college essay not to do

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College essay don’ts: 37 Things to Avoid In a college essay

Knowing what not to write about in a college essay is just as important as knowing what to write about!

This post is all about college essay don’ts , including college essay topics to avoid and how not to write your college application essays. 

It’s so important to know what NOT to write about in your college application essay. Whether you’re crafting your essay for the Common App or writing shorter college-specific essays, you need to know how not to write a college essay. 

Choosing the wrong topic for your college application essays could mean that you don’t get admitted to your dream school or you miss out on scholarship money. 

Since you really only have one chance to get it right, you need to know what topics to avoid in your college admissions essays, general college essay don’ts, and what other pitfalls to avoid when writing your college essays.

Essay writing may feel overwhelming and stressful, but knowing what not to do will help you write a great college essay!

What not to write in your college application essay

So you know exactly what not do in college admissions essays, here are 37 college essay tips about college essay don’ts. Follow this advice to know what not to write about in your college essay!

1. Don’t restate the Essay prompt

Start your essay with a hook. Start with dialogue. Start by setting the scene.

Don’t start by restating the essay topic! The reader knows the essay prompts, so just start telling your story. 

A great story will immediately grab the attention of the admission officers and make them want to keep reading!

2. Don’t try to be funny in your college admissions essay

There’s a good chance that what you think is funny may not be funny to the admissions officer. And even if your admissions officer thinks it’s funny, the dean of admissions may not agree.

Clever writing that naturally tells a funny story will get you further than trying too hard to make everyone laugh. 

3. Don’t swear

You might not mind vulgar language, but many people do. It will come off as tasteless and crass. Simply put, curse words should not be part of your college admissions essay. 

4. Don’t just tell the reader what you think

Tell the reader what you did, how you felt, how you changed—not just what you think. Admissions officers don’t want to read about what you think in the abstract.

They want to know what has happened to you in life, how that’s affected you, and what you did as a result. 

Write an engaging, interesting story that shows the reader how you’ve grown and what you’ve learned.

5. Don’t try to Appear perfect

It’s okay that your life is messy and you don’t have it all together. It’s okay that you’re not super organized and you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up.

Your college essay doesn’t need to be about how awesome you are (really, it shouldn’t be!). It just needs to be about the real you. Remember, your personal essay for college should be just that—personal! 

6. Don’t brag

Your achievements are all listed on your resume.

Writing about how great you are, how you saved the day, or how you’re a hero to others is not going to make a positive impression on the reader.

Leave the bragging to the people who wrote your letters of reference. 

7. Don’t emphasize status

Avoid topics that emphasize your financial privilege. Voluntourism trips to aid people living in poverty in far-flung areas of the world is a key example of this.

Don’t write about going on a mission trip to a third world country to volunteer to help the less fortunate and how you learned how privileged you are. Just don’t. 

8. Don’t lie

Don’t inflate your accomplishments. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.

If you write something dishonest in your essay, it won’t match the other parts of your application. If you were found to have been dishonest when writing your essay, you will not be offered admission at that college. 

9. Don’t reveal too much

If you have faced personal challenges, like addiction, mental health struggles, or learning disabilities, those struggles are part of you. You should feel proud of overcoming them.

But your college admissions essay is not the place to share your most deeply personal experiences. 

Some college admissions officers may read about your challenges and want to welcome someone with your tenacity and spirit to their campus.

Unfortunately, most admissions officers will read about your challenges and worry that you will face similar issues at their university. 

Many colleges choose not accept applicants who have demonstrated past mental health issues. This might not seem fair, but it is reality. Don’t hide your true self or be dishonest, but carefully consider how much you want to reveal in your admissions essay about your private struggles. 

10. Don’t write about illegal activities

It’s a safe bet that most colleges do not want to admit students who have a history of participating in illegal activities.

Even if you plan to talk about drug use, alcohol use, jail time, or committing crimes as a way to show growth and discuss lessons learned, illegal activities show a lack of maturity and questionable judgement.

Writing about criminal behavior will not reflect well on you as a candidate for admission. Illegal activities make bad topics for college essays.

11. Don’t summarize your resume

This is one of the biggest college essay don’ts! Your college essay is your opportunity to tell the college admissions office who you really are and what really matters to you.

Your resume already lists your activities, and your transcript details your grades. Your college essay isn’t the place to review these facts; it’s your chance to stand out by telling your story. 

12. Don’t tell a general story

Be specific. In fact, be very specific. Focusing on the details of your story will help make your college essay unique so that it stands out.

A good college essay will tell a story that could only have been written by you—no one else. 

Instead of telling a biopic story of your life, focus on one aspect of your life—your beliefs, a meaningful experience, a key event—that explains who you are and what matters to you. 

13. Don’t write about cliché topics

Avoid writing about the sports victories and defeats. Winning a big game or losing a championship game might mean a lot to you, but sports are common topic and best avoided.

Don’t write about overcoming an academic setback or a romantic breakup.  

14. Don’t write about something controversial

You don’t know who will be reading your college admissions essay, and they might not agree with your views on controversial topics.

Moreover, your reader might not appreciate how you approach a sensitive topic. You might appear close-minded and unempathetic. 

The last thing you want to do is make the admissions officers reading your essay think you would bring discord to the campus community.

15. Don’t undervalue the small stuff

Great essays can be crafted from the small, personal details of daily life.

Don’t underestimate what interesting essays can be written about your morning routine, your favorite family recipe, your relationship with your sibling, or what you do on a snow day. 

In fact, some of the most memorable, best essays have been about a random item, food, or daily routine.

16. Don’t go negative

Criticizing other people, your current school, or anything else will probably just make a bad impression on your readers.

Don’t whine about your life. Negativity says more about you and how you perceive the world around you than it does about anything else. Certainly don’t criticize the college you’re applying to!

If you do want to write about negative experiences you’ve had, quickly move on to discussing what you’ve learned or how you’ve grown as a result of those experiences.

17. Don’t be pompous

Never assume that you know better than your readers or that your approach is the only way.

Don’t tell your reader what they should think. Avoid making generalized value judgements. 

18. Don’t go completely off topic

Don’t try to stand out by submitting a poem or creative writing sample.

Write a thoughtful, well-crafted essay about yourself, just like they asked for.

Show that you respect the school admissions committee’s request and can follow directions. 

19. Don’t ignore the prompt

College admission essay topics are designed to allow you a lot of freedom in how you answer. Craft a story that tells something about you, within the framework of the prompt. 

Just double check that your essay answers the prompt, to make sure you didn’t veer off topic as you wrote and edited the essay. 

Also know that you can write about whatever you’d like to . In your essay writing process, if you find that the first prompt you chose isn’t working out, choose a different one and start again.

20. Don’t get the tone wrong

Your college admissions essay is not an expository essay, formulaic and devoid of warmth. Nor is it the right time for you to use all the fancy words you’ve been studying for the SAT.  

Your college admissions essay should be engaging, show your personality, and sound like you—a teenager reflecting on your life thus far. 

21. Don’t write a trite conclusion

If your essay has done its job, you shouldn’t need to sum it all up for the reader in a neat little final sentence.  

If you have shown your reader what you’ve learned, how you’ve grown, or who you are, you don’t need to say it explicitly at the end of your essay. 

The conclusion is often the hardest part of the essay to get just right, so don’t worry if it’s hard to find the perfect words. Take a break from writing it and come back in a few days to get a fresh perspective on what you’re trying to say.

22. Don’t wait until the last minute to Write

Start writing your college admissions essay weeks, if not months, before its due. Senior year is an incredibly busy time, so it’s a great idea to get started on your college admission essays as early as possible.

Leave plenty of time to think about what you want to say, revise and edit, and finalize the essay. You’ll be amazed at how your essay can improve if you allow ample time to work on it.

If you’re going to apply early decision or early action, consider starting to work on your main essay the summer after junior year, before your senior year even starts, or early in the fall of senior year.

23. Don’t ignore the word count

You don’t want to write too much or too little. Aim to be within a few words of the word limit. Express yourself clearly and concisely.

24. Don’t repeat your resume

When you’re writing your personal statement essay, don’t just repeat your high school resume.

Your personal essay is your chance to talk about an aspect of your personality or life experiences that can’t be found anywhere else in your college application. 

The list of courses you’ve taken (and your grades) tell about your academic interests. So there’s no need to turn your essay into a list of your academic achievements!

Your extracurricular activities show what you’re interested in and how you use your time. If you want to discuss how your extracurricular activities have been formative experiences for you, focus on one particular example. Don’t re-list all your volunteer experiences!

Your personal statement essay should reveal something about you that doesn’t show up in the rest of your application. 

25. Don’t write about an “example” topic

If you have read some amazing examples of college essays, and you’re thinking that you could write on that same topic, don’t.

Chances are, if your English teacher pointed out those examples, or you found them via a Google search, every other high school senior (and every school admission officer) has seen those essays too! 

Instead, dig deep and write your own amazing personal statement !

26. Don’t copy and paste

It’s completely fine to use the Common App to submit your personal essay to every school on your list (as long as they accept the Common App, of course). 

But for each college’s specific essays, tailor your essay to each school. Include specific details about each college that make you want to go there. And make sure your responses are appropriate to the culture of each college. 

If you do copy and paste your essays, be sure the essay doesn’t refer to the wrong school!

27. Don’t overuse the thesaurus

Everyone gets stuck using the same words over and over again, and it’s fine to check a thesaurus when you’re writing. 

But don’t use big words just in an attempt to impress the college admissions officers. Don’t use words you don’t really understand to try to sound smart.

For a great college application essay, write naturally in your own voice and let your true personality show. 

28. Don’t plagiarize

If you’re submitting someone else’s college essay as your own, you’re giving up the chance to share your unique story with the admissions office.

You’re also risking an automatic rejection if you’re caught!

29. Don’t be fake

Use your essay to tell the admissions officers what you want them to know about you.

Don’t try to guess what the admissions officers would like for you to say or try to be someone you’re not. 

Don’t invent a tragic event in your past, claim to have done hours and hours of community service you haven’t done, or exaggerate any aspect of your life.

Be authentic, write with your own voice, and craft an essay that stands out from the other applicants.

Simply take your time to craft a thoughtful essay that tells your personal story. Talk about your unique perspective on one specific experience in your life, using your authentic voice.

30. Don’t write a school essay

Your college admissions essay is not a five-paragraph expository essay that you would write for English class.

A winning college essay should have a beginning and an end, but the part in the middle should tell a good story, not make an argument in three points. 

The expository essay style of writing might be what your English teacher wants, but it makes for bad college essays.

For a college application, a well-written essay will examine your personal growth, your unique experience in life, and the different perspectives through which you see the world. And you should do this by crafting an intriguing story about a specific moment or experience that was significant to you.

31. Don’t Avoid feedback 

If you’re feeling stuck, feel free to ask someone else—a teacher, parent, family member, or friend—to read your essay. Getting feedback on your entire essay is the best way to get a sense of how admissions officers will respond to reading it.

Feedback does not mean that they tell you what to write or how to write it.

Feedback should mean getting input from someone else can help you learn where your essay veers off point or where you need to dig deeper to tell a better story. 

32. Don’t skip editing

Please allow enough time to write AND edit your essay. Ideally, you will write a first draft of your essay, then edit it, then get feedback, then edit it again, then write a final draft (then proofread it—see below). 

Expect to write at least three or four, and maybe many more, drafts of your college application essay. Your essay will improve with each round of editing.

The essay writing process can be time consuming, but in the end you’ll have a strong essay to share with college admissions offices, so it will be worth it!

33. Don’t overedit

What? Didn’t I just tell you to edit?

Yes, absolutely. Just be sure that after you’ve shown your essay to trusted readers and you’ve made your edits, your story still remains.

The essay should still have your voice and should tell the story you want to tell. 

34. Don’t skip proofreading

After you make your edits and write a “final draft,” you might want to click send and submit your essay. But not so fast! 

Take time to do a final proofread of your essay.

Better yet, ask a teacher, college counselor, or someone with excellent grammar and spelling skills to proofread your essay. Having a fresh set of eyes on your essay will help ensure it is error-free. 

35. Don’t just rely on Spellcheck

It’s really important to have an actual person proofread your essay.

Spellcheck and other editing software won’t necessarily catch grammar errors, typos, or poorly structured arguments.

It’s always a good idea to trust the final proofread of your essay to a person, rather than technology. 

36. Don’t submit your essay at the last minute

You never know when a website will get glitchy!

Don’t take a chance that the Common Application or an individual university’s website won’t act up at a crucial moment. Do your best to upload your college essay at least a day before it’s due!

The admissions process is stressful enough without adding in technical errors. Don’t risk missing the deadline by procrastinating!

37. Don’t submit an incomplete essay

When you’re in the Common App website or a specific college’s application portal, and you attach your admission essay, scan it quickly before hitting the submit button.

Be sure you attached the correct file or that the complete essay transferred when you copied and pasted it into the online form.  

It won’t matter if you write a great essay if you don’t submit it correctly!

Final thoughts on college essay don’ts and what not to write in your college essay

Personal essays are a key part of the college application process. College admissions counselors, especially at smaller colleges, use college essays to learn more about the applicants applying for admission at their school. 

An amazing college essay might not make up for bad grades or a lack of extracurriculars, but a poorly written essay may push your application into the reject pile. This is especially true now that test scores are usually optional.

Successful essays allow admissions officers to learn about your personal qualities, your take on global issues, and how you might contribute to campus life.

Writing a great college admission essay is the most important thing you can do to make a great impression on the admissions team.

After looking at so many college applicants, test scores, GPAs, and awards all blend together. It’s the personal essays that stand out when admission counselors are deciding which high school seniors will be accepted.

So, it’s worth taking your time to write the best college admissions essays you can.

By avoiding all these college essay don’ts, you’ll know what not to write in your college essay. 

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Graduate of Brown University, higher ed professional, and mom of three. Sharing everything I’ve learned about college with you.

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the college entrance essay: what not to do.

College Admissions

What’s the point of the essay?

Put yourself in the admissions officers’ shoes. They’ve got hundreds, maybe thousands of data sets to review, one for each potential student. Imagine the big conference table where these folders are spread out under the fluorescent lights. You’re just one folder in a pile, and the essay is their one window into who you are.

What about the rest of my application?

Sure, grades show you can study and that you care about academic success; test scores show something of critical thinking skills; extracurriculars and volunteer work show you’re “well-rounded.” But everyone knows that these things, for most college-bound students, are standard. People have been telling you they’re “important for college” since you were in 8th grade, and admissions officers know that. So there’s a limited amount even a 4.0 GPA and a perfect score on the SAT can say about your readiness for many aspects of college.

College isn’t high school 2.0

See, college isn’t just classes and parties; it’s a transition between childhood and adulthood. Plenty of kids with high GPAs and great test scores can have a hard time in college due to the lack of supervision and the less defined reward structure. In other words, high schoolers with determined parents can be coaxed or bribed into hundreds of hours of AP studying, varsity sports practice and all kinds of SAT prep. Those kids might build great applications that get them the acceptance letters they want. But none of that stuff will help them once they’re on campus.

In addition to possessing academic prowess, students who get the most out of college know what they want and are willing to work for it. They are mature, self-motivated, curious, and able to think outside the box. In short, they’re (mostly) ready to be responsible adults.

Why do different schools have different prompts?

Different schools are looking for different variations on this ready-for-adulthood theme; Juilliard wants students who apply this maturity and determination to their art. Tiny liberal arts schools want students who will bring their passions to enriching the community on campus. Ivies want students who are clearly head and shoulders above their peers.

But all colleges want students who, as alumni, will enhance their alma mater’s reputation, whatever it may be. And the admissions essay is unique in its ability to convey much of the information that could convince a school you’ll be able to handle the job of succeeding, not just in school, but in life. To that end, here are our top 3 tips on what not to write in your college admissions essay.

#1: Don’t write about the easiest thing

High schoolers have a bad reputation for being shallow . Adults tend to think of them as Facebook-obsessed, smartphone-dependent text-monsters who do whatever (and only) what their friends do. Along with these charming characteristics, teenagers are also seen as closed minded and self-obsessed. The essay is a chance to prove definitively that you are not one of these teenage whiners who thinks only of themselves, and one way to do that is to really put some thought into your topic.

In other words, don’t write about the first thing you think of, or the thing you think you could most easily tailor to the prompt. Let’s look at an example: one of the 2014-2015 Common Application essay prompts  is, “Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure.  How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?”

If you ask the average high schooler this question, some of the most common answers will be not making the team, not getting a desired grade, or losing the student government election. These are easy kinds of failure to talk about; they are the most obvious. But you want to show that you understand all the things failure can mean: disappointing someone you love, doing something you know is wrong, giving up when you could’ve persevered. Some kinds of failure are painful to think about, but hiding from painful feelings is exactly what teenagers are expected to do. Be unexpected. Think about the prompt from multiple perspectives and try to make it your own.

#2: Don’t write about something lots of kids have done

This one might seem obvious, but let’s examine it using another prompt from the current Common App: “Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.” Again, do not write about the most obvious things: graduating to Eagle Scouts, your Bar Mitzvah or your first job (unless you have an amazing twist on those old tales).

Even events that may seem less common than the ones above aren’t: thousands of kids each year write essays about their mission trips, their parents’ divorces, and moving to new towns or schools. Maybe it seems like nobody at your school has done it, but that doesn’t mean kids at other schools all over the country aren’t doing it right now. Do a little research, give it some thought, and reach for an essay that will make the admissions counselors think, “oh, right, that’s the kid who was in the circus for a year.”

#3: Don’t write about something that happened to you, write about something you did

This one is less about your topic and more about the way you frame it. Let’s examine it using another Common App prompt: “Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content.  What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?”

This might seem like an impossible prompt to answer with something you do, and that’s why I chose it. When most people think of the word ‘content,’ they think of relaxing or lounging in a private space. But content actually means “in a state of peaceful happiness,” or “satisfied with a certain level of achievement, good fortune, etc., and not wishing for more.” Peaceful, here, doesn’t mean restful: it means untroubled, complete. This state can easily be attained through doing.

See, they don’t really care about the place or environment you’re describing. They care about how your answer reflects your personality, maturity, and ability to think and write creatively. Note the question “What do you do or experience there?”

So while a ton of students will answer this prompt with “my bedroom,” or “the hammock in the garden,” they’re losing ground by not considering the other varieties of contentment: a strong tennis player practicing forehands, a musician picking out strings for his guitar, a volunteer working with infants in the hospital nursery. Don’t worry about seeming weird or being wrong; the point isn’t to “do it right,” as it is in so many high school courses. The point is to communicate something unique and deep about yourself.

#4: Consider the Bigger Picture

The essay is only one part of the college application.  Other parts include your GPA, extracurricular activities, and SAT / ACT score.  If you're late in junior year or already in senior year though, you don't have too much leverage to increase your GPA and activities -- those have already been set by your high school career.

The only two things you can affect at this point would be the essay, which you should write well, and your SAT / ACT score.  Be sure to ensure your SAT score is good enough or ACT score is good enough .  If not, seriously consider retaking it, as even a couple of weeks of study can boost your admissions chances a lot.

For more information on admissions essays, see these resources:

New York Times lesson plan for Common Application essay prep

Essay Tips from the Admissions Office at Lewis & Clark

We at PrepScholar Online SAT Prep aren’t just SAT experts, we’re also admissions experts. If you liked what you read above, subscribe to our blog to the right to keep updated on the information we’re sharing not just with our customers, but with the whole world.

Laura has over a decade of teaching experience at leading universities and scored a perfect score on the SAT.

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Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

College admissions essays are an important part of your college application and gives you the chance to show colleges and universities your character and experiences. This guide will give you tips to write an effective college essay.

Want free help with your college essay?

UPchieve connects you with knowledgeable and friendly college advisors—online, 24/7, and completely free. Get 1:1 help brainstorming topics, outlining your essay, revising a draft, or editing grammar.

Writing a strong college admissions essay

Learn about the elements of a solid admissions essay.

Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes

Learn some of the most common mistakes made on college essays

Brainstorming tips for your college essay

Stuck on what to write your college essay about? Here are some exercises to help you get started.

How formal should the tone of your college essay be?

Learn how formal your college essay should be and get tips on how to bring out your natural voice.

Taking your college essay to the next level

Hear an admissions expert discuss the appropriate level of depth necessary in your college essay.

Student Stories

Student Story: Admissions essay about a formative experience

Get the perspective of a current college student on how he approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about personal identity

Get the perspective of a current college student on how she approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about community impact

Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

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College Essay Dos and Don’ts

Universities now base over 50% of admissions on the application essays. We’ll help you crack the code.

Writing college application essays is one of the most intimidating parts of the admissions process. They’re also one of the most important components of your application.

Your essays are your best chance to address admissions officers directly. Essays help you stand out from thousands of other applicants, showcasing your unique story and “pitch” to the college of your dreams.

We’ve compiled a list of dos and don’ts to help you craft a killer college essay :

What not to do in your college essay

• Don't list your accomplishments. While admissions officers want to hear about how great you are, accomplishments don’t reveal you (listing them may reveal cockiness or boastfulness). Thoughtfulness, introspection, and even vulnerability, reveal you. Besides, there is already a place on the application to list your accomplishments.
• Don't try to cram too many themes or subjects into an essay . Keep it simple. Oftentimes, the best essays are the ones that manage to tell a straightforward but effective story on one theme. One is plenty!
• Don't try to write something you think colleges will like. Readers can tell when writing is overly calculated or even worse—made up. Don’t try to write about something that didn’t really happen to you! Be authentic. Think about something that was meaningful to you and tell the story.
• Don't tell your story to an admissions officer ! Tell your story to a smart friend. Many students freeze up and write in a stiff, overly formal way when they imagine an admissions officer reading it. When you speak to friends, it’s honest and authentic, even if delivered in simple language. This voice will always make for a better essay than anything overly verbose or academic.

• Don't “go for laughs” because you heard it helps (which it can). Comedy, especially in writing, is very tricky and subjective. A dash of wit is very welcome (it shows authentic personality and intelligence), but writing a full-on humor essay can fall flat.
• Don't write your essay at the last minute. If you’re having trouble getting started on your essay, make a list of topics, brainstorm with friends, and write a terrible first draft. Good writing takes time to achieve, so get started as early as you can. It doesn’t matter if your essay is bad at first—the more time you have, the more you’ll be able to improve it.
• Don't write about clichéd or common subjects . Such as the death of a pet or winning the big game. Sometimes students have the misguided idea that schools expect a particular kind of essay — a tale of overcoming adversity, a valuable lesson learned, a meaningful exchange with different cultures, etc. If it sounds too familiar, it’s a cliché.
• Don't repeat yourself. Repetition in writing can work well if it’s intentional. You see this a lot in poetry, for example, to create rhythm and to linger on an idea or image. Because your college essay has a word limit, however, keep it as concise as possible. Unnecessary repetition is a tell-tale sign of sloppy writing, so make sure your essay is as tight as it can possibly be.
• Don’t waste words. For example, instead of saying, “I remember when I was five,” simply say, “When I was five.” Be careful about unnecessary adverbs — words ending in -ly, like quickly or abruptly. Too many words like just, very, really, etc. can weigh down your writing. Have a teacher or tutor edit your essay for wordiness if you’re having trouble with this.
• Don’t underestimate the power of a killer essay. It bears repeating that the essays are a major factor in college admissions. They separate one student from others with similar applications for better or worse. The more colleges connect with you on the page, the more they fight to admit you.

What to do in your college essay

• Tell a story about something you care about. When we talk about what we love, our passion and uniqueness comes out and readers connect with who you are at your best.
• Dig for that topic. Brainstorming and finding your best idea are some of the most important parts of the essay process. A sterling topic inspires you to speak with honesty and enthusiasm - but it doesn’t have to be a blockbuster in which you discover the 10th planet. Often, the small, nerdy topics can inspire your best writing, like shopping at Costco . We at Ivy have many writing prompts and worksheets to help you!
• Bare your soul... judiciously. Some of the most powerful college essays are about a personal crisis, family hardship, illness, or depression. If you choose a deeply personal subject, make sure you give the reader the sense that you've come through it and are better or stronger for it. But if that isn't the case, it may not be your best material — schools want to know that you will come to college well-prepared and ready to give it your all.

• Make sure the essay is about you, not someone else. For example, sometimes students write about someone they care about and end up writing more about that person than themselves. In this case, focus on how that person inspired your own values, goals, and strengths. Remember: colleges read your essays to learn about you ; you are the star of your essay!
• Find your own style. Some college essays have dialogue; some have none. Some are narrative-driven; some are contemplation-driven. Some tie into academic interests, and some illuminate a unique aspect of your life and background. There is no right style. A note about “creative” essays, such as an essay made entirely of dialogue, or written from the perspective of your dog. Some schools love students who show such daring and originality and others are more traditional and might look sideways at it. Reach out to admissions coaches and counselors for guidance on what your dream school is looking for.
• Show don’t tell. Admissions readers want a vivid image of you. If you pick up your favorite novels, you’ll notice scenes and sharp, specific details that pull you in. Write in sensory details (what you see, hear, feel, smell, etc.) and avoid generalities and summary — shape moments that will stick in your reader’s mind well after they’ve read your essay!
• Get feedback from people you trust. Strong writing takes helpers! However, choose your advisers carefully, especially when it comes to choosing your topic. Oftentimes parents think they know their kids better than their kids. This may be true, but what parents usually don’t know is the college admissions process. Share your essay with your college counselor, English teacher or one of our admissions coaches - folks who know about college admissions. Lastly, stick to your gut and make the final decision on your own.
• Keep revising! We cannot stress this enough. Your essay might look great to you after just a first draft, but trust us—there’s always room for improvement. We tend to see a strong essay needs a minimum of four rounds of revisions before a final polish, which is why our College Essay Bootcamp and private coaching helps students develop and refine their essays leading up to a final, application-ready version. The secret to good writing is rewriting.
• Go “big” on your story’s theme at the end . And leave your reader with a meaningful note to take with them. Take the theme out of the confines of your narrative and look at it in other areas that excite you: at the level of your whole life, your family, your town, your country, and the world. College is about next-level thinking. Show the readers you’re already doing some.
• Proofread carefully for grammar and spelling. Once you’ve written, read and re-read your essay dozens of times, it’s going to feel impossible to catch your own grammatical or syntactical errors. That’s why it’s so important to have others proofread your essay, not just for spelling mistakes, but also for style and content. If possible, have an English teacher or dedicated tutor proof your essay.

Need help with your college essay?

Reach out! We have several essay writing tutors and our popular College Essay Bootcamp that can help you knock your essays out of the park and present the best of you to the college of your dreams.

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Articles & Advice > College Admission > Articles

What NOT to Do in Your College Application Essay

Writing a strong college admission essay can be challenging, but avoiding these common pitfalls will help you create an essay that stands out.

by Tina Brooks Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions, Pomona College

Last Updated: Apr 14, 2023

Originally Posted: Jun 18, 2018

Applying to college is a marathon, not a sprint. But don’t sweat it—you’ve been training for years by pushing yourself in rigorous classes, taking tests, retaking tests , running for leadership positions, striving to make varsity, finding a part-time job, and more. Maybe you’ve had a stumble or two: a final you bombed, an election you lost, a grade you wish was better. But don’t let these things bring you down. It’s all part of your training!

Writing your application essay

Your college application essay presents an opportunity to reflect on your journey to this point and show admission committees that (a) you are ready and prepared for college and (b) you’ll be a great addition to their first-year class. The personal essay is an integral part of your college application. Your grades, list of activities, transcript, and recommendations only tell part of your story. They show admission committees what you’ve spent time on in high school and how you’ve performed academically. But there’s more to your story, right? The college essay is a window into how you think, what you value, what you’ve struggled with, how you approach problems, and other unique and interesting aspects of you as a person—aspects that aren’t necessarily obvious in the rest of your application.

So why are so many application essays boring, generic, or disappointing? And is there a way to stand out among the hundreds or thousands of essays each admission officer reads each year? While there’s no denying that writing a strong college essay is a challenge, there are some common pitfalls you can easily avoid, giving yourself better odds of creating a stand-out essay.

Related: How to Write a Great College Admission Essay, Step-by-Step

What NOT to do

Don’t focus on one thing.

When I see from an applicant’s list of activities that they’re big into one activity, like soccer—that they’ve played for the school and club team, that the precious minutes they aren’t playing soccer are spent as a volunteer soccer ref—I say a silent prayer: please don’t let the essay be about soccer. And you know how many times my prayers are answered? Never. It’s understandable: you’re dedicated to soccer and spend a lot of time on it . But you know what? I already got that from the application. Do I need to read an college essay to further understand that? Probably not. Is anything else important to you? What big questions interest you? Remember, this is an opportunity to give the reader insight into who you are as a person.

Related: College Admission Essay Topics: Best and Worst

Don’t write what you think they want to hear

You imagine the person reading your essay has a fat, red marker poised to circle any weaknesses, doubts, or inconsistencies. So you write about yourself like you’re a classic hero on a journey, meeting each obstacle with optimism and overcoming each one with hard work. At the end, the sun is setting over a beautiful ocean. Yawn.

In reality, the person reading your essay is human. They’ve been a student, and they’ve read a lot of essays. They can identify reality from fiction. Give them the reality. A strong essay goes deep, showing the writer has spent time reflecting on their experiences.

Don’t reveal your deepest, darkest secrets

Okay, I know I said get real, but this is the flip side of being too shallow. Being too deep is equally problematic. You may have faced some very serious problems or challenges in the past few years. That may be the focus of your essay, but it may not be the best topic if you cannot demonstrate that you are ready for college. Have you resolved the issues? Are you in a better place? If you are leaving doubts about your readiness for college in the reader’s mind, then you should consider a different topic.

Don’t keep your essay to yourself

It’s personal, it’s something you’d rather not share, and you think no one has time to read it anyway. Nope—not letting others see your application essay is not a good decision. Everyone, from teachers to professional writers, needs another pair of eyes on their work. Ask a friend who is a strong writer to  help you spot grammar problems . Ask your older sister to read for clear content. Ask a teacher for his opinion. If their feedback is in conflict, it’s your decision what to revise, but it won’t hurt to consider a few readers’ viewpoints. Then read your essay aloud. This is a great way to catch mistakes your eye tends to glide right over.

Related: 15 Mind-Blowing College Essay Tips

By giving yourself enough time to brainstorm different ideas, reflect on your experiences, and write multiple drafts, you have a great chance of writing an essay that will enhance your application and show the reader why you would be a welcome addition to a college community.

Find more great writing tips in our Application Essay Clinic .

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What If I Don’t Have Anything Interesting To Write About In My College Essay?

What’s covered:, what makes for a good college essay, how to write a dazzling college essay, will your essay make or break your college application.

College applicants are constantly told that in order to be attractive to admissions committees they need to stand out—but how can you stand out when you live a pretty ordinary life? Lots of students worry that the events of their everyday life are too boring or clichéd to be the topic of a really good essay.

That being said, there’s no need to worry! Your college essay doesn’t need to be about an extraordinary experience you’ve had. Rather, it should depict you as extraordinary. “Uninteresting” topics actually make great college essays because the topic itself doesn’t carry the essay—the student’s individuality does.

Read on for tips on how to write a college essay about an “uninteresting” topic that still shows off your personality, values, interests, and writing skills.

The purpose of your college essay is to humanize yourself to admissions officers so that they can see the ‘real you’ behind the grades and test scores you’ve submitted.

Our article about awesome essay topics gives five structures for a good college essay (though there are many more!):

• A unique extracurricular activity or passion
• An activity or interest that contrasts heavily with your profile
• A seemingly insignificant moment that speaks to larger themes within your life
• Using an everyday experience or object as a metaphor to explore your life and personality
• An in-the-moment narrative that tells the story of an important moment in your life

As you might notice, only one of these essay topics references anything exciting, extraordinary, or unique. Set aside the idea that you need to write about something dramatic and unusual. Unusual experiences are not what is most important to admissions officers—rather, it’s important to position yourself as someone that an admissions officer would like to see at their university.

Some things that make for a bad college essay include:

• Not answering the prompt
• Stretching a prompt so that your answer doesn’t make sense
• Writing about a controversial issue, particularly in an irreverent way
• Showing prejudice
• Writing about a clichéd topic
• Writing about anything that advocates disrespect for authority—this can be anything from insulting a teacher to doing an illegal activity
• Assuming the opinions of your reader

Beyond these boundaries, you can pick any topic you want. It’s how you write about the topic that matters!

Read on for our advice on writing a compelling essay that offers a window into your personality and life experiences.

Our guidance for writing a dazzling essay about an “uninteresting” topic involves:

• Picking a value or fundamental truth about yourself that will humanize you to admissions officers and tell them something important about yourself
• Identifying an experience that exemplifies that value or fundamental truth
• Writing a thoughtful essay that uses your “uninteresting” experience to say something interesting about yourself

1. Get the Ball Rolling

There are many different practices you might find useful as you start brainstorming your college essay. These include freewriting, listing, outlines, and more. That said, don’t feel restricted by brainstorming exercises. Remember that they’re meant to start the process and get the juices flowing. Write down anything and everything that springs to mind—who knows what it could turn into?

Sometimes simple questions can open students up and reveal what is important to them. Here are some questions that might help you brainstorm:

• What’s the last news story you read and found interesting? This question can help you identify an issue that you are passionate about or a cause that matters a lot to you.
• What is your proudest accomplishment so far? What about it makes you feel proud? This question can reveal what you consider most important about yourself, which is likely something you find important in life.
• When have you been the most nervous, and why were you nervous? What was the outcome of the situation? This could be anything from an important performance to standing up for an issue you care about. People’s fears can be an indicator of what they value.
• What’s the most recent topic you researched on your own just for fun or self-improvement? Have you found yourself going down a rabbit hole of Wikipedia articles recently? Your interests are important to you and say a lot about you.
• What have you learned from the community you grew up in? What do you value about that community? Your individual history and family history are very important factors in who you are as a person.
• When have you most recently changed your mind about something important? If growth is important to you, admissions officers want to hear about it.

2. Pick Your Value

If you aren’t going to have a flashy topic, you need to make sure that you use your “uninteresting” topic to say something interesting about yourself. When the admissions officer finishes reading your essay, they should feel like they know you better than when they started reading. So what are you going to tell them about yourself?

Your value or fundamental truth about yourself doesn’t necessarily need to be positive, but neutral/negative values will probably need to be accompanied by self-aware reflection throughout your essay.

Values and fundamental truths can be things like:

• I have a growth mindset
• Family loyalty is very important to me
• Giving gifts that people will treasure is important to me
• I don’t like to be like everyone else
• Embarrassment is a major fear of mine
• I don’t like seeing others in pain
• I am super curious
• I always like to be busy
• I don’t like making mistakes
• Having fun is important to me
• I’m a people pleaser
• Self-care is important to me

3. Pick Your Experience

You will want to pick an anecdote, experience, or example that can serve as a channel through which you can communicate your value. Finding significance in a small incident can be incredibly compelling for your readers. On the other hand, you could explore the meaning of something that you do every day or every week. You can even simply muse on one relationship in your life that speaks to your value. Once you have chosen an experience, you have your topic!

Some “uninteresting” essay topics with interesting implications could be:

• Making dinner with my mom on Fridays allows me to see how matriarchal strength has been passed down in my family
• Volunteering at my local community center is how I take care of the natural caretaker in me
• Going to the mall with my best friend is important to me because choosing which stores to go into is structured spontaneity, and I need structured spontaneity
• Making cards for my friends’ birthdays started as a way to save money, but I really enjoy how it fuses technical and artistic abilities in a unique way
• Singing Disney show tunes in the car is when I feel most relaxed because people around me put a lot of pressure on me to grow up fast and sometimes I miss being a kid
• Going to the hospital to visit my uncle after his surgery was uncomfortable for me because I love others so strongly that it truly hurts me to see them in pain
• Sleeping with my same stuffed animal every night makes me feel safe, which is important to me because my sister’s health issues cause me anxiety and it’s nice to have something stable to rely on

Some final notes on choosing your essay topic:

• The topic you initially like the most may not be the one that allows you to write the best possible essay. Be open to trying something different.
• You don’t need to commit to a topic right away. If it becomes clear after you start outlining or writing that your initial plan isn’t going to work as well as you would like, there’s nothing wrong with altering your topic or starting over with a new topic.

If you still feel stuck, we recommend you take a look at the school-specific supplemental essay questions presented by the colleges to which you’re not applying. One of these prompts might spark an idea in your mind that would also be appropriate for the colleges to which you are applying. Check out the Essay Breakdown posts on the CollegeVine blog for a convenient way to look at this year’s essay questions from many different competitive schools.

4. Make Your Experience Shine

Once you’ve selected a topic, you’ll need to figure out how to develop an essay from it that is technically skillful, compelling to the reader, and true to the vision of yourself that you’re working to portray in your application. Remember, the value of your essay is much more in how you write about your experiences than it is in what experiences you write about.

To write a truly effective college essay, you’ll need to focus not just on depicting your chosen experience, but also on expressing your personal experience in an interesting manner. The experience is simply your scaffolding. The focus of your essay should be what that experience says about you—or what you make it say about you.

When writing about an “uninteresting” experience, you will want to be reflective, be self-aware, and show maturity in your view of your experience. Focus on communicating your thoughts and emotions in a way that evokes emotion in your reader and makes them feel connected to you.

Details are also important to pay attention to while writing your essay, as they’ll bring life and context to your story. Vivid and evocative details can turn your “uninteresting” experience into a relatable and interesting scene in your reader’s imagination.

With skillful writing, powerful word choice, and a good sense of how to develop a fragment of an idea into a longer piece of writing, you can make any topic—no matter how “uninteresting” it may seem—into a mature exploration of your values and a showcase of your skills as a communicator.

It depends . A brilliant essay can’t make up for severe deficiencies in your academic qualifications , but it will still have a significant impact, particularly at smaller and more competitive schools.

If you’re “on the bubble” for admissions, an essay that makes an admissions officer feel like they know you could give them a reason to accept your application. On the other hand, an essay that’s carelessly written, inappropriate, or full of technical errors will hurt your chances of admission, even if you have great qualifications.

If you finish your first draft of your essay and are still worried that your “uninteresting” topic will break your college application, we recommend that you get feedback. Sometimes it can really help to have someone else determine whether or not your voice is shining through in your work. Feedback is ultimately any writer’s best source of improvement!

To get your college essay edited for free and improve your chances of acceptance at your dream schools, use our Peer Review Essay Tool . With this tool, other students will tell you if your essay effectively humanizes you.

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Last updated March 21, 2024

Every piece we write is researched and vetted by a former admissions officer. Read about our mission to pull back the admissions curtain.

Blog > Common App , Essay Advice > How NOT to End a College Essay (and What You Can Do Instead)

How NOT to End a College Essay (and What You Can Do Instead)

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Kylie Kistner, MA Former Willamette University Admissions

Key Takeaway

If you’ve ever read the last page of a book, gasped, and slammed it shut, then you know the effect a good or bad conclusion can have on a reader.

Conclusions are one of the most challenging but critical parts of a college essay. Getting it right can be tricky.

College essay conclusions require special attention because of the high stakes. Write one wrong, and you’ll leave a bad taste in your admissions officer’s mouth. But write a great one, and you’ll leave them awe-struck and ready to admit you.

So let’s dive into what a conclusion is and go over the best (and worst) ways you can write one.

What’s the point of a conclusion?

A conclusion, well, concludes.

Before discussing the point of a conclusion, we should briefly revisit story structure basics.

Most story arcs you’re familiar with look like this:

• A beginning that lays out the scene and characters.
• A “rising action” that moves the story forward and develops the central conflict.
• A climax where a pivotal moment occurs.
• A “falling action” where the central conflict is resolved following the climax.
• A conclusion where all remaining questions are answered and the author reflects on the meaning of the story.

Similarly, in a college essay, a conclusion serves an especially important role. Your conclusion will be the last part of your essay that admissions officers read before moving on. You want it to pack a punch and leave them with a great impression of you.

When conclusions go awry, it’s usually because they’re focused too much on summary. Instead of summarizing, your conclusion should gently bring your story to a close. It’s an opportunity for you to wrap up any leftover conflict and do intentional reflection and meaning-making.

So what does that actually mean? Think of it as the “so what” paragraph. While you’re not likely to say “my essay matters because of x, y, and z,” your conclusion will drive home your theme.

Let’s take a brief example. If your essay is about what a problem-solver you are, then you might picture admissions officers saying, “That’s great. So what?”

While that would be a rude question, it’s a helpful thought exercise. In response, you might say something like, “My problem-solving matters because I want to use my engineering degree to address real-world problems.” Ah ha! You’ve found meaning.

Now you can write a conclusion that drives home the idea that you’re a problem-solver who wants to help your community. An admissions officer will leave your essay with a clear and positive sense of your strengths.

That’s why conclusions are important.

How long should your conclusion be?

You have some flexibility when it comes to the length of your college essay conclusion. Some conclusions are only a sentence long. Others take up a 3-5 sentence paragraph.

The length of your conclusion will be determined by the amount of detail or reflection you’ll need to wrap up your essay and reflect on its meaning.

There are two main errors students make when deciding how long their conclusion should be.

They write a short conclusion simply because they’re cutting it close to the word count.

They write a long conclusion because they’re trying to jam-pack it with information that actually belongs in the body of their essay.

Most conclusions are fairly short and sweet, but they need to be long enough for you to meaningfully reflect. Too short, and you risk not saying enough. Too long, and your conclusion loses its punch. Finding the balance is key.

How NOT to end a college essay

Before we jump into some good ways to end your college essay, let’s briefly go through some bad ways. The following four approaches are common ways students choose to end their college essays, but they don’t work very effectively because they don’t serve the ultimate purpose of a conclusion. Instead, they’re quick-fix conclusions that actually end up detracting from the essay.

Your conclusion should not…

1. start w ith a literal conclusion.

“In conclusion, I found that…”

Please don’t write “In conclusion….” Transitional phrases can be very helpful, and the phrase might work in other kinds of writing. But in college essay writing, “In conclusion…” usually signals that you aren’t actually sure how to transition your essay to your conclusion. It also shows a lack of maturity in your writing style because the phrase is often (though not always) used by beginning writers early on in their craft.

Instead of literally writing “In conclusion,” just begin your conclusion. Make sure you have a logical transition from the previous paragraph, and get right to it.

2. restate what yo u’ve already said.

“This essay has explained why I…”

The reader has already read your essay. They don’t need a play-by-play at the end. If an admissions officer notices that your conclusion is restating what they’ve already read, then there’s a good chance that they’ll quickly skim through it and move on. They probably won’t get anything new from it, and it’ll be like you didn’t write anything at all.

If you feel compelled to restate what you’ve already said, it may be because you want to drive home your theme or main point. That is a perfectly reasonable thing to do in a college essay. Instead of restating every single point, focus in on the most significant and go deeper in your reflection.

3. go meta.

“Now that you’ve read this essay, you understand…”

There’s a time and a place to reference your reader, but a college essay conclusion generally isn’t it. Doing so draws the attention away from your own story and points it outward to the reader. You want admissions officers to be thinking about you, not themselves.

The easiest way to fix this issue is probably to just eliminate it. Going meta likely serves no true purpose in your essay, so try getting rid of it and returning instead to the point you were originally trying to convey.

4. lack a conclusion at all.

You’d be surprised how many college essays trail off into the Common Application void without truly wrapping things up.

Reading an essay without a conclusion is like having the power go out mid-binge watch. Admissions officers are left wondering what happened and why. They wonder what you wanted them to get from your essay, what you see as your most important takeaways, and why they should admit you.

To avoid leaving your admissions officers in the dust, try out the following strategies.

4 Effective Ways to End a College Essay

So now you know what not to do. You even have a few tips for correcting any mistakes you may have already made.

But we still need to discuss the right way to approach your conclusion. Let’s go over four effective strategies.

These strategies are good ways to end any personal essay, but they are especially good in college essays because they maintain sight of the purpose of a personal statement. They encourage you to write creatively, reflect meaningfully, and convey your strengths with purpose.

1. Callback

Many college essays are organized around specific themes. One fantastic way to end a college essay is by returning to an event, metaphor, or idea that appeared early on in the essay. This approach is effective because it brings the essay full circle. Often a callback will highlight the writer’s changed perspective: whereas they began the essay looking at something one way, they end the essay having gained a new outlook.

When I returned home from my trip, I raced to my flower pot. The flowers were in full bloom. Over the two months I was away, we both underwent significant transformation. Now, as I take on this new challenge, I’ve realized how much I’ve grown, too.

This conclusion contains a callback to a flower pot that presumably made up part of their introduction. It effectively uses the flower as a metaphor for growth and allows the writer to reflect back on how they have changed over the course of the essay’s story.

2. Looking to the future

Concluding an essay by looking forward is a great way to demonstrate how the strengths you write about in your essay will serve you in college and beyond. Admissions officers read college essays with an eye toward how a student will do in college. By ending your essay with a forward-looking perspective, you can make that job easy for them.

With all my effort, I raised over $10,000 for my local charity. Now that I’ve seen how much that money has helped my community, I can’t stop chasing that feeling of accomplishment as the donation amount ticks higher and higher. What will I fundraise next?

By emphasizing the student’s love for fundraising, we learn a few things from this conclusion. We see that the student is a very skilled fundraiser and that they want to use their skill to help their community. The final sentence also gives us a sense of forward movement, a kind of momentum that the student would be likely to bring to their college campus.

3. Return to a strength or value

Since college essays should be all about strengths and values, ending your essay by explicitly returning to them is also a good idea. By leaving your admissions officers with a discussion of your strength or value, you emphasize its importance. You communicate exactly what you want them to know about you before they move on to the next application.

People like to joke that only two things in life are certain: change and taxes. But I like to add a third. Change, taxes, and my art. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, I’ll be making art. And it won’t be any old art. It’ll be art that means something, art that moves people. Like change or the IRS, I’ll be right here waiting and creating.

This conclusion is spunky and to-the-point. It returns to the student’s strength—their artistry—and emphasizes why their strength is important. By the end of the conclusion, we get a solid sense of the student’s personality, and we’re very clear on the fact that they interact with the world through their art.

4. Pointed reflection

Some conclusions are only about intentional meaning-making. This option is especially good for skilled writers who can make their reflections poetic. Concluding with a pointed reflection also ensures that you leave your admissions officers with the specific ideas you want them to take away from your essay. These kinds of conclusions show a maturity of thought and perspective—always good strengths to show in your college applications.

I’ll always remember that fishing trip with my grandpa. The creak of his old red pickup, the musty smell of my borrowed fishing vest, the sun reflecting off the water—all of it is seared in my memory as the best day of my life. Now that he’s gone, I go fishing alone. As I tie on my fly, I think about what he told me: walk slowly so you don’t startle the fish.

This conclusion reflects on the writer’s relationship with their grandpa. The imagery engages us in their reflection, and we also get a sense of what’s at stake. The last sentence boasts a good metaphor that presumably has something to do with the rest of the essay. It wraps things up and ends on a positive and creative note.

Key Takeaways

Your college essay conclusion is really important. It’s the final chance you have to make a lasting impression, so use it wisely.

It may take you several drafts to get it right, and that’s okay. Once you land on something you like, ask family, friends, teachers, or counselors their opinion on it. Crowdsourcing reactions to your conclusion can help you get a sense of how an admissions officer might react. You’ll be empowered to adjust your conclusion to evoke the exact response you want admissions officers to have.

Need more conclusion guidance? The Essay Academy has a step-by-step college essay writing curriculum awaiting you.

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Can you trust 2024 election polls on Donald Trump and Joe Biden? Here's how to cut through the noise.

Love them or hate them, political polls aren’t going anywhere. As the 2024 presidential election kicks into high gear, the internet will be flooded with surveys tracking the horserace between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Keeping track of the numbers can be daunting: Who's ahead in national polls? Who's ahead in state-level surveys? Figuring out which numbers to pay attention to – and whether any of it actually matters – can be even more challenging.  

Luckily, the USA TODAY Network has got you covered. Here’s a refresher on why polls matter, whether you can trust them and what to look out for this year.  

What do polls tell us about the election?  

Think of polls as quick snapshots rather than crystal ball readings.  

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

They don’t necessarily predict the results of an election. Rather, they’re used to gauge how people feel about a race during a specific period. Pollsters may ask questions about the future, but surveys have more to say about the voters' current temperature.

Polls also tend to have a short shelf life. Public opinion can shift quickly, meaning that the results of polls are often only a reliable measure of the state of a race during the time they were taken. 

A survey taken two months ago won’t reflect the state of a race today, and a poll fielded tomorrow won’t tell us who is going to win the presidential election in November.

However, that doesn't mean polls captured at the beginning of a campaign cycle don't matter. The insights from early polls tease out the major issues voters are thinking about that could shape the race.  They also help trace the trendlines of how a candidate is performing – whether they’re gaining traction, stagnating or losing support. 

Pollster John Zogby likened the importance of looking at early polling to checking benchmarks while trying to reach an exercise goal.  

“Am I going to get on the scale the day before to see how I did?” said Zogby. “No, I get on the scale every so often to say what am I doing? How am I doing? What am I doing right?” 

Conducting polls early in a race and often throughout the course of an election allows political scientists, journalists and the public to track trends and spot major inflection points in campaigns.  

Beware of two-candidate polls  

Not all polls are built the same. The way a survey is designed, from how questions are worded to the demographics of the participants chosen, can influence the accuracy of its results.  

David Paleologos , director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said political polls are most accurate when they replicate as closely as possible the questions and options voters will see on their ballot.

For instance, he said that polls on the 2024 presidential election should include choices beyond the two major party candidates – Trump and Biden – because most ballots will contain third-party and independent candidates who will garner some support.  

“If the polls only show a binary choice, between Trump or Biden, you're not getting the full picture,” Paleologos said.

He pointed to close margins in critical swing states, including Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia, during the 2020 election as an example. Trump lost in those states by fewer votes than Libertarian Party candidate Jo Jorgensen received.  

If Jorgensen had not been in the race, the results in those battlegrounds, and possibly the outcome of the election nationally, could have looked markedly different, Paleologos said.

The Libertarian Party hasn’t yet chosen its candidate for the 2024 election. But early polls that include the party and other independent candidates as options are likely to more accurately show how disaffected voters are looking at their options, he explained.

Suffolk University and USA TODAY have a partnership collecting polling data and insights.

Who's being polled?

Another factor that can impact a poll’s accuracy is the sample population surveyed. Polls randomly select a small sample of people designed to represent the broader views and attitudes of a larger population. But every organization uses different methodologies to create their samples.  

For instance, some election polls take the temperature of the general population, while others only include active voters or likely voters. They also may weigh demographic information, such as the ratio of Democrats to Republicans, differently.  

In the 2024 race, Zogby, author of the forthcoming book "Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should," suggested that the most accurate polls include only likely voters, the pool of people already planning to cast a ballot in November.

“A likely voter today may not be a likely voter on October 31,” Zogby said, but capturing these voters allows political scientists to better understand the Americans who will choose the next president.

Should I pay attention to national polls or state surveys?

Pollsters were lambasted in 2016 for projecting that then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would win the election over Trump.

But national polls , which are supposed to reflect the popular vote across all states, were technically right. Overall, Clinton won nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump.  

So, what went wrong? Many analysts overstated Clinton’s lead in national polls, and few organizations conducted state-specific polls in former Democratic strongholds, such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, that Trump was able to capture. His wins in those states ultimately landed him the electoral college victory.  

That’s not to say that national polls are inferior to state polls, but you should think of them differently.

“National polls are more valuable to understand what the issues are impacting likely voters,” Paleologos said, while state polls better represent the horserace.

He and other polling experts told USA TODAY that Biden needs to lead Trump by three to four percentage points in a national poll to be tied with the Republican in the electoral college . That's because large liberal-leaning states like California and New York tend to tilt the results of national polls in Democrats’ favor, whereas the "electoral college these days skews Republican," Zogby said.

In other words, a national poll showing Biden and Trump tied would tell a similar story to a swing state poll that shows Trump leading Biden by a few points.  But generally, experts warn against comparing national and state surveys, which are built off of different methodologies, against one another.

Can you trust the polls?  

Mostly. Because polls are analyzing a myriad of shifting factors, they'll always have some level of uncertainty baked in, regardless of the specific election. Organizations also don’t collaborate on what states they plan to poll, or when, which means there’s always potential for blind spots, like in 2016. 

Some political observers rely on poll averages, such as a tally from Real Clear Politics. These are generally reliable, but they can miss trends.

But when interpreted properly, polls often provide an accurate portrait of the state of an election. 

“There are folks that will say, ‘Oh, you missed the election by two points,’” Zogby said. "Well, two points – that showed the ballpark of what was going to happen.” 

And the more polls there are, the easier it is to evaluate the race.  

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David French

Colleges Have Gone off the Deep End. There Is a Way Out.

By David French

Opinion Columnist

I had my head in a law book when I heard the drums. That was the sound of the first campus protest I ever experienced. I’d come to Harvard Law School in the fall of 1991 as a graduate of a small, very conservative Christian college in Nashville. Many of my college classmates had passionate religious and political commitments, but street protest was utterly alien to the Christian culture of the school. We were rule followers, and public protest looked a bit too much like anarchy for our tastes.

But Harvard was different. The law school was every bit as progressive as my college was conservative, and protest was part of the fabric of student life, especially then. This is the era when a writer for GQ magazine, John Sedgwick, called the law school “ Beirut on the Charles ” because it was torn apart by disputes over race and sex. There were days when campus protests were festive, almost celebratory. There were other days when the campus was seething with rage and fury.

That first protest was in support of faculty diversity, and it was relatively benign. I walked outside and followed the sound of the drums. A group of roughly 100 protesters was marching in front of the law school library, and soon they were joined by an allied group of similar size from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. I watched as they danced, sang and listened to speeches by student activists and sympathetic professors. That first protest had an angry edge, but it was also completely peaceful and endlessly fascinating to a kid from a small town in Kentucky who’d never seen a drum circle before.

But things soon got worse, much worse. Protests got more unruly, and student activists got more aggressive. The entire campus was in a state of conflict. In Sedgwick’s words, students were “waging holy war on one another.” Small groups of students occupied administrative offices, and angry activists shouted down their political opponents in class and often attempted to intimidate them outside class. I was shouted down repeatedly, and twice I received disturbing handwritten notes in my campus mailbox in response to my anti-abortion advocacy. My student peers told me to “go die.”

Watching the protests and experiencing the shout-downs changed the course of my career. I was both enthralled by the power of protest and repulsed by the efforts to silence dissenters. Given the immense cultural influence of American higher education, I agreed with the Supreme Court’s famous words in the 1957 case Sweezy v. New Hampshire : “Teachers and students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise, our civilization will stagnate and die.” Those words, combined with my own negative encounters at Harvard, helped define my legal career. From that point forward, I would defend free speech.

It’s been more than 30 years since that first campus protest, and over that time I’ve seen countless protests, I’ve defended countless protesters — and I’ve even been protested against at several schools. In the course of those cases and confrontations, I’ve learned that the issue of campus protest is remarkably complex and that campus culture is at least as important as law and policy in setting the boundaries of debate.

There is profound confusion on campus right now around the distinctions among free speech, civil disobedience and lawlessness. At the same time, some schools also seem confused about their fundamental academic mission. Does the university believe it should be neutral toward campus activism — protecting it as an exercise of the students’ constitutional rights and academic freedoms but not cooperating with student activists to advance shared goals — or does it incorporate activism as part of the educational process itself, including by coordinating with the protesters and encouraging their activism?

The simplest way of outlining the ideal university policy toward protest is to say that it should protect free speech, respect civil disobedience and uphold the rule of law. That means universities should protect the rights of students and faculty members on a viewpoint-neutral basis, and they should endeavor to make sure that every member of the campus community has the same access to campus facilities and resources.

That also means showing no favoritism among competing ideological groups in access to classrooms, in the imposition of campus penalties and in access to educational opportunities. All groups should have equal rights to engage in the full range of protected speech, including by engaging in rhetoric that’s hateful to express and painful to hear. Public chants like “Globalize the intifada” may be repugnant to many ears, but they’re clearly protected by the First Amendment at public universities and by policies protecting free speech and academic freedom at most private universities.

Still, reasonable time, place and manner restrictions are indispensable in this context. Time, place and manner restrictions are content-neutral legal rules that enable a diverse community to share the same space and enjoy equal rights.

Noise limits can protect the ability of students to study and sleep. Restricting the amount of time any one group can demonstrate on the limited open spaces on campus permits other groups to use the same space. If one group is permitted to occupy a quad indefinitely, for example, then that action by necessity excludes other organizations from the same ground. In that sense, indefinitely occupying a university quad isn’t simply a form of expression; it also functions as a form of exclusion. Put most simply, student groups should be able to take turns using public spaces, for an equal amount of time and during a roughly similar portion of the day.

Civil disobedience is distinct from First Amendment-protected speech. It involves both breaking an unjust law and accepting the consequences. There is a long and honorable history of civil disobedience in the United States, but true civil disobedience ultimately honors and respects the rule of law. In a 1965 appearance on “Meet the Press,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described the principle perfectly: “When one breaks the law that conscience tells him is unjust, he must do it openly, he must do it cheerfully, he must do it lovingly, he must do it civilly — not uncivilly — and he must do it with a willingness to accept the penalty.”

But what we’re seeing on a number of campuses isn’t free expression, nor is it civil disobedience. It’s outright lawlessness. No matter the frustration of campus activists or their desire to be heard, true civil disobedience shouldn’t violate the rights of others. Indefinitely occupying a quad violates the rights of other speakers to use the same space. Relentless, loud protest violates the rights of students to sleep or study in peace. And when protests become truly threatening or intimidating, they can violate the civil rights of other students, especially if those students are targeted on the basis of their race, sex, color or national origin.

The result of lawlessness is chaos and injustice. Other students can’t speak. Other students can’t learn. Teachers and administrators can’t do their jobs.

In my experience as a litigator , campus chaos is frequently the result of a specific campus culture. Administrators and faculty members will often abandon any pretense of institutional neutrality and either cooperate with their most intense activist students or impose double standards that grant favored constituencies extraordinary privileges. For many administrators, the very idea of neutrality is repugnant. It represents a form of complicity in injustice that they simply can’t and won’t stomach. So they nurture and support one side. They scorn the opposition, adopting a de facto posture that says , “To my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law.”

I’ve experienced this firsthand. I vividly remember representing a campus Christian group in a dispute at Tufts University in 2000 . The group had been derecognized for requiring that student leaders of their group share that group’s traditional sexual ethic, which reserves sex for heterosexual marriage. You might disagree strongly with that view, but granting religious groups the flexibility to impose faith-based requirements on religious leaders fits squarely within the American tradition of free exercise of religion.

Tufts is a private university, so it has some flexibility in suppressing religious expression on campus, but it had no excuse for attempting to toss a Christian group from campus at the same time that it permitted acts of intimidation against those Christian students. For example, at the most contentious moment of the dispute, Tufts officials prevented my student clients and me from entering the hearing room where their appeal was being heard, while a crowd of protesters gathered in a darkened hallway, pressed up around us and herded us into a corner of the hall. There was no campus outrage at this act of intimidation. We saw no administrative response.

University complicity in chaos isn’t unusual. In a case I worked on when I was president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, we discovered that administrators at Washington State University’s Pullman campus had actually helped plan a disruptive protest against a play put on by a student director, an intentionally provocative show that mocked virtually every group on campus.

University or faculty participation in unlawful protest isn’t confined to the cases I worked on. At Oberlin College, administrative facilitation of ugly and defamatory student protests outside a local business ultimately cost the school $36 million in damages. At Columbia, hundreds of sympathetic faculty members staged their own protest in support of the student encampment on the quad, and there are reports that other faculty members have attempted to block members of the media from access to the student encampment.

None of this is new. All of it creates a culture of impunity for the most radical students. Disruptive protesters are rarely disciplined, or they get mere slaps on the wrist. They’re hailed as heroes by many of their professors. Administrators look the other way as protesters pitch their tents on the quad — despite clear violations of university policy. Then, days later, the same administrators look at the tent city on campus, wring their hands, and ask, “How did this spiral out of control?”

There is a better way . When universities can actually recognize and enforce the distinctions among free speech, civil disobedience and lawlessness, they can protect both the right of students to protest and the rights of students to study and learn in peace.

In March a small band of pro-Palestinian students at Vanderbilt University in Nashville pushed past a security guard so aggressively that they injured him , walked into a university facility that was closed to protest and briefly occupied the building. The university had provided ample space for protest, and both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students had been speaking and protesting peacefully on campus since Oct. 7.

But these students weren’t engaged in free speech. Nor were they engaged in true civil disobedience. Civil disobedience does not include assault, and within hours the university shut them down. Three students were arrested in the assault on the security guard, and one was arrested on charges of vandalism. More than 20 students were subjected to university discipline, three were expelled , and one was suspended.

The message was clear: Every student can protest, but protest has to be peaceful and lawful. In taking this action, Vanderbilt was empowered by its posture of institutional neutrality . It does not take sides in matters of public dispute. Its fundamental role is to maintain a forum for speech, not to set the terms of the debate and certainly not to permit one side to break reasonable rules that protect education and safety on campus.

Vanderbilt is not alone in its commitment to neutrality. The University of Chicago has long adhered to the Kalven principles , a statement of university neutrality articulated in 1967 by a committee led by one of the most respected legal scholars of the last century, Harry Kalven Jr. At their heart, the Kalven principles articulate the view that “the instrument of dissent and criticism is the individual faculty member or the individual student. The university is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself the critic. It is, to go back once again to the classic phrase, a community of scholars.”

Contrast Vanderbilt’s precise response with the opposing extremes. In response to the chaos at Columbia, the school is finishing the semester with hybrid classes, pushing thousands of students online. The University of Southern California canceled its main stage commencement ceremony , claiming that the need for additional safety measures made the ceremony impractical. At both schools the inability to guarantee safety and order has diminished the educational experience of their students.

While U.S.C. and Columbia capitulate, other schools have taken an excessively draconian approach. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas posted on X, “Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.” On April 25 the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a forceful letter to the president of the University of Texas at Austin condemning the display of force on campus. “U.T. Austin,” it wrote, “at the direction of Gov. Greg Abbott, appears to have pre-emptively banned peaceful pro-Palestinian protesters due solely to their views rather than for any actionable misconduct.”

At Emory University, footage emerged of police tackling a female professor who posed no obvious danger to the police or anyone else. Protests are almost always tense, and there is often no easy way to physically remove protesters from campus, but the video footage of the confrontation with the professor was shocking. It’s hard to conceive of a justification for the violent police response.

At this moment, one has the impression that university presidents at several universities are simply hanging on, hoping against hope that they can manage the crisis well enough to survive the school year and close the dorms and praying that passions cool over the summer.

That is a vain hope. There is no indication that the war in Gaza — or certainly the region — will be over by the fall. It’s quite possible that Israel will be engaged in full-scale war on its northern border against Hezbollah. And the United States will be in the midst of a presidential election that could be every bit as contentious as the 2020 contest.

But the summer does give space for a reboot. It allows universities to declare unequivocally that they will protect free speech, respect peaceful civil disobedience and uphold the rule of law by protecting the campus community from violence and chaos. Universities should not protect students from hurtful ideas, but they must protect their ability to peacefully live and learn in a community of scholars. There is no other viable alternative.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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David French is an Opinion columnist, writing about law, culture, religion and armed conflict. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a former constitutional litigator. His most recent book is “Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation .” You can follow him on Threads ( @davidfrenchjag ).

College protesters are demanding schools 'divest' from companies with ties to Israel. Here's what that means.

In addition to a cease-fire in Gaza, protesters on college campuses across the country are calling on their schools to divest from all financial support of Israel.

Divestment usually refers to selling shares in companies doing business with a given country. Divestment has long been a goal of a movement that seeks to limit what it considers hostile operations by Israel and an end to expanding what the United Nations has ruled are illegal settlements.

Now, college protesters are hoping to force their universities to divest to put financial pressure on companies doing business in Israel to meet those two objectives.

“The university should do something about what we’re asking for, about the genocide that’s happening in Gaza,” said Columbia University student and protest leader Mahmoud Khalil, who is Palestinian, and noted that students have been pushing for Columbia to divest from Israel since 2002. “They should stop investing in this genocide.”

Israel launched its Gaza campaign soon after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas , a U.S.-designated terror group that left 1,200 Israelis dead, according to officials, with an estimated 250 people taken hostage. The subsequent military response by Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Like many universities, Columbia owns shares of various companies as part of its financial operations and endowment. However, information on Columbia’s exact holdings was not immediately available, and it was not clear whether investment information published by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), the group leading the protests at the school, was accurate.

Whatever the case, while some of the shares Columbia owns may be directly held stock investments, other assets are likely held indirectly through investment instruments like mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that are designed to expose investors to a variety of firms.

And as students at Brown University acknowledged in a separate proposal targeting their school’s alleged Israel-tied investments, excluding specific investments from these indirect stock holding products “would be logistically challenging.”

In fact, they concluded that none of their school’s current direct investments appeared to be in individual companies violating its anti-Israel screening criteria.

Meanwhile, mutual fund and ETF holdings are constantly changing, the Brown students said.

The actual mechanics of divestment thus make it a more difficult undertaking than it may first appear, said Alison Taylor, clinical associate professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

“You get into questions of, ‘What percentage of a company’s business is actually tied to the activities in question?’” Taylor said.

Columbia’s Investment Management Company, which oversees the school’s market assets, does have an advisory committee on socially responsible investing.

This committee has pledged that it will screen against investing in firms that operate private prisons; derive significant revenues from thermal coal; and engage in tobacco manufacturing. It also has had a policy against investing in companies doing business in Sudan. 

So there is precedent for Columbia to limit its financial exposure to socially irresponsible firms, CUAD says. At present, Columbia’s investment in the companies that CUAD accuses of having ties to Israel makes it “complicit in genocide,” CUAD says. 

“By withdrawing from holdings that profit off of Israeli human rights violations, Columbia can invest in other, more worthwhile companies,” CUAD says in a December proposal submitted to the socially responsible investing committee calling for divestment.

A representative for Columbia’s responsible investment committee did not respond to a request for comment.

Columbia President Minouche Shafik has not specifically addressed the divestment calls in her statements on the campus turmoil. Her predecessor, Lee Bollinger, rejected calls for divestment in 2020, saying that a vote by students calling for one merely represented “particular views about a complex policy issue” and that there was “no consensus across the University community about” the issue.

Sylvia Burwell, the president of American University in Washington, D.C., said a student vote calling for divestment did not represent the school and would not be recognized.

“It is AU’s longstanding position to oppose boycotts, divestment from Israel, and other related actions known as BDS,” she said in a statement last week, referring to a Palestinian-led movement called Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.

“Such actions threaten academic freedom, the respectful free expression of ideas and views, and the values of inclusion and belonging that are central to our community.”

There is debate about the efficacy of divestment. Some evidence suggests that the buyers of shares being sold off as part of a divestment campaign can sometimes turn out to be worse actors than their original holders, NYU’s Taylor said.

She gave the example of Myanmar, where energy giant Chevron ending up selling off an asset to an entity that human rights groups said was even less accountable.

Divestment supporters often cite the successful campaign to dismantle South Africa’s apartheid regime as an example of what can be accomplished.

But Taylor and others have said the groundswell of international and civil-society support that was needed to end apartheid has not materialized in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“It required everyone to be at the table,” she said. “South Africa is a  good story, but I don’t know whether we’re there yet.”

In a 2021 study of the impact of divestment, business school professors at the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University found the practice had little impact.

Instead, they said, activists seeking to change a company’s behavior should instead hold on to their investments and exercise any rights of control they may have to change corporate policy.

The Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit that seeks to counter antisemitism, likewise concluded that shareholder resolutions have proven effective at changing corporate behavior, even as it criticized such efforts as “simplistic” and not constructive.

“Organizations file resolutions repeatedly until they get the change they want, often garnering more votes each year,” the ADL said in a 2022 article on its website . “Even if a proposal fails, sometimes just the fact that it is filed may be enough to make a company wary of doing business with Israel.”

Rob Wile is a breaking business news reporter for NBC News Digital.

Use these 6 points to say no to a college you and your kid can’t afford

Any smart decision starts with leaving emotion out of it, especially when finances are involved.

My husband and I have been where you are. Your child wants to attend a college that’s outside of your financial reach without massive debt.

The issue is front of mind for many high school seniors. Generally, incoming freshmen still weighing their options have until early May to commit to a school and make a deposit.

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But this year, technical issues with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, pushed many schools to extend the May 1 deadline to May 15 or June 1, according to a directory compiled by the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

As a result, many colleges delayed sending out financial aid packages.

But those glitches also create an opportunity — maybe a last chance — for parents and children to discuss whether they’re about to make a huge financial mistake.

I understand the pressure.

You don’t want to disappoint, even though the choice would sentence you both to decades of debt.

However, smart decisions mean leaving the emotion out of it, especially when finances are involved. So, here are six points to give you the strength to say no to a college you and your child can’t afford.

Sorry, I can’t leave this decision to a teen

I recently found myself trying to persuade a mother from taking on debt — $30,000 a year — to send her daughter to an out-of-state college. And that was after some scholarship money.

Her daughter had been accepted by several colleges, one of which provided enough financial aid that she wouldn’t need to borrow.

The mother presented the decision as if she had no power.

“‘No,’ is a complete sentence,” I said.

It never occurred to the mother to say otherwise, even though her daughter couldn’t borrow enough on her own to attend the school.

If the dream can only be met by taking on massive parental debt, you have veto power. Use it.

We told our three children they could apply to any college they wanted, but we stood fast to one rule — no debt, no matter what. There were some tears, rolling of the eyes and initial disappointments, but all three of our children have undergraduate degrees and no debt .

Now in their 20s — with more life choices because they aren’t struggling with student loans — they all are grateful for the tough love.

You can thrive at another school

If affordability is an issue, talk with your teen about starting out at a community college and then transferring to a four-year institution.

Remind your child that a prestigious school doesn’t guarantee career success. You have to be the adult with the foresight to understand it’s the student — not the school — that matters most.

Honey, do you know how much debt we’re talking about?

Show them the full cost and the monthly payment schedule.

Though most families don’t pay the advertised price, nearly 1 in 4 undergraduates need to take out loans to pay for their degrees, according to a new report on the state of higher education by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation.

What’s more, the report cautions: “Despite concerns about cost, few understand the actual price of higher education — specifically, the price of obtaining a bachelor’s degree.”

Let’s look at the long-term effect of all this debt

Often, teenagers can’t see beyond their immediate desire to attend a certain university.

The loans aren’t real because they don’t have to pay anything until later. This makes it hard to realize how painful those monthly payments will be once they graduate — or drop out without a degree.

Even with income-based repayment plans that can reduce the monthly outlay, borrowers still complain about their ability to manage other expenses once they are living independently.

The Gallup-Lumina report found that 71 percent of current and former students who have taken out loans said they had to delay at least one significant life event because of their debt, including buying a home , purchasing a car , or returning to complete their degree or credential.

“Even relatively small student loans hinder the attainment of key milestones,” the report said.

Reining in costs now leaves more for graduate school

If your child is pursuing a field where a graduate degree may be necessary to advance, don’t rack up debt for their undergraduate studies.

If you want more personal finance advice that's timeless, order your copy of Michelle Singletary's Money Milestones.

No, a student loan is not ‘good debt’

Many people categorize student loans as “good debt.” As the argument goes, going to college can boost one’s earnings potential.

A college degree can significantly boost lifetime earnings. But that higher income is increasingly offset by the burden of debt.

What if the cost becomes so great that your child has to drop out of school? They’d have the debt and no degree. What’s great about that?

There are so many things that could make a person’s student loans a burden.

When you use positive adjectives to describe debt, you may end up minimizing the financial bondage it creates.

B.O.M. — The best of Michelle Singletary on personal finance

If you have a personal finance question for Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary, please call 1-855-ASK-POST (1-855-275-7678).

My mortgage payoff story: My husband and I paid off the house in the spring of 2023 thanks to making extra payments and taking advantage of a mortgage recast . Even though it lowered my perfect 850 credit score and my column about it sparked some serious debate with readers, it was one of the best financial decisions I’ve made.

Credit card debt: If you’re in the habit of carrying credit card debt, stop. It’s just a myth that it will boost your credit score. For those looking to get out of credit card debt, see if a balance transfer is right for you.

Money moves for life: For a more sweeping overview of my timeless money advice, see Michelle Singletary’s Money Milestones . The interactive package offers guidance for every life stage, whether you’re just starting out in your career or planning for retirement. You can also purchase a copy for yourself or as a gift.

Test yourself: Not rich and wondering what it’ll take to build your wealth? Take this quiz for my wealth-building tips.