<p>I want to write my essay with a conversational tone, but I don't want it to sound un-intellectual. I want to use to-be verbs (is, are, was, were, etc.), use contractions, avoid huge thesaurus words, and so on.</p>
<p>But I don't want to sound as if I'm not capable of high-level formal writing. Know what I mean?</p>
<p>Your English grades will show that you can write. Your essays should show YOU!</p>
<p>My D had a bit of conversation in her essay, and her English teacher said it was the best one she had read in many years.</p>
<p>The advice given to me by my college counselor was to just go with what feels natural to you. If you’re a formal person, write it formally, casual, casually, etc. It’s supposed to reflect who you are. Nothing sounds worse than a forced esssay. The Middlebury dir. of admissions confirmed this.</p>
<p>I’d say be more conversational - the college essay reader wouldn’t want to read an essay that sounds pretentious or boring like too many of the other essays - would you want to read an essay where the writer sounds like he/she knows it all and uses too many huge thesaurus words? Probably not. Make yours stand out and easy to read - they will know how good of a student you are from the rest of your transcript.</p>