with organization, research or studying, we’ve published a few guides to help you out.

See our guide to organizing your learning here, and our guide to studying for exams here to get some helpful tips on any kind of college prep.

Lecture content is like gold dust

Over 80% of teaching at college happens through lectures and seminars. But most students struggle to make the most of spoken information. In fact, students usually only record ⅓ of important lecture content.

This shortfall could mean you miss valuable content from your lectures when you come to write an essay or study for a test.

Do yourself a favor — next time you’re going to class, make sure you’re prepared. Glean makes capturing, organizing and using spoken information easy. Read more about our simple note taking process here.

Drafting your essay

Write your intro and conclusion first

Your introduction and conclusion ought to be clearly worded summaries of your argument. By making a start on this first, you’ll give your work more structure.

What are the main things you want someone reading your essay to know upfront? Break down your argument and briefly describe where you’ll be taking your reader.

Your essay will feel much more authoritative and satisfying to read if your conclusion calls back in some way to your introduction. That’s why it’s important to think about how you’ll close your essay while plotting a slick intro. Plus, it’ll help keep your essay focused if you’ve already decided how it’s going to end.

While we’re on the subject of introductions and conclusions, here’s a useful tip: don’t be afraid to use the first-person. By that I mean using ‘I’ when setting up your introduction. It’s ‘you’ writing the essay, so don’t be afraid of acknowledging that.

It’s much better to write possessive pronouns and make your point cleanly than it is to wrestle with a sentence just to avoid them. For example, ‘In this essay, I will argue that…’ is a perfectly clean way to write an introductory sentence.

While we’re on the subject of your writing style…

Simplicity is key

Whoever’s marking your essay is like anyone else — they’ll appreciate good writing. Good writing isn’t about stuffing your sentences with flowery words. It’s about making a good point directly, with confidence.

When you’re putting your essay together, imagine you’re reading the text aloud to the person marking it. Now let’s also imagine the person you’re speaking to has a short attention span. If your essay starts to drift away from the point, their eyes start to glaze over and their mind wanders.

Vary your sentence lengths. Cut back on your use of the passive voice, adverbs and complex sentences with the help of tools like The Hemingway Editor. If there’s a simpler way to communicate an idea, go for it.

By writing with clarity and simplicity you’ll bring your reader along with you and make your points land much better.

If you want some more detailed advice on how to write simply and directly, there’s no better guide than The Elements of Style. It’s been used by writers in a variety of fields for decades for its blunt, practical guidance on writing with impact.

Pay attention to transitions

You’ll want your essay to be smooth to read. By creating nice segués between sections, you’re helping your reader follow you through the argument. Think about how ideas link together and don’t be afraid to point this out clearly and in simple language.

For example, when finishing a paragraph, look to sum up your point. Then, when you’re transitioning into the next paragraph, set up what you’re about to discuss. These touches will help the reader follow your thinking, but they’ll also encourage you to think critically about how ideas connect with each other and to feel confident in your argument.

Which brings me on to another point…

Write like you believe it

Which is more forceful; ‘I will attempt to demonstrate’, or ‘I will demonstrate’? It’s easy to accidentally undermine your argument by introducing hesitations or qualifications to your writing. It’s better to argue your point confidently and with conviction. You know what you’re talking about, so put it on the page!

Use quotes effectively

The best way to use quotes is to weave them naturally into the text around them. For shorter quotes, build them into your sentence ‘organically and sensibly’ to maintain the flow of your writing. For longer quotes, separate them from the rest of the text, like so:

‘A good use of quotations can add authority and substance to your argument. Make sure you properly reference your sources according to your college/school’s style guide.’ — Luke Garbutt, ‘How to write a killer college essay’ on Medium (2022)

Give your quotes space to breathe and carry your point further. A good rule of thumb here is to limit your use of longer quotes to one a paragraph or section. Shorter quotes can be used more liberally, but give yourself enough room to comment on what you’re quoting.

Make good use of sources

Some sources will be there in the background of your essay and others will be directly used in the text. The sources you want to include directly are the ones that have the greatest influence on your argument. Look for nice quotes that summarize a key point, or have a nice turn of phrase.

It’s fine to name drop your other sources, so long as you use the correct style for referencing.

You’ll need to list all of your sources in your essay’s bibliography, so save yourself some time with a free referencing app. With a number of free apps, you can scan the barcode and ISBN of every source you use, and it will create a reference based on whichever formatting style you input. You have no idea how much time this will save you!

Make no assumptions

Don’t assume your reader can read your mind. You should always take them through each point fully, even if it feels like you’re including something obvious. You don’t have to dwell on these points, but you do need to mention them.

Let’s say you’re writing a history essay on the Second French Empire. To anyone familiar with the subject, it’s obvious that Napoleon III was the emperor, but that doesn’t mean you should take that for granted. The first time you mention Napoleon III, introduce him like this:

‘Napoleon III, Emperor and foremost figure in the Second Empire, began his reign by[…]’

From then on, you can refer to him without the description.

The same rule goes for any abbreviations or acronyms. If you’re talking about the USPS, it should be ‘The United States Postal Service (USPS)’ the first time you refer to it. From then on, the acronym will do.

Finishing your essay

Edit, edit, edit

No piece of writing is ever complete on the first attempt. And even if it is, it’s probably not.

You need to hone and shape your essay before you submit it. Editing is the most critical part of the whole process. Equally important is keeping this process separate. Don’t edit while you write, as it will stifle creativity and make it more difficult to get the words out.

Write freely when you draft and let the words flow onto the page. This will give you a good amount of material to shape later on. Plus, it may unlock a more creative way to get a point across than you’d have come up with by editing while you go.

Depending how you like to work, you can either split your writing and editing by section, or leave all the editing to the end and have a concentrated go at it.

The main thing you’ll want to do when editing is look out for unnecessary words (chop them out), repetition, overlong sentences, confusing syntax, bad grammar, spelling and anything that feels awkward when reading it out (and make sure you do read your essay out loud!).

You’ll be surprised by how much cutting and rewording your essay will improve it. Be ruthless.

You’ll have to remove whole sentences (and sometimes paragraphs) from your essay that you liked to begin with. This is normal, and you shouldn’t cling onto something if it sticks out too much, doesn’t aid your argument or feels a little loose. If you’re strict and consistent, you’ll end up with a much tighter piece of writing.

And this is the best way to convince your reader of your argument.

A general rule

As you can tell, it takes time to put a great college essay together. So make sure you give yourself enough to get it done comfortably.

If you do, and if you follow the steps above, you’ll thank yourself for it when you get your grade back.

Want some more learning tips? Follow Glean on TikTok or visit our blog for more study inspiration, guides and how-tos. Got a question? Reach me at learning@glean.co