What are the best options for scanning my college essays for errors before submitting?

You're smart to want a thorough check on your essays—mistakes can definitely slip through after staring at the same pages for weeks!

Grammarly is a solid starting point for catching spelling, basic grammar, and some punctuation errors that standard spellcheck misses. It's also good at flagging awkward phrasing or overused words. However, for college essays, you want to be careful: sometimes Grammarly's suggestions make writing sound generic or less personal. Always review its changes instead of accepting them blindly.

For a closer look at style or sentence flow, Hemingway Editor is worth trying. It highlights lengthy sentences, passive voice, and readability problems, which can make your writing clearer and more concise. For example, if you have a sentence like, "Participating in debate club has greatly improved my public speaking and critical thinking skills," Hemingway might suggest breaking it up or simplifying for punchiness.

If plagiarism concerns you, tools like Quetext or the free version of Turnitin can give peace of mind by scanning for overlapping phrases with content online. However, if you wrote everything yourself, you usually don't need to stress about unintentional plagiarism.

Beyond online tools, the best polish often comes from human eyes. Print out your essay and read it aloud—that's great for catching awkward phrasing, missed words, or tone issues. Also, ask a trusted teacher, advisor, or friend to read over your essays. Sometimes, they'll catch errors or inconsistencies that software won’t pick up. For example, I once spotted a student repeating the same idea in two different paragraphs—something spellcheck can’t catch!

To sum up: use a combination of Grammarly (or a similar tool), Hemingway, plagiarism checkers if needed, and—importantly—real people. Multiple rounds of review are key for making your essays truly shine. Good luck finishing up!