<p>I know the main point of the essay is to let the people reading the application get to know who you are, but still, how much emphasis is put on the academic part of the essay, such as grammer, organization, word choice, etc., all those things that are emphasized by teachers in class?</p>
<p>In other words, how formal should the essay be? Formal, like a paper you're passing in for a history class? Or casual, like a post that you're writing for your blog, for instance? Am I allowed to do things like, use the word "things", or start a sentence with "or" like I just did, as long as the essay still makes sense?</p>
<p>The tone of your essay can be informal, but your grammar, spelling, etc. needs to be immaculate. Occasionally breaking minor grammar rules, such as your example of starting sentences with the word “or”, is fine.</p>
<p>Essentially, you should try to write something that is relaxed and informal in tone, but not sloppy. A blog post-style essay can work. Just keep your use of slang and ridiculous abbreviations in check. lulz!</p>
<p>This question comes up a lot because most high school students have never been asked to write something like their application essay before. You’re used to writing super formal pieces like term papers or super informal pieces like messages to friends. This is a hybrid. Good luck.</p>
<p>YES. Just what I wanted to hear. Thank you. And actually, I’m the other way around: I’m not used to writing super formal pieces (I never got the hang of it; always got 85’s on my school essays) but I love writing informal pieces.</p>
<p>As CollegeAteam said, it’s all a matter of balance. You’ll get it after a few revisions.</p>