We at Ivy Coach hate them, but otherwise, promising students do keep doing them! Here are our top 10 pet peeves that we keep seeing in college admissions essays (just in time for the 2026-27 application cycle!).

10 Pet Peeves to Avoid in Your College Admissions Essays

1. “Like-minded” Peers

Stop using the term “like-minded” in your college admissions essays! You shouldn’t want to be surrounded by like-minded peers, enter a community of like-minded thinkers, or learn from like-minded faculty. The people you meet on campus should and will be anything but like-minded! Admissions officers want to admit students who value intellectual diversity, not students who seek an echo chamber where the same ideas bounce around. Instead, write about how you expect to be challenged and pushed further by your peers to think critically and reevaluate your assumptions.

2. Clichés

Did traveling to an exotic locale change your whole way of thinking? Or did a major win on your sports team teach you the value of hard work and dedication? That’s great; just don’t write about it. Students consistently choose the same six cliché essay topics that admissions officers are sick and tired of reading about (and so are we!): sports, grandparents, music, community service, travel, and illness. You might think your essay breaks from the mold, but we promise it doesn’t.

3. Double Spaces After Punctuation

It’s 2024. The double space after the punctuation rule is a relic of a past filled with word processors. Stop doing it! It doesn’t demonstrate your grammatical attention to detail — just that you probably had a parent write or edit your essay for you! Plus, it can soak up precious characters in those 50 or 100-character responses often found in college supplements.

4. Bragging

Save your brags and boasts for your application’s activities and honors section. If you won a significant award that you want admissions officers to take note of, trust that they have from your Common App. Honors section and save your essay for a compelling narrative about how your singular admissions hook has shaped who you are and who you want to become. Making subtle references to specific activities that tie into your essays is one thing, but don’t waste precious words detailing long hours spent cleaning at the homeless shelter or the joys of impressive academic success. It’s icky!

5. Citing Acceptance Statistics

“I was one of 563 students selected for such and such program.” And? Now you’re applying to be one of 5,630. Don’t think you’ll impress admissions officers with brags about your statistical competitiveness. Not only do they not care, but you come across as unlikable!

6. “Following in the Footsteps” of Parents

“By pursuing such and such profession and participating in such and such activities, I’m proudly following in the footsteps of my parents, who devoted their lives to this industry.” Admissions officers already know what your parents do — it’s listed on The Common App! All your parental reverence is doing is making you seem like a nepo-baby. Admissions officers know how you got that internship that just so happens to be in your father’s office or your mom’s co-workers’ firm, and they’re none too impressed!

7. Repetition and Redundancies

Don’t repeat something you listed in the Activities and Honors section. Don’t state your parents’ professions when admissions officers already know. Don’t make the same point twice across two different essays. The people reading your application don’t have amnesia. Don’t squander what little space you have to sell yourself for admission! Instead, complement the information you’ve already shared with compelling anecdotes that support your hook.

8. The Well-Rounded Myth

It might have been true in the 1980s, but in 2024, the students getting into Harvard and Yale are not well-rounded. Instead, they’ve distinguished themselves through a highly specific and wonderfully weird hook that showcases how they will change the world with their unique discipline, artistic medium, talent, or cause. Well-rounded applicants don’t instill any faith that they will take advantage of a school’s resources and opportunities. In fact, they do the opposite! Instead, elite colleges seek to admit a well-rounded class comprised of singularly talented individuals.

9. Generic Filler Sentences in Why College Essays

“With (campus cafe) latte in hand, I will walk along the beautiful sweeping green lawn to attend my first day of an interdisciplinary lecture with a diverse group of peers who all benefit from the small class size and optimal faculty-to-student ratio.” Cut, copy, and paste. If you find yourself copying the same lines from one school’s essay to the next, chances are you’re failing to understand the institutional specifics, history, and culture that admissions officers go nuts for. Every campus is beautiful, every student body is diverse, and every curriculum is interdisciplinary! You can do better!

10. Quotes from Others

Admissions officers don’t want to see you regurgitate some quote that 50 other students also included in their essay. They want to hear from you! Don’t fill up your word count with the words of others. Martin Luther King Jr. and Susan B. Anthony were both great thinkers. But they’re not the ones applying to a highly selective school!

How Ivy Coach Helps Students Avoid Common Essay Pet Peeves

For guidance on avoiding these pet peeves and optimizing your child’s odds of admission to a highly selective college through compelling college essays, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch.