college essay in apa style

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How to Write an Essay in APA Format

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

What Is APA Format?

Apa essay format basics.

• Steps to Follow

Frequently Asked Questions

If your instructor has asked you to write an APA format essay, it might at first seem like a daunting task, especially if you are accustomed to using another style such as MLA or Chicago. But you can master the rules of APA essay format, too.

An essay is one type of paper that can be written in APA format; others include lab reports, experimental reports, and case studies. Before you begin, familiarize yourself with some of the basic guidelines for writing a paper in APA format. Of course, it will also be important to follow any other formatting instructions that are part of your assignment.

How do you write an essay in APA format? The basic elements you need to include are:

• A title page
• An abstract
• An introduction, main body, and conclusion
• A reference section
• Proper APA formatting with regard to margins, layout, spacing, titles, and indentations

This article discusses how to write an essay in APA format, including the basic steps you should follow and tips for how to get started.

Whether you’re taking an introductory or graduate-level psychology class, chances are strong that you will have to write at least one paper during the course of the semester. In almost every case, you will need to write your paper in APA format, the official publication style of the American Psychological Association . It is also used for academic journals.

Such rules are generally the same whether you are writing a high school essay, college essay, or professional essay for publication.

APA format is used in a range of disciplines including psychology , education, and other social sciences. The format dictates presentation elements of your paper including spacing, margins, and how the content is structured.

Most instructors and publication editors have strict guidelines when it comes to how your format your writing. Not only does adhering to APA format allow readers to know what to expect from your paper, but it also means that your work will not lose critical points over minor formatting errors. 

While the formatting requirements for your paper might vary depending on your instructor's directions, writing APA essay format means you will most likely need to include a title page, abstract, introduction, body, conclusion, and reference sections.

Your APA format essay should have a title page . This title page should include the title of your paper, your name, and your school affiliation. In some instances, your teacher might require additional information such as the course title, instructor name, and the date.

• The title of your paper should be concise and clearly describe what your paper is about.
• Your title can extend to two lines, but it should be no longer than 12 words.

An abstract is a brief summary of your paper that immediately follows the title page. It is not required for student papers, according to APA style. However, your instructor may request one.

If you include an abstract , it should be no more than 100 to 200 words, although this may vary depending upon the instructor requirements.

Your essay should also include a reference list with all of the sources that were cited in your essay,

• The reference section is located at the end of your paper.
• References should be listed alphabetically by the last name of the author.
• References should be double-spaced.
• Any source that is cited in your paper should be included in your reference section.

When writing in APA essay format, the text will include the actual essay itself: The introduction, body, and conclusion.

• There should be uniform margins of at least one inch at the top, bottom, left, and right sides of your essay.
• The text should be in Times New Roman size 12 font or another serif typeface that is easily readable.
• Your paper should be double-spaced.
• Every page should include a page number in the top right corner.
• The first word of each paragraph in your paper should be indented one-half inch.

For professional papers (usually not student papers), every page of the essay also includes a running head at the top left. The running head is a shortened form of the title, often the first few words, and should be no more than 50 characters (including spaces).

Steps to a Successful APA Format Essay

In addition to ensuring that you cite your sources properly and present information according to the rules of APA style, there are a number of things you can do to make the writing process a little bit easier.

Choose a Topic

Start by choosing a good topic to write about. Ideally, you want to select a subject that is specific enough to let you fully research and explore the topic, but not so specific that you have a hard time finding sources of information.

If you choose something too specific, you may find yourself with not enough to write about. If you choose something too general, you might find yourself overwhelmed with information.

Research Your Topic

Start doing research as early as possible. Begin by looking at some basic books and articles on your topic to help develop it further. What is the question you are going to answer with your essay? What approach will you take to the topic?

Once you are more familiar with the subject, create a preliminary source list of potential books, articles, essays, and studies that you may end up using in your essay.

Remember, any source used in your essay must be included in your reference section. Conversely, any source listed in your references must be cited somewhere in the body of your paper.

Write Your Rough Draft

With research in hand, you are ready to begin. Some people like to create an outline to organize their argument prior to drafting. You may want to start with a very rough outline, and then add details.

Once you have a detailed outline, the next step is to translate it from notes to complete sentences and paragraphs. Remember, this is a first draft. It doesn't have to be perfect.

As you write your paper in APA essay format, be sure to keep careful track of the sources that you cite.

How do you start an APA paper? Your paper should begin with an introduction that includes a thesis statement that presents your main ideas, points, or arguments. Your introduction should start on the third page of your paper (after the title page and abstract). The title of your paper should be centered, bolded, and typed in title case at the top of the page.

Review and Revise

After you have prepared a rough draft of your essay, it's time to revise, review, and prepare your final draft. In addition to making sure that your writing is cohesive and supported by your sources, you should also check carefully for typos, grammar errors, and possible formatting mistakes.

When citing information or quotations taken from an interview, APA format requires that you cite the source, how the information was collected, and the date of the interview. They should not be included in the reference section, however, because they are not something that can be located by a reader in any published source or searchable database.

Instead, the information should be cited parenthetically in the main body of the text. For example: “There was an increase in the number of college students who screened positive for depression/anxiety” (R. Heathfield, personal communication, May 9, 2021).

If the essay is in a chapter of a book, edited collection, or anthology, APA format states that you should cite the last name, first name, title of essay, title of collection, publisher, year, and page range. For example: Smith, John, "The Light House," A Book of Poems , editing by Peter Roberts, Allworth Press, 2005, pp. 20-25.

According to APA format, a two-part essay is formatted the same as an essay, however, you'll need to create two title pages.

If you're including a short direct quote in your APA-format essay, you will need to cite the author, year of publication, and page number (p.) or page number span (pp.). Quotations longer than 40 words should omit the quotation marks and be put in the text using block quotation formatting, on its own line and indented 1/2 inch from the left margin.

The cover page or "title page" in APA essay format should always include the title of your paper, your name, and school affiliation as well as the course title, instructor name, and date, if requested by your teacher.

Nagda S.  How to write a scientific abstract.   J Indian Prosthodont Soc.  2013;13(3):382-383. doi:10.1007/s13191-013-0299-x

American Psychological Association.  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association  (7th ed.). Washington DC: The American Psychological Association; 2019.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Writing and Citing

• Writing Process
• Essay Structures
• APA Style and Formatting
• MLA Style and Formatting
• Grammar and Punctuation
• Writing Discussion Board Posts
• Contact Your Center for Academic Success
• Additional Resources

All About APA!

APA stands for the American Psychological Association and the guidelines that they develop for formatting and citing sources in research papers required in many college classes in the fields of Business, Criminal Justice and Education. Here you will find some practical information about what APA style and format are and how to use them in your research papers.

• APA Brochure Use this brochure for information on how to format your in-text citations and reference pages for APA Style papers

APA Workshop

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• Next: MLA Style and Formatting >>
• Last Updated: Sep 21, 2023 11:45 AM
• URL: https://berkeleycollege.libguides.com/Writing

• Reference List
• In-Text Citations
• Formatting a Paper

Basic Principles

The APA Style Manual tells you to format your paper as follows:

Your essay should be typed and double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), with 1" margins on all sides. You should use a font consistently throughout the paper. APA recommends using either a sans serif font such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, or a serif font such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or 10-point Computer Modern.

Include a  page header  (also known as the “ running head ”) at the top of every page. For a professional paper, this includes your paper title and the page number. For a student paper, this only includes the page number. To create a  page header/running head , insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left using all capital letters. The  running head  is a shortened version of your paper's title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.

The paper should include four major sections :

How to format your APA style paper

Prepared by Berkeley College, NY.

Learning Center Tutorial

Watch the Merritt College Learning Center's Workshop on APA paper formatting (recorded September 2022). The workshop slides are also available for you to print out.

Topics include:

• What is meant by APA formatting?
• What are the components of a student paper in APA?
• How do I use APA headings?
• What is a DOI link?
• How do I develop a thesis statement and topic sentences?
• Where do I go for help with APA formatting?
• << Previous: In-Text Citations
• Last Updated: Nov 22, 2023 9:55 AM
• URL: https://merritt.libguides.com/APAstyle

Formatting a College Essay — APA Style

LESSON You will likely be asked to write numerous essays A short piece of writing that focuses on at least one main idea. Some essays are also focused on the author's unique point of view, making them personal or autobiographical, while others are focused on a particular literary, scientific, or political subject. over the course of your academic career. While the content The text in a writing that includes facts, thoughts, and ideas. The information that forms the body of the work. of your work is significant, it is also essential that you develop strong and accurate formatting The way in which content is arranged, usually following a set of rules. In writing, outlines and essays often follow a format specified by their purpose or where they are published. skills. Formatting an essay correctly is not only good authorship but is also important to instructors who often have to read hundreds of essays over the course of a semester. Your instructors will likely provide you with essay guidelines indicating whether you should use MLA A grammar and reference guide used mainly by students and scholars writing about the humanities (languages and literature). or APA A set of guidelines for citing sources used in literary and academic writing. APA style is most commonly used in the social sciences. style to format your paper. If you are uncertain as to your instructor's expectations, be sure to ask. Instructors appreciate students taking extra measures needed to correctly format essays. In this lesson, you will learn how to correctly format a college essay using APA style. Note: This foundation lesson is not meant to include or cover all of the rules and guidelines for properly formatting an essay. Be sure to refer to the APA style guide to ensure that you follow all of the formatting rules.

Part of formatting an essay is properly formatting in-text citations Information about a source, such as the author, date, and page number, in an essay or research paper that helps readers find the source in the works cited or references page. There are different rules for how to use in-text citations depending on the context of the citation and the style of formatting you are using. and your list of sources A person, book, article, or other thing that supplies information. . APA refers to the list of sources as a reference list An alphabetized list of publication information about the sources used in an APA-formatted essay or research paper. . Keep in mind that in-text citations and the reference list work together. Without one, you cannot have the other. The in-text citations lead readers to the listing of complete source information in the reference list.

Formatting an Essay in APA Style

Headers and page numbers

In APA style, the header Information that appears at the very top of a page and may appear on subsequent pages of a work. appears on each page. In student papers, it includes only a page number, placed flush with the right-hand margin. (Examples will follow in the next section.)

APA Headers

Cover pages

APA style requires the use of a cover page A page that comes before an essay or article and contains basic information about the work, including its title and author. The format of a cover page (also called the title page) will vary depending on the style guide in use. . The cover page should include the title of your essay, your full name, the course name and number, the name of the instructor, and the the date, all double-spaced and centered on the page. It should also include your header, as described above. (Some colleges and/or classes require additional or different information on the cover page; again, if you are unsure, be sure to visit your writing center or ask your instructor.)

APA Cover Page

Below is an example of an APA cover page:

Below is an example of the first page of content in an APA paper:

Note the title, "College to Career," is in bold font.

Margins, font, and spacing

APA has specific requirements with respect to margins, font A set of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks that are the same style. Examples: Times New Roman and Arial are fonts. , and line spacing The vertical distance between lines of text on a page. The most common types of spacing are single and double. . Set one-inch margins on all sides. Use a consistent and accessible font that is legible and includes commonly used special characters. If you are ever in doubt as to which font to use, ask your instructor. Whichever font you choose, remain consistent throughout your essay. Your essay should always be double-spaced throughout. Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the margin. Use only one space after all end punctuation The punctuation at the end of a sentence, which can be a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. The end punctuation helps define the tone and meaning of a sentence. Notice the difference in tone in these examples: Someone ate my last cookie! (I'm really mad about that.) Someone ate my last cookie. (Oh well, I wasn't hungry anyway.) Someone ate my last cookie? (I'm not sure I even had another cookie.) .

APA Margins, Font, and Spacing

Look online to see samples of a properly formatted APA essay.

Punctuating and Formatting In-text Citations

Here are the guidelines for using in-text citations when using APA style.

• For every in-text reference, provide the author's name (or the work's title if there is no author) and the date of publication.
• In cases where a particular part of a source is cited, include the author's last name, the date of publication, and the location (page number, chapter number or name, time stamp, etc.).

Evan's work has been characterized as "masterful, but distinctly odd" (Thomas, 2011, p. 45).

"(Thomas, 2011, p. 45)" is the in-text citation with the author, year of publication, and page number.

• If the author's name is mentioned in the attributive phrase A short introduction to source material that identifies the author and often the title of a work that will be quoted or discussed in an essay or research paper. , the year of publication should follow the author's name in parentheses. In this case, only the page number appears in the parenthetical in-text citation.

Thomas (2011) characterizes Evan's work as "masterful, but distinctly odd" (p. 45).

"Thomas...characterizes" is the attributive phrase with the author's name. "(2011)" is the year of publication. "(p. 45)" is the page number.

• There are occasions when all pertinent information is included in the attributive phrase. In these cases, a parenthetical citation is not used.

On page 45, Thomas (2011) describes Evan's work as "masterful, but distinctly odd."

"On page 45, Thomas (2011) describes" is the attributive phrase with the author's name, page number, and year of publication. An in-text citation is not needed in this case.

There will be times when all the information for a citation is not available--for example, websites do not always list dates and usually do not include page numbers, sources are sometimes published without authors, and so on. If you cannot obtain all the required information on a source, provide as much information as you can in order to allow readers to find your source.

Here is an example of how to cite a web source without page numbers. In this example, the time stamp from a news video is used to locate the quotation:

According to a recent study, "more than seventy-five percent of payday loans are to people taking out new loans to cover the original one" (CNN, 2014, 2:15-2:20).

"According to a recent study" is the attributive phrase with the year of publication. "(CNN, 2014, 2:15-2:20)" is the source with the time stamp from the news video when the quote occurs.

Here are some more specific requirements with respect to the punctuation Marks such as such as a comma (,), period (.), question mark (?), and exclamation mark (!), among others, that help break a writing into phrases, clauses, and sentences. Different types of punctuation marks give the reader different impressions of the writer’s purpose in that sentence. and format of APA in-text citations:

• The in-text citation goes inside the end punctuation. Remember that the in-text citation is part of the sentence in which the source material Information that is quoted or paraphrased from outside works, such as journal articles, online documents, and books. is used, so it must be included in the sentence by placing the period after the parentheses.
• When citing a quotation An exact copy of the words from a speech or text. These words are placed inside quotation marks to show that they are a perfect repeat of the original. , both the in-text citation and end punctuation go outside the closing quotation marks A set of single or double inverted commas (' ' or " ") that are placed around a word or passage to mark the beginning and end of a direct quotation or a title. . If the quoted material includes an ending period, place it after the in-text citation. This is one of the few instances in which end punctuation goes outside the quotation marks.
• Indent, by 0.5 inches, entire quotations that exceed forty words (however, do not indent the attributive phrase).
• In block quotations A copy of a long section of a text or speech, set off from the rest of a text. Block quotations, like direct quotations, are exact repeats of wording, but because of their length they are indented or printed in a different font rather than placed inside quotation marks. , the in-text citation goes outside the end punctuation.

Reference List

APA style requires a list of sources at the end of the work. Here are the guidelines for formatting a reference list.

• The reference list should be double-spaced, and in the same font as the rest of the essay. Do not use bold font, do not underline any words, and do not resize the font in any way.
• The reference list should always begin a new page. The title—"References"—should be centered and bold, but not underlined or enclosed in quotes. (Note: if there is only one source, the list should be titled "Reference.")
• Individual citations must be arranged alphabetically by author's last name. If you have more than one article or work from the same author, list the entries chronologically, from the oldest to the most recent.
• Each full citation should have a hanging indent, which means that the first line should be on the left margin and all following lines indented by .5 inches.
• Author(s) (listed by last name then initials)
• Year of publication
• Title of work (chapter, article, web page, etc.)
• Title of larger work, if applicable (book, newspaper, journal, magazine, website, etc.) in italics
• Page numbers, when applicable
• Publisher's name, when applicable
• For online sources, include either the "doi" (direct object identifier), if included in the source's bibliographic information, or the URL.

Note the title is "References" and is in bold face font. The citations are listed in alphabetical order, and each citation has a hanging indent.

You will encounter various situations over the course of your academic career in which you will be required to provide work with properly cited references. For example, imagine that your psychology instructor assigns an essay requiring evidentiary sources Specific media, such as journal articles, newspapers, and research studies that provide the support for claims or viewpoints expressed in an essay and help convince readers that an argument has merit. Evidentiary sources may provide facts and statistics, expert opinions, or anecdotal evidence. . This will require you to research and compile a list of citations for your sources. As you are writing, you will incorporate in-text citations into your essay. Another scenario in which you will need to provide in-text citations and a reference list is when you are asked to write an essay to support your findings in a science lab. While this essay should be based upon your own experiential evidence in the lab, you will need to do research to provide additional support for your findings.

Any time you use the ideas A thought, opinion, or impression. , arguments A set of statements or reasons making a case for or against something. , theories In science, a well tested and widely accepted explanation for a phenomenon. Theories incorporate facts, observations, experiments, laws, and careful reasoning. In more general usage, theory may merely mean an unproven idea, speculation, or guesswork. , or words of another writer, you must provide correct and properly formatted citations. Be sure to check with your instructors regarding what style they prefer for formatting any essay you are assigned.

Exercise 1:  APA In-text Citations

This section provides five examples demonstrating incorrect punctuation and format for in-text citations in APA style. As you read, notice the errors and how they should be corrected.

• Marciano (2007) challenges fellow educators to present to students "the other side of history" that "rarely makes it into schools, textbooks, and mass media" (Marciano, 2007).

This sentence contains one error. Since the author's name and the year of publication are given in the attributive phrase, and a particular passage is quoted, the in-text citation should include the page number rather than the author's name and year.

Correction: Marciano (2007) challenges fellow educators to present to students "the other side of history" that "rarely makes it into schools, textbooks, and mass media" (p. 598).

• In The Future Is Up to Us, Peery claims that the U.S. is "by far the most ideological nation on earth" (2002, pg. 235).

This sentence contains three errors. First, the name of the book should appear in italics. Second, the year of publication should appear in parentheses after the author's name when the author's name appears in the attributive phrase. Third, the correct APA page number abbreviation is "p." not "pg."

Correction: In The Future Is Up to Us , Peery (2002) claims that the U.S. is "by far the most ideological nation on earth" (p. 235).  

• Arguably, fascist propaganda became more prevalent in U.S. society during the Cold War: "As we know, fascist agitation has by now come to be a profession, as it were, a livelihood. It had plenty of time to test the effectiveness of its various appeals and, through what might be called natural selection, only the most catchy ones have survived" (Adorno, 1951, p. 148).

This sentence contains two errors. Quotations over forty words should be formatted as block quotations, with the entire quotation being indented by one-half inch and without using quotation marks. Second, if the quotation is formatted as a block quotation, the period is placed before the parenthetical citation.

Correction: Arguably, fascist propaganda became more prevalent in U.S. society during the Cold War:

• During the early years of ecology as a field of study, scientists looked to communities of organisms to help them explain human behavior (Mitman; The State of Nature 2003; 352).

This sentence contains three errors. An APA in-text citation does not require the title of the source. Also, commas are used in in-text citations rather than semicolons, and "p." should precede the page number.

Correction: During the early years of ecology as a field of study, scientists looked to communities of organisms to help them explain human behavior (Mitman, 2003, p. 352).

• In the 1950s, anti-union campaigns developed as a reaction to strong union participation in the 1930s and 1940s (Phillips & Fein).

This in-text citation is missing at least one key piece of information: the year of publication. If the citation refers to a complete work, as opposed to a particular page in the work, it would be correct to include only the author(s) and year of publication. If it refers to a particular page, it should include the page number (if available, and preceded by "p."), as well.   

Correction: In the 1950s, anti-union campaigns developed as a reaction to strong union participation in the 1930s and 1940s (Phillips & Fein, 2013, p. 503).

Exercise 1: APA In-text Citations

This section provides five examples of in-text citations in APA style. Now it's your turn to determine if the examples have been properly punctuated and formatted. Identify the errors, if any, and correct the in-text citation accordingly.

• The Sabhnanis, Hindu Sindhi immigrants from India, own a perfumery that they run out of their home. They have been incarcerated for their abuses of Samirah and Enung (Konigsberg; page 320; 2008).

This in-text citation contains three errors. The punctuation mark used after "Konigsberg" should be a comma, not a semicolon; the page number should appear after the year of publication, not before it, and be preceded by "p." not "page."

Correction: The Sabhnanis, Hindu Sindhi immigrants from India, own a perfumery that they run out of their home. They have been incarcerated for their abuses of Samirah and Enung (Konigsberg, 2008, p. 320).

• While slaves in the early Americas generally were limited to those from Africa, today the overwhelming majority of the 12.3 million ("U.N. and Partners") migrant domestic workers forced into labor are women and girls from a variety of second- and third-world countries.

This citation includes three errors. The citation is in the wrong place. The United Nations is the author, not the title of the work and should not be in quotation marks. Also, the writer left out the year of publication. (Because the citation refers to a complete study, rather than a quote or paraphrase, no specific page number is required.)

Correction: While slaves in the early Americas generally were limited to those from Africa, today the overwhelming majority of the 12.3 million migrant domestic workers forced into labor are women and girls from a variety of second- and third-world countries (United Nations, 2007).

• According to two online sources, the Involuntary Domestic Servitude Report from the U.S. Department of State (2010), as well as the U.S. Department of State's 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report , domestic workers typically work without contracts or legal protection.

The year of publication is included in the attributive phrase introducing the first work, and is part of the title of the second source. Page numbers aren't required when summarizing a source.

No correction necessary.

• With difficulty, she found help to leave this terrible situation and start her life over (Montouvalou 35).

This citation is not complete. Assuming it refers to a particular page in the source, it must contain the author's name, the year of publication, and the page number, all separated by commas. The page number should be indicated by the abbreviation "p."

Correction: With difficulty, she found help to leave this terrible situation and start her life over (Montouvalou, 2013, p. 35).

• Smith and Donnerstein argue that "young children are less able to distinguish fantasy from reality, or to draw appropriate inferences from a violent story line, than are older children and adults." ("Harmful effects of exposure to media violence").

This citation contains four errors. The year of publication should follow the authors' names in the sentence. The name of the article in parentheses is not necessary because the reader will learn what article by Smith and Donnerstein is referenced by consulting the reference list. Since the reference is a quotation, the page number should be included. Finally, the period should not appear at the end of the quote, but only after the closing parenthesis.

Correction: Smith and Donnerstein (2008) argue that "young children are less able to distinguish fantasy from reality, or to draw appropriate inferences from a violent story line, than are older children and adults" (p. 286).

Sample Answer

It is important to correctly format my essays because instructors expect this of their students. Plus, if I turn in properly formatted essays, my instructors will know that I have made an effort to follow their guidelines, so it will probably positively impact my grade and reflect well on the quality of my work.

Neither the in-text citation information nor the reference list provide enough information regarding your sources by themselves. In-text citations and the reference list work together to allow you to write a smooth and cohesive essay (rather than one that is broken up by full citations), provide the details required by APA style, and enable your readers to locate any of your sources.

This lesson follows the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual , published in 2019. Check the APA Publication Manual for updates.

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• Knowledge Base
• College essay

How to Write a College Essay | A Complete Guide & Examples

The college essay can make or break your application. It’s your chance to provide personal context, communicate your values and qualities, and set yourself apart from other students.

A standout essay has a few key ingredients:

• A unique, personal topic
• A compelling, well-structured narrative
• A clear, creative writing style
• Evidence of self-reflection and insight

To achieve this, it’s crucial to give yourself enough time for brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

In this comprehensive guide, we walk you through every step in the process of writing a college admissions essay.

Table of contents

Why do you need a standout essay, start organizing early, choose a unique topic, outline your essay, start with a memorable introduction, write like an artist, craft a strong conclusion, revise and receive feedback, frequently asked questions.

While most of your application lists your academic achievements, your college admissions essay is your opportunity to share who you are and why you’d be a good addition to the university.

Your college admissions essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s total weight一and may account for even more with some colleges making the SAT and ACT tests optional. The college admissions essay may be the deciding factor in your application, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

What do colleges look for in an essay?

Admissions officers want to understand your background, personality, and values to get a fuller picture of you beyond your test scores and grades. Here’s what colleges look for in an essay :

• Demonstrated values and qualities
• Vulnerability and authenticity
• Self-reflection and insight
• Creative, clear, and concise writing skills

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

It’s a good idea to start organizing your college application timeline in the summer of your junior year to make your application process easier. This will give you ample time for essay brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

While timelines will vary for each student, aim to spend at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing your first draft and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Remember to leave enough time for breaks in between each writing and editing stage.

Create an essay tracker sheet

If you’re applying to multiple schools, you will have to juggle writing several essays for each one. We recommend using an essay tracker spreadsheet to help you visualize and organize the following:

• Deadlines and number of essays needed
• Prompt overlap, allowing you to write one essay for similar prompts

You can build your own essay tracker using our free Google Sheets template.

College essay tracker template

Ideally, you should start brainstorming college essay topics the summer before your senior year. Keep in mind that it’s easier to write a standout essay with a unique topic.

If you want to write about a common essay topic, such as a sports injury or volunteer work overseas, think carefully about how you can make it unique and personal. You’ll need to demonstrate deep insight and write your story in an original way to differentiate it from similar essays.

What makes a good topic?

• Meaningful and personal to you
• Uncommon or has an unusual angle
• Reveals something different from the rest of your application

Brainstorming questions

You should do a comprehensive brainstorm before choosing your topic. Here are a few questions to get started:

• What are your top five values? What lived experiences demonstrate these values?
• What adjectives would your friends and family use to describe you?
• What challenges or failures have you faced and overcome? What lessons did you learn from them?
• What makes you different from your classmates?
• What are some objects that represent your identity, your community, your relationships, your passions, or your goals?
• Whom do you admire most? Why?
• What three people have significantly impacted your life? How did they influence you?

How to identify your topic

Here are two strategies for identifying a topic that demonstrates your values:

• Start with your qualities : First, identify positive qualities about yourself; then, brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities.
• Start with a story : Brainstorm a list of memorable life moments; then, identify a value shown in each story.

After choosing your topic, organize your ideas in an essay outline , which will help keep you focused while writing. Unlike a five-paragraph academic essay, there’s no set structure for a college admissions essay. You can take a more creative approach, using storytelling techniques to shape your essay.

Two common approaches are to structure your essay as a series of vignettes or as a single narrative.

Vignettes structure

The vignette, or montage, structure weaves together several stories united by a common theme. Each story should demonstrate one of your values or qualities and conclude with an insight or future outlook.

This structure gives the admissions officer glimpses into your personality, background, and identity, and shows how your qualities appear in different areas of your life.

Topic: Museum with a “five senses” exhibit of my experiences

• Introduction: Tour guide introduces my museum and my “Making Sense of My Heritage” exhibit
• Story: Racial discrimination with my eyes
• Lesson: Using my writing to document truth
• Story: Broadway musical interests
• Lesson: Finding my voice
• Story: Smells from family dinner table
• Lesson: Appreciating home and family
• Story: Washing dishes
• Lesson: Finding moments of peace in busy schedule
• Story: Biking with Ava
• Lesson: Finding pleasure in job well done
• Conclusion: Tour guide concludes tour, invites guest to come back for “fall College Collection,” featuring my search for identity and learning.

Single story structure

The single story, or narrative, structure uses a chronological narrative to show a student’s character development over time. Some narrative essays detail moments in a relatively brief event, while others narrate a longer journey spanning months or years.

Single story essays are effective if you have overcome a significant challenge or want to demonstrate personal development.

Topic: Sports injury helps me learn to be a better student and person

• Situation: Football injury
• Challenge: Friends distant, teachers don’t know how to help, football is gone for me
• Turning point: Starting to like learning in Ms. Brady’s history class; meeting Christina and her friends
• My reactions: Reading poetry; finding shared interest in poetry with Christina; spending more time studying and with people different from me
• Insight: They taught me compassion and opened my eyes to a different lifestyle; even though I still can’t play football, I’m starting a new game

Brainstorm creative insights or story arcs

Regardless of your essay’s structure, try to craft a surprising story arc or original insights, especially if you’re writing about a common topic.

Never exaggerate or fabricate facts about yourself to seem interesting. However, try finding connections in your life that deviate from cliché storylines and lessons.

Admissions officers read thousands of essays each year, and they typically spend only a few minutes reading each one. To get your message across, your introduction , or hook, needs to grab the reader’s attention and compel them to read more..

Avoid starting your introduction with a famous quote, cliché, or reference to the essay itself (“While I sat down to write this essay…”).

While you can sometimes use dialogue or a meaningful quotation from a close family member or friend, make sure it encapsulates your essay’s overall theme.

Find an original, creative way of starting your essay using the following two methods.

Option 1: Start with an intriguing hook

Begin your essay with an unexpected statement to pique the reader’s curiosity and compel them to carefully read your essay. A mysterious introduction disarms the reader’s expectations and introduces questions that can only be answered by reading more.

Option 2: Start with vivid imagery

Illustrate a clear, detailed image to immediately transport your reader into your memory. You can start in the middle of an important scene or describe an object that conveys your essay’s theme.

A college application essay allows you to be creative in your style and tone. As you draft your essay, try to use interesting language to enliven your story and stand out .

Show, don’t tell

“Tell” in writing means to simply state a fact: “I am a basketball player.” “ Show ” in writing means to use details, examples, and vivid imagery to help the reader easily visualize your memory: “My heart races as I set up to shoot一two seconds, one second一and score a three-pointer!”

First, reflect on every detail of a specific image or scene to recall the most memorable aspects.

• What are the most prominent images?
• Are there any particular sounds, smells, or tastes associated with this memory?
• What emotion or physical feeling did you have at that time?

Be vulnerable to create an emotional response

You don’t have to share a huge secret or traumatic story, but you should dig deep to express your honest feelings, thoughts, and experiences to evoke an emotional response. Showing vulnerability demonstrates humility and maturity. However, don’t exaggerate to gain sympathy.

Use appropriate style and tone

Make sure your essay has the right style and tone by following these guidelines:

• Use a conversational yet respectful tone: less formal than academic writing, but more formal than texting your friends.
• Prioritize using “I” statements to highlight your perspective.
• Write within your vocabulary range to maintain an authentic voice.
• Write concisely, and use the active voice to keep a fast pace.
• Follow grammar rules (unless you have valid stylistic reasons for breaking them).

You should end your college essay with a deep insight or creative ending to leave the reader with a strong final impression. Your college admissions essay should avoid the following:

• Summarizing what you already wrote
• Stating your hope of being accepted to the school
• Mentioning character traits that should have been illustrated in the essay, such as “I’m a hard worker”

Here are two strategies to craft a strong conclusion.

Option 1: Full circle, sandwich structure

The full circle, or sandwich, structure concludes the essay with an image, idea, or story mentioned in the introduction. This strategy gives the reader a strong sense of closure.

In the example below, the essay concludes by returning to the “museum” metaphor that the writer opened with.

Option 2: Revealing your insight

You can use the conclusion to show the insight you gained as a result of the experiences you’ve described. Revealing your main message at the end creates suspense and keeps the takeaway at the forefront of your reader’s mind.

Revise your essay before submitting it to check its content, style, and grammar. Get feedback from no more than two or three people.

It’s normal to go through several rounds of revision, but take breaks between each editing stage.

Also check out our college essay examples to see what does and doesn’t work in an essay and the kinds of changes you can make to improve yours.

Respect the word count

Most schools specify a word count for each essay , and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit.

Remain under the specified word count limit to show you can write concisely and follow directions. However, don’t write too little, which may imply that you are unwilling or unable to write a thoughtful and developed essay.

Check your content, style, and grammar

• First, check big-picture issues of message, flow, and clarity.
• Then, check for style and tone issues.
• Finally, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

Get feedback

Get feedback from 2–3 people who know you well, have good writing skills, and are familiar with college essays.

• Teachers and guidance counselors can help you check your content, language, and tone.
• Friends and family can check for authenticity.
• An essay coach or editor has specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and can give objective expert feedback.

The checklist below helps you make sure your essay ticks all the boxes.

College admissions essay checklist

I’ve organized my essay prompts and created an essay writing schedule.

I’ve done a comprehensive brainstorm for essay topics.

I’ve selected a topic that’s meaningful to me and reveals something different from the rest of my application.

I’ve created an outline to guide my structure.

I’ve crafted an introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.

I’ve written my essay in a way that shows instead of telling.

I’ve shown positive traits and values in my essay.

I’ve demonstrated self-reflection and insight in my essay.

I’ve used appropriate style and tone .

I’ve concluded with an insight or a creative ending.

I’ve revised my essay , checking my overall message, flow, clarity, and grammar.

I’ve respected the word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

Congratulations!

It looks like your essay ticks all the boxes. A second pair of eyes can help you take it to the next level – Scribbr's essay coaches can help.

Colleges want to be able to differentiate students who seem similar on paper. In the college application essay , they’re looking for a way to understand each applicant’s unique personality and experiences.

Your college essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s weight. It may be the deciding factor in whether you’re accepted, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurricular track records.

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

While timelines will differ depending on the student, plan on spending at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing the first draft of your college admissions essay , and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Don’t forget to save enough time for breaks between each writing and editing stage.

You should already begin thinking about your essay the summer before your senior year so that you have plenty of time to try out different topics and get feedback on what works.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

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• Search for sources
• APA style guide

APA Style, 7th Edition

• About APA Style
• How-to Resources

Formatting your paper

• Getting started
• Body of paper
• Reference page

Student papers written in APA Style are made up of three main parts:​

      1. A title page

      2. The body of your paper

      3. A reference page

All parts of your document must be formatted in APA Style. ​To begin,  download the pre-formatted APA 7 Word template , or format your document yourself using the following guidelines:

      1. Title Page: This is like the cover of your project. It should have the title of your paper, your name, and your school information. It's like the first impression when someone looks at your work.

      2. The Body of Your Paper: This is where you put all your information, ideas, and arguments. Think of it as the main content, like the actual stuff you want people to pay attention to.

      3. Reference Page:  You list all the sources you used for your information. It's important to give credit to the people whose ideas you included in your paper.

Now, just like when you're setting up your project display, there are some rules to follow:

     • Margins: Leave some space around the edges of your paper, just like you leave space on your display board. It makes everything look clean and organized. All pages must have 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins. 

     • Font and Spacing:  Text must be in an easy-to-read font such as: Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman, or Georgia, the size must be either 11 or 12, and all text must be double (2.0) spaced.

     • Page Numbers: Number all your pages, including the title page, at the top right corner. It's like putting a number on each section of your display so people can follow along. 

     • Reference Entries: When you list your sources on the reference page, make sure they look neat and organized. The first line is like the title of each source, and the rest of the information is indented a bit, like when you want to show that something is part of a bigger category. Highlight your references and use these keyboard shortcuts: CTRL T (on a PC computer) or COMMAND T (on a MAC computer)

When you follow all these guidelines, your paper will look neat and organized!

The title page provides your instructor with information about the contents of your paper. Use the example below as a guide:

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

APA Style Workshop

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Welcome to the OWL Workshop on APA Style! This workshop introduces important aspects of the American Psychological Association (APA) Style used to format research papers. The introductory material describes what APA Style is, why it is used, and who should use it. Following this, the resource provides links to some of the OWL's most helpful APA resources.

NOTE: This workshop should answer most of your basic questions about using APA Style. However, if you are writing a complex document such as a thesis or lengthy manuscript, or if you have detailed questions, you should consult the  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7 th edition), which can often be found at your local library. You might also consult the APA's  website , which allows visitors to order the book online and read frequently asked questions about APA style. Finally, see our  Additional Resources  page for additional references you can consult.

What is APA Style?

APA Style establishes standards of written communication concerning:

• the organization of content
• writing style
• citing references
• and how to prepare a manuscript for publication in certain disciplines.

Why Use APA?

Aside from simplifying the work of editors by having everyone use the same format for a given publication, using APA Style makes it easier for readers to understand a text by providing a familiar structure they can follow. Abiding by APA's standards as a writer will allow you to:

• provide readers with cues they can use to follow your ideas more efficiently and to locate information of interest to them
• allow readers to focus more on your ideas by not distracting them with unfamiliar formatting
• and establish your credibility or ethos in the field by demonstrating an awareness of your audience and their needs as fellow researchers.

Who Should Use APA?

APA Style provides fairly comprehensive guidelines for writing academic papers regardless of subject or discipline. However, traditionally, APA is most frequently used by writers and students in:

• Social Sciences, such as Psychology, Linguistics, Sociology, Economics, and Criminology

If you are a student, consult with an instructor to learn what style your discipline uses before using APA Style in your work. If APA Style is appropriate for your writing project, use the links below to learn more about APA and how to follow its rules correctly in your own work.

APA Formatting and Writing Style

The following pages introduce some of the basic requirements of APA Style as well as describing the different formatting and writing conventions that are used in APA papers.

General APA Format

• Covers the basic page layout for a typical APA manuscript.
• Includes a general list of the basic components of an APA paper: title page, abstract, body, and reference page.

Headings and Seriation

• Provides models and examples for the section headers used to organize APA papers.
• Describes how to format lists within the text of APA papers.

Footnotes and Endnotes

• Recommends using footnotes or endnotes to avoid long explanations in the text.
• Covers two basic kinds of notes: content and copyright permission notes.

APA Citations and Reference List

The following pages walk through the details of making in-text citations and developing a reference page at the end of your paper. They contain numerous illustrative examples.

In-Text Citations: The Basics

• Addresses the basic formatting requirements of using the APA Style for citing secondary sources within the text of your essay.
• Provides guidance on how to incorporate different kinds of references to borrowed material, from short quotes to summaries of entire articles.

In-Text Citations: Author/Authors

• Focuses on various details about referring to the authors of your sources within your essay, which can be a difficult task if the source has more than one author or has an unclear author (e.g., an organization).
• Describes how to cite indirect quotes, electronic sources, and/or sources without page numbers.

Reference List: Basic Rules

• Guides you through the general rules that apply to any reference list developed using APA Style.
• Serves as a primer on formatting the sorts of references that will be described in greater detail at the pages linked below..

Reference List: Author/Authors

• Walks through how to construct a reference entry for sources with a wide variety of author configurations.
• Notes how references differ depending on the number of authors or if there are multiple works by the same author.

Reference List: Articles in Periodicals

• Describes how to refer accurately to academic journal articles —a very important kind of source in scholarly writing .
• Lists types of entries depending on the type of periodical (e.g., journal, newspaper, magazine, etc.) and the type of article.

Reference List: Books

• Describes how to properly refer to book-length sources.
• Addresses both the basic book format as well as requirements for unique book sources that require additional detail, such as translations or parts of multivolume works.

Reference List: Other Print Sources

• Offers a short list of uncommon print sources with instructions for how to construct references for them.
• Examples include indirect print citations (i.e., a print source that is cited in another) and government documents.

Reference List: Electronic Sources

• Walks through the requirements and unique qualifications for constructing references for electronic sources.
• Covers sources from online periodicals and scholarly databases to emails.

Reference List: Audiovisual Sources

• Offers guidance on all manner of audiovisual sources, including sound recordings and YouTube clips. 
• Also describes how to cite visual artwork hosted online.

Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources

• Focuses primarily on how to reference uncommon non-print sources, including presentations and interviews.
• Notes that personal communication (e.g. an interview or conversation) is not to be included in the reference list.

APA Style 7th Edition

• Advertisements
• Books & eBooks
• Book Reviews
• Class Notes, Class Lectures and Presentations
• Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
• Government Documents
• Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables
• Journal Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Personal Communication (Interviews & Emails)
• Social Media
• Videos & DVDs
• What is a DOI?
• When Creating Digital Assignments
• When Information is Missing
• Works Cited in Another Source
• In-Text Citation Components
• Paraphrasing
• Paper Formatting
• Citation Basics
• Reference List and Sample Papers
• Annotated Bibliography
• Academic Writer
• Plagiarism & Citations

This Resource Guide is an Overview of APA 7th Edition Citation Style.

These guidelines will cover how to set up a student paper in apa format. the 7th edition now has specific formatting for student papers versus a professional paper (i.e. one being submitted for publication)., i f your instructor has requested a different format or additional elements,   use your instructor's preferences..

APA Style consists of guidelines published within the 7th edition of The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association .

The APA style is used to cite sources when doing research in the social and behavioral sciences - psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics,  political science, and education.

Copies of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition) are available at the campus libraries.

What's New in the 7th Edition of APA

Below is a summary of the major changes in the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual.

Essay Format:

• Font  - While you still can use Times New Roman 12, you are free to use other fonts. Calibri 11, Arial 11, Lucida Sans 10, and Georgia 11 are all acceptable.
• Headers  - No running headers are required for student papers.
• Tables and Figures  - There is a standardized format for both tables and figures.

Style, Grammar, Usage:

• Singular "they" required in two situations: when used by a known person as their personal pronoun or when the gender of a singular person is not known.
• Use only one space after a sentence-ending period.

Citation Style:

• Developed the 'Four Elements of a Reference" (Author, Date, Title, Source) to help writers to create references for source types not explicitly examined in the APA Manual.
• Three or more authors can be abbreviated to First author, et al. on the first citation.
• Up to 20 authors are spelled out in the References List.
• Publisher location is not required for books
• Ebook platform, format, or device is not required for eBooks.  
• Library database names are generally not required
• No "doi:" prefix, simply include the doi.
• All hyperlinks retain the https://
• Links can be "live" in blue with underline or black without underlining

Notable Changes in APA 7th Edition

Introducing the 7th ed. APA Style Publication Manual Video

Commonly Used Terms

Citing : The process of acknowledging the sources of your information and ideas.

DOI (doi) : Some electronic content, such as online journal articles, is assigned a unique number called a Digital Object Identifier (DOI or doi). Items can be tracked down online using their doi.

In-Text Citation : A brief note at the point where information is used from a source to indicate where the information came from. An in-text citation should always match more detailed information that is available in the Reference List.

Paraphrasing : Taking information that you have read and putting it into your own words.

Plagiarism : Taking, using, and passing off as your own, the ideas or words of another.

Quoting : The copying of words of text originally published elsewhere. Direct quotations generally appear in quotation marks and end with a citation.

Reference : Details about one cited source.

Reference List : Contains details on ALL the sources cited in a text or essay, and supports your research and/or premise.

Retrieval Date : Used for websites where content is likely to change over time (e.g. Wikis), the retrieval date refers to the date you last visited the website.

Additional Links

• American Psychological Association On this site, you will find tutorials, FAQs, and other resources to help you improve your writing, master APA Style, and learn the conventions of scholarly publishing.
• OWL @ Purdue Purdue University Writing Lab has an excellent online writing guide for APA style.

Acknowledgement

This guide was created with information and citation examples taken from APA Citation Guide (7th Edition) Columbia College, Vancouver, CA, Stafford Library APA 7th Edition, Columbia College, Columbia, MO, APA (7th Edition) Citation Guide, Lawrence W. Tyree Library, Santa Fe College, Gainesville, Florida and are used with permission.

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CHEM 151 (Roberts): APA style 7th ed.

• Scholarly v. Popular?
• Primary v. secondary sources
• Search terms
• Find sources in databases
• Sample searches
• Choosing good websites
• APA style 7th ed.
• Chemistry subject guide

Creating references

MCC Library guides to APA , MLA & ACS citation styles

To edit or create citations, you need to:

1.) understand what kind of publication you are citing (is it book with 1 author? journal article from database? an essay in an anthology? etc.)

2.) find the matching publication type in a perfectly-formatted list of citation samples (eg. MCC Library's APA citation help page , Purdue OWL website )

3.) match the formatting of your source's citation elements (or parts) to that of the citation sample

• To show your reader you've done proper research by listing sources you used to get your information
• To be a responsible scholar by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas
• To allow your reader to track down the sources you used by citing them accurately in your paper by way of footnotes, a bibliography or reference list
• To avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors ( here's a MCC Library video about how to avoid plagiarism )

Video: APA In-Text citations

Using databases to create APA references

Most online / subscription-based resources will format your reference in the style of your choice. In databases produced by EBSCO, look for the icon on the right side of the record description page; it looks like this:

Other databases use different icons or words, but if you look carefully you will usually find the auto-cite button.

CAUTION! Most of the time automatically-generated citations are not perfect. It is your responsibility to search for these errors and correct them before using them in your final References list.

APA in-text citations

DOI's : Ensure you have one!

What is a DOI ?

Source:  https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/dois-urls

Note: DOI's are usually found on the first page of the article itself *or* on the database's article information page; in an EBSCO database this page is called the Detailed Record.

APA elements exercise: Scholarly article from a database

Click here for answer key

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