<p>What do you think? On one side, they keep the tone of your essay from sounding pretentious. But on the other side, they're necessary for any "formal" piece of writing.</p>
<p>A college applications essay is NOT a “formal” piece of writing. Your essay should “sound” like you, as if you’re standing in front of the Admissions Committee reading your essay out loud. I suppose if you are a formal person and never use contractions in every day life, then you wouldn’t use them in the essay. But, if you use contractions in real life, then you should use them in your essay. Yale as some of the best essay advice out there on their website, which would apply to any college: [Advice</a> on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“Advice on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions”>Advice on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>So it’s pretentious vs. slightly too informal? I think being pretentious is one of the worst things you can do in an essay, so contractions are okay IMO.</p>
<p>You should know that those admission officers in colleges can be VERY pretentious. They wouldn’t want to read any contractions on the essays. Write this like you would write an SAT essay.</p>
<p>^^ Whaaat? Please watch the video from Yale’s very non-pretentious Admissions Officer that specifically asks for students NOT to write using overly complex sentences as you would in an SAT essay. </p>
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<p>I disagree with Peter. Adcoms want to hear your personal voice, not your overly pretentious voice. Plus, contractions help cut down the word count, something I’ll likely have a problem with.</p>
<p>I agree with the majority (so far): contractions are perfectly OK if they fit the tone of the essay. And the tone of the essay should steer well clear of “stuffy.”</p>
<p>There are few things I hate more than the writing of a teenager who sounds as if he swallowed a dictionary because he thinks using big words (or, often, misusing them) sounds “impressive.”</p>
<p>if you were MEANT to go to college, your personal voice would probably sound at least a little bit pretentious.</p>
<p>FWIW: Both my kid’s essays were filled with contractions and didn’t sound pretentious at all. In fact, I would say, that’s probably one of the reasons they were accepted – their essays made them sound human and real.</p>
<p>RE: post #8. No. If you are pretentious, your personal voice is going to sound at least a little bit pretentious.</p>
<p>Just write it in your voice, without slang, that’s what they want</p>