Should I indent paragraphs in my college essay?
I’ve been working on my Common App essay and I keep going back and forth about formatting. Some people are saying to indent paragraphs, and others say to just leave a line break with no indent. I don’t want it to look weird or unprofessional when admission officers read it.
When I upload my essay, it sometimes removes the indentations anyway. Does it matter if I don’t indent, or is it better to play it safe and do it? Would one way look like I didn’t put effort into my essay?
Just want to make sure my formatting isn't distracting from my writing.
When I upload my essay, it sometimes removes the indentations anyway. Does it matter if I don’t indent, or is it better to play it safe and do it? Would one way look like I didn’t put effort into my essay?
Just want to make sure my formatting isn't distracting from my writing.
3 months ago
•
54 views
Camille Luong
• 3 months ago
Advisor
This is a common question and definitely something worth clarifying before you submit! College application platforms like the Common App often strip out certain formatting, including indents and sometimes even special font choices or spacing. When you copy and paste your essay into the application text box, it’s typical for paragraph indents to disappear. The result is usually a single block of text where new paragraphs are separated by line breaks rather than indents.
Because admissions officers are used to seeing essays without indented paragraphs (just a blank line or line break between each paragraph), you definitely don’t need to worry that your essay will look unprofessional if you don’t use indents. In fact, what’s most important is clarity: admissions offices read thousands of essays, so clear paragraph separation by extra line breaks is actually easier for them to follow than indents alone—which could get lost during submission anyway.
If you want to double-check, paste your essay into the actual text box on the application platform and see how it appears. Many applicants just hit “Enter” twice to create a clear line between paragraphs, like this:
"Ever since I was eight years old, I would take apart our old toaster just to see what was inside.
When my mom would ask why, I’d shrug and say, ‘I just want to know how it works.’"
No admissions officer will judge you for using line breaks instead of indents, since that’s the standard they expect when reading submissions online. Just make sure you have clear breaks to mark where each paragraph begins, and focus your attention on your content and voice instead of the finer points of formatting. That’s what matters most!
Because admissions officers are used to seeing essays without indented paragraphs (just a blank line or line break between each paragraph), you definitely don’t need to worry that your essay will look unprofessional if you don’t use indents. In fact, what’s most important is clarity: admissions offices read thousands of essays, so clear paragraph separation by extra line breaks is actually easier for them to follow than indents alone—which could get lost during submission anyway.
If you want to double-check, paste your essay into the actual text box on the application platform and see how it appears. Many applicants just hit “Enter” twice to create a clear line between paragraphs, like this:
"Ever since I was eight years old, I would take apart our old toaster just to see what was inside.
When my mom would ask why, I’d shrug and say, ‘I just want to know how it works.’"
No admissions officer will judge you for using line breaks instead of indents, since that’s the standard they expect when reading submissions online. Just make sure you have clear breaks to mark where each paragraph begins, and focus your attention on your content and voice instead of the finer points of formatting. That’s what matters most!
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Camille Luong
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Stanford University, BAH in Urban Studies
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