Indents are not allowed in the common app essay box. Should I force indents by copy and pasting indents in?Answered
Hello, I have heard that in your common app essay you should use MLA formatting, but indents are included in that. Should I force the text box provided by Common App to have indents (and use fake indents if necessary)?
Also, does the Common App essay formatting appear exactly as it does when you look at it in the preview box?
Earn karma by helping others:
3 answers
No, Just make sure your paragraphs are spaced out since you can't indent. You could write them like this with a blank line between them:
Paragraph one
paragraph two
so it is easier to read without indents. Even if you don't space them out like that don't force indents, from my experience when submitting writing in text boxes without indents it jumbles up the formatting big time when it's submitted. Good luck with your essay!
Hi @LonB! Don’t worry about indents on the Common App. Just have a one-line space between each paragraph so it is easy to read and so it isn’t all clumped together. Manually putting in indents can mess up formatting and may look weird on the reader’s end. Like @junebug said, you should be able to preview your essay to see how it looks when you are submitting. Good luck!
I don't know where you heard that you need to use MLA formatting for the common app essay. That's not true. You just copy and paste your writing (the only important formatting would be making sure your paragraphs are separated correctly).
Colleges gain nothing from forcing you to submit in a certain format. Why would they want you to painstakingly go through and make sure the essay matches a certain format? Moreover, many colleges actually use APA formatting, so using MLA would be redundant.
You are able to review how your essay appears on your application when you submit it. It's basically just slapped onto a piece of paper as-is. Hope that helped!
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!