Reply To: Struggling with college essays

It’s so frustrating when you’ve put in the hours and the feedback still feels vague. Honestly, most of us fall into the trap of using ‘thesaurus words’ or complex sentences because we think that’s what professors want, but it often ends up sounding like a robot wrote it. One thing that helped me was reading my draft out loud. If I found myself running out of breath or tripping over a sentence, I knew it needed to be simplified. Try writing like you’re explaining the topic to a smart friend—it usually helps find that balance between professional and natural.