To preserve the word count?
Yes, but you’ll find that good editing can always get you below the limit.
It is widely acknowledged that contractions such as “I’m” or “I’ve” are not professional. Though, the contraction that will work is the genitive of “'s” (i.e. America’s army or college’s departments)
It is fine to use contractions for the personal essay, which is meant to be informal. However make sure it isn’t ruining your prose or making anything sound awkward and forced. I agree that you can usually find lots of ways to edit a teen’s essay for extraneous stuff. I have removed 250 words easily without losing the message.
I think it’s okay to use contractions here and there, but don’t let them dominate your piece.
Contractions are unequivocally okay on app essays–main and supps. “Formal” tone is inappropriate for essays like these–I often tell students that if they write “thus” or “therefore,” they’re doing it wrong. That said, don’t use illegal contractions–no “should’ve” or “couldn’t’ve” haha.
@marvin100 Wait, should’ve is an illegal contraction??
It depends. I just wrote an essay myself in which I had to remove about 200 words. The word “don’t” and the words “do not” essentially mean the same thing but they may seem strange in certain contexts. Don’t overuse contractions. Just use them if they don’t detract from your writing.
@pmmywest - perhaps I was overzealous, but many excellent usage guides list it among contractions to avoid.
@marvin100 hm I never knew that, I’ll have to keep it in mind