Abbreviations allowed on Common App essay?

College Essays
1

<h2>This is my first thread, so please tell me if I am doing something incorrectly!</h2>

<p>So..Abbreviations in the essays. Are they allowed? This is for my personal and my topic is a person who has made an impact on your life.</p>

<p>The context is along the lines of:</p>

<p>"I would've been content with myself.
I would've forgotten that good is not good enough."</p>

<p>There is a sort of repetition-theme going on in my essay, and when I edit it so that 'would've' reads 'would have,' it sounds a bit formal and less personal.</p>

<p>I know that the "grammatically correct" way is 'would have', but I am not sure whether I should keep it or edit it. </p>

<p>Thank you everyone for your input! I greatly appreciate all the CCers' (is that what we call ourselves?^^) efforts taken into answering this question.</p>

2

<p>i suppose u should edit it…</p>

3

<p>Do whatever you need to get the message across the best way. Both are fine.</p>

4

<p>Both the contraction “would’ve” and the spelled out “would have” are grammatically correct. “Would have” is more elegant and more appropriate for an essay. Having said that, it’s your essay.</p>