Quotes and Supplemental Essays?Answered
One college I'm applying to requires a supplemental essay that discusses the overcoming of obstacles. I took a writing elective last year where the teacher gave us daily prompts and the students would write responses for about five minutes. I had several prompts that centered around the idea this supplemental essay wants to convey; therefore, I plan on revising one of my past paragraphs for this essay. However, one of the prompts was based on a quote, and it got me thinking: Would incorporating a quote to any type of college essay be a cliche or looked down upon?
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1 answer
Hi @Srfp_23!
Unless it's really necessary, try to avoid using a quote. More often than not, quotes are seen as cliches because thousands of applicants apply each year, and there's always a chance that previously submitted essays or current essays have used the same quote as yours. On top of that, supplemental essays usually have a lower word limit than your typical personal statement, so quoting means you're losing out on words to express your own, original ideas. It's up to you to decide how important the quote is to your overall essay.
Hope this helps!
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