Do colleges require essays to be double spaced?

When it comes to the Common App or most college application portals, the standard is actually single spacing. Unlike school essays where your teachers may require double or even 1.5 spacing, colleges are mainly concerned with content, not formatting. If you’re pasting your essay into a text box (as most applicants do), the app will automatically format it to single space, and there’s no way to change the line spacing manually.

There’s no penalty for not double spacing your college essay. In fact, double spacing is not expected unless a specific supplemental application at a particular school asks for a document upload with certain formatting requirements—it’s pretty rare, and the portal will tell you if that’s the case. The biggest thing you need to watch in the text boxes is paragraph breaks. Make sure to use a full blank line between paragraphs to help with readability, since indenting doesn’t show up in many application portals.

For example, when someone pastes their essay without including an extra line between paragraphs, the essay ends up looking like one big chunk of text, which is hard on the eyes and can distract from what you’re trying to say. Always hit ‘Enter’ twice at the end of a paragraph for clean breaks.

If any college specifically requests you upload a PDF or Word document and asks for double spacing, make sure to follow those specific instructions. Otherwise, single spacing is standard and totally acceptable. You don’t have to worry about looking careless as long as your essay is readable, well-written, and follows any specific instructions given in the application.

No one gets penalized for single spacing their Common App essay in the text box. Focus on a clear structure and your authentic voice, and you’ll be all set!