Though most schools allow writers to determine their own essay formats, some may set word count ... Read your writing aloud—what may have felt great in the writing process may sound unnatural ...

It is only magnificent.” Were he alive today, James, a connoisseur of cities, might easily say the same thing about New York or Paris or Tokyo, for the great city is one of the paradoxes of history.

You need only a few minutes to reflect on personal qualities you would never consider mentioning in a college essay, but should ... about not what makes you great, but what makes you odd.