Hear me out.
In 1997, Apple launched a game-changing advertising campaign with a straightforward, highly effective slogan: “Think Different.” Now, imagine if Steve Jobs had listened to his inner tenth grade English teacher. Would “Think Differently” have the same impact? No. The adverb is cumbersome. The slogan loses its power, its musicality, its very meaning.
So let’s talk about the virtues of bad grammar. You are expected to adhere to the rules and formalities of English in any kind of scholarly writing. But the college essay is a different animal. Telling your story is not the same as dissecting the use of metaphor in A Tale of Two Cities. To communicate something essential about yourself, you need to let your authentic voice shine. In other words, you need to sound like a person. A good rule of thumb is to write the way you talk.
Don’t get me wrong. Certain rules are non-negotiable. Be consistent with your verb tenses. Don’t use “their” when you mean “there.” Some rules, however, are made to be broken. Here are just a few
The Sentence Fragment
Don’t be afraid of the fragment! Take a look at the following passage:
“A few of my responsibilities as a Kitchen Staff member at Camp Victory include washing piles of dirty dishes, sweeping and mopping the sticky dining room floors, and hauling huge bags of trash to the dumpster, all of which leave me feeling exhausted but rewarded at the end of a long day.”
Now, let’s break this sentence into punchy (if grammatically dubious) chunks:
“Endless piles of dirty dishes to wash. Sticky dining room floors to sweep and mop. Huge bags of trash to haul to the dumpster. Welcome to Kitchen Staff at Camp Victory, where the work is both exhausting and rewarding.”
Notice how each of the writer’s work responsibilities has more heft and becomes more vivid in the second example. If you think of your essay as a musical score, sentence fragments help create rhythm and add velocity to your writing. These changes also reduce the word count, which never hurts!
The Conjunction
You’ve already met the FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. Conjunctions are useful tools for linking independent clauses gracefully. For some reason, however, proper grammar dictates that we only use conjunctions after commas or semicolons. But there are more creative and unconventional ways to use conjunctions. (See what I did there?) Let’s look at an example:
“I was always a people pleaser, but this time I had to advocate for what I needed, so I said no, and yet some part of me felt guilty for staying true to myself.”
Similar to the sentence fragment example, we’re going to break this sentence into chunks:
“I was always a people pleaser. But this time, I had to advocate for what I needed. So I said no. And yet, some part of me felt guilty for staying true to myself.”
Again, we have transformed this long and meandering sentence into something sharper and more dynamic. Each of these clauses is a different beat, a new action. Deploying conjunctions in this fashion helps the reader feel each twist and turn, each new beat. (For a more complete list of conjunctions, look here)
The Contraction
While not technically incorrect, contractions have no place in formal academic writing. But in your college essay? Go for it!
It’s the difference between:
“It is a well-known fact: I am a loyal friend. I am also highly competitive. Just ask Ethan. He will regale you with epic tales of our decade-long friendship and good-natured academic rivalry.”
And:
“It’s a well-known fact: I’m a loyal friend. I’m also highly competitive. Just ask Ethan. He’ll regale you with epic tales of our decade-long friendship and good-natured academic rivalry.”
Okay, so the contractions are not strictly necessary, but don’t they make this passage’s tone slightly more conversational.
Again, I return to this point: your essay should sound like you. Chances are, you don’t use the King’s English when you talk to your friends, or your siblings, or your parents. Like Apple’s famous slogan, your college essay can – and should – break the rules in service of the message you want to communicate. Just don’t tell your English teacher.