Important question on college essays. please answer as soon as possible.

<p>I've finished all my college essays, and i've got to proofread them. but i didn't know whether there were some unwritten rules about essays. like i know that we have to be grammatically perfect, or else the essay's gonna look bad. but can we use contractions like 'don't' or 'i'm' etc? or is that not usually done?
anything else?</p>

<p>I would use contractions because it gives your essay your own voice; write as you would speak (politely, of course), so you’ll be hard pressed to find a 17 or 18 year old that never uses contractions when he or she speaks.</p>

<p>exactly what i thought, but i just wanted to make sure.
thanks.</p>