<p>So that question is as stated. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>My college counselor was REALLY strict about contractions. She despised them. So I guess try to avoid them!</p>
<p>If you completely avoid idioms and contractions, then your essays sound like they were written by… well, the kind of person who doesn’t use idioms or contractions. And IMO, that’s usually not the message you want to send.</p>
<p>Just write in a way that shows your voice. I think stupid rules like “always avoiding contractions” really stop people from expressing who they are in their essay. If this was an essay for English class I would say sure avoid contractions, but essays for college are supposed to express your personality. Write in a way that feels natural to you.</p>
<p>Thanks guys!</p>
<p>hahah I guess I ended up sounding like a robot. Oh well! Good luck!</p>
<p>The college application essay is all about your voice. If you speak without idioms or contractions, don’t use them. You’re not writing a thesis.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t use contractions and you should avoid idioms like the plague. Prepositions are also things that you should avoid ending sentences with. Also, make sure you double-check to make sure that you haven’t accidentally any words out.</p>
<p>Huh, I used so many contractions because that way, it’s more informal and natural. But I guess that’s just for me, and if some colleges don’t like that, I’m sort of screwed haha. But I do agree that idioms are a big no-no because there’s the danger of making it look cliche.</p>
<p>For the most part, college essays are expected to be written in a pretty formal style, and formal writing doesn’t use contractions. It’s not just being picky either, it’s just a standard for most fields, academics being one of them. There are some who may be concerned that writing in a formal style invariably sounds too rigid, but if you’re a good writer, you should be able to use a formal style while still using whatever tone you desire.</p>
<p>As for idioms and figurative language: If you’ve seen a metaphor in print before, don’t use it.</p>
<p>If you speak with idioms and contractions then why the hell wouldn’t you use them? You are not writing a thesis/research paper. You’re writing a personal statement. Write in your own voice. </p>
<p>I despise individuals who write stiltedly, when they no darn well that they do not normally speak in such a manner. <— See the difference b/tw my first few sentences, and then this last sentence? :)</p>
<p>Here are my thoughts on it.</p>
<p>Idioms: NEVER use. Idioms are cliches, and you want to avoid those at all costs.</p>
<p>Contractions: If it’s used for stylistic or expressive purposes, then it’s fine. College essays are more semi-formal instead of strictly formal, so some rules can be bent. It can arbitrarily shave a few words off the word count too. ;)</p>
<p>You learn writing rules so that you can become a great writer, once you learn all the rules you can then break them to create different effects, so as for contractions, they can be used as a rhetorical technique. As for idioms, unless you are using them in a meta-fictional way (self aware of your own use of an idiom), which I doubt you plan on doing, then steer clear of them.</p>
That prepositions thing is bunk. Ending sentences with prepositions has always been grammatically correct for both formal and informal writing. It’s a huge myth that even some English teachers believe thanks to confusion about English vs Latin grammar.
I suggest writing your essay in your own voice, but avoid slang. Contractions aren’t verboten, but I’d be careful about using many idioms. A few idioms won’t hurt, as many are basically similes or metaphors.
I would NOT add idioms to sound “more American” if a student is ESL or international. That could be a problem. But you can see from this list, a lot of idioms are used frequently and without thought…
http://www.fluentu.com/english/blog/essential-english-idioms