I've heard different opinions on this and I’m trying to make my essay sound natural. Would using contractions in my Common App essay come off as too informal, or should I just write it the way I normally talk?
The use of contractions in your Common App essay definitely isn't too informal. Sometimes, avoiding contractions can actually make your essay sound stiff and overly academic. That being said, each essay is different, and what's important is that you feel you're expressing yourself as naturally as possible, as a huge component of a successful college essay is capturing your own personal voice. So long as you're balancing a conversational tone with a professional, polished feel, admissions officers will be engaged in your story—they certainly won't be counting the number of contractions you used!
If you want to see some successful essays that struck the kind of balance I just described, you can check out CollegeVine's blog, which has 21 examples of strong Common App essays: https://blog.collegevine.com/common-app-essay-examples. And if you want more help, remember that you can always submit your own essay to either CollegeVine's free peer essay review service, or to an expert college admissions advisor through the CollegeVine marketplace! Good luck with your writing!
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