Top Mistakes to Avoid in College Essay

Errors in Essay Content

For an essay to be perfect, you need a captivating introduction, a thoughtful main body, and a strong conclusion. In this case, it will impress the reader. You have to respect the following recommendations:

• always use concrete examples and facts when writing an essay. A few paragraphs that relate to the topic in a certain way will not produce the necessary result. If, however, you identify keywords and supplement them with concrete facts, the essay will turn out to be completely different;
• think through the thesis statement. If it is well formulated, the reader will immediately clear what exactly you plan to argue and how you want to do it;
• back up any ideas you have in the text with examples. If you don’t understand what it’s all about, look up great examples on the essay writing service, which offers a lot of work. This will allow you to get into the essence and avoid elementary mistakes;
• write a conclusion that emphasizes the overall purpose and importance of the theme at hand. You have one last chance to get your message to your readers.

Follow these simple tips, and the work will be done at the highest level. More specifics, less general information. Readers want details on the topic, not blurbs.

Stylistic Mistakes When Writing an Essay

Even if the text is interesting and ultimately reveals the theme, stylistic errors can spoil the whole impression. Here are the top mistakes to avoid in college essays:

• word repetition. Using the same turns in adjacent sentences reduces the value of the piece;
• a large number of passive structures. When you use them, it makes the sentences harder to read and comprehend. Give preference to the active voice to bring clarity and directness to the text. Stick to the 80/20 rule. Here, the first value indicates the percentage of active forms. The second refers to passive forms;
• excessively long or short sentences. It is necessary to maintain a balance. Otherwise, the text will be incomprehensible. When long sentences are used, it seems confusing, and the predominance of short forms does not reveal the essence of the idea.

The introduction of informal phrases is also unacceptable. This is due to the fact that the essay is academic work. Slang and non-standard verbs look ridiculous in the text.

Structural Mistakes in Writing Essays

Errors in structure confuse the reader, distort the meaning of what is written, and make it much harder to perceive the text. Try to avoid them so as not to spoil your work. Some of the most common problems are:

• mistakes in sentences. We are talking about unfinished forms. For example, some students put in a separate sentence listing something. It does not make sense, and there is no complete thought. It is necessary to add such forms to the previous sentence using punctuation.
• mistakes in the textual structure. The main negative point is often the incorrect division into paragraphs, which ultimately distorts the meaning of what is written. Any essay should have an introduction, at least two paragraphs of the main text, and a conclusion.

Pay attention to what and how you write. This will allow you to immediately identify gaps in the structure of a sentence or text and correct them promptly. In this way, you will save a lot of time on the subsequent revision of the essay.

Grammar in the Text

A good essay should not only be meaningful. It is equally important to grammatically correct the text. Some of the most common student errors include:

• problems in the use of the noun. Repeat all the rules that you have passed. This applies to countable and uncountable nouns. You also need to know the nuances of using articles;
• the peculiarities of pronouns. They always agree with the noun. But some pronouns have a form only in singular or plural;
• mistakes in the use of the verb form. Main and auxiliary, infinitive and modal verbs – you must know everything about their use.

Be careful when putting together sentences. This will help you avoid basic mistakes. Accordingly, you won’t have to waste time on corrections.

Punctuation in Essays

Nobody neglects punctuation when writing an essay because it is necessary for the connection and separation of sentences. If you put the wrong punctuation marks, the readers will be confused when reading the text. Some of them include the following:

• put a comma after the use of the introductory adjective sentence;
• don’t forget the dots so as not to distort the meaning of the text;
• use a comma when other words are present to detail a sentence (hopefully, fortunately, etc.).

If difficulties arise, it is necessary to repeat the relevant rules. You can find many educational resources with detailed explanations and examples on the Internet.

Conclusions

When designing an essay, the meaning, as well as the structure, is important. Grammar, style, and punctuation are equally important. Any mistakes made in the text can distort its sense and worsen the perception of the information. To eliminate problems with your finished essay, you need to check it thoroughly. To achieve this, it is recommended to gradually do the work, not putting it off for the last few days. Otherwise, you won’t have time to check it.