What format should my college application essay be in?

For the Common App essay and most online college application essays, the formatting is actually quite straightforward, so you don’t need to stress over technical details. When you paste your essay into the Common Application essay box, it automatically standardizes most formatting—so the font, size, and spacing are not things you control or need to worry about.

Here’s what admissions officers expect: your essay should be cohesive and readable, but it does not require a specific font, double-spacing, or special margins. Titles and headers are optional. Most students do not include a title unless it genuinely adds something unique or necessary to the narrative. Instead, they open with a strong first sentence and structure their essay in paragraphs, just like any personal narrative.

Admissions officers often read essays as a block of text, so simply divide your essay with paragraph breaks (hit 'Enter' twice between paragraphs). Don’t indent paragraphs, because formatting can get distorted when copying from Google Docs to the Common App. Always paste your essay into the actual application and double-check to make sure your paragraphs and breaks were preserved.

For example, when I submitted mine, I drafted in Google Docs, then pasted into the Common App essay box. My paragraph breaks transferred, but the font changed automatically to the default. I didn't include a title—just started with my opening sentence. Before submitting, I previewed the essay in the application to make sure everything looked right.

So, keep it simple: single space, paragraph breaks (not indents), and no need for fancy titles or headers. Focus most of your energy on content and clarity, not on visual design. If you want to be extra careful, paste your essay into the Common App, save it, and preview how it looks—this gives total peace of mind before final submission.