How to get your college essay reviewed for free.

When to get a review

Get your first review after your second draft, not your first. The first draft is for getting the story out of your head, and a reader can’t help much until you know what you’re trying to say. Leave at least two weeks before the deadline so you have time to act on what you hear.

Six free ways to get your essay reviewed

1. Your English teacher or school counselor

They know your writing, and many of them have read a lot of college essays. Ask at least three weeks before your deadline, send the prompt along with the essay, and ask one or two specific questions instead of “is it good?” Fall is their busiest season, so the earlier you ask, the better the read you’ll get.

2. Someone who just went through it

A college student a year or two ahead of you: an older sibling, a cousin, a graduate of your high school. They remember what the process felt like and what worked. If they go to a college on your list, even better.

3. A parent or friend, out loud

Read the essay to them instead of handing it over. Watch where they lean in and where they drift. Then ask what the essay is about, in one sentence. If their answer doesn’t match yours, fix that before anything else.

4. A free AI review

An AI review is fast, and it’s there at 1 a.m. the night before a deadline. Our free essay editor reads your essay against your exact prompt and word limit, scores it out of 100 and leaves comments on the exact lines to fix. You get three free reviews a day with no account, and we don’t save your essay. For a quick score and three fixes, try the grader.

Whatever tool you use, check three things:

• It reads your essay against your actual prompt and word limit.
• It points to lines and asks questions instead of rewriting your sentences.
• It tells you what happens to your essay after you paste it in.

Some colleges limit AI use in essays, even for feedback, so check each college’s policy first. Our supplemental essay pages and the essay editor flag it where a college has said so.

5. Online communities

On Reddit, r/ApplyingToCollege and r/collegeessays have students who trade essays and give feedback for free. The quality varies, so weigh it against what your other readers say. Protect yourself: take out your name, school and town, share a view-only link instead of pasting the essay into a public post, and take it down once you have your feedback. Anything posted in public can be copied.

6. Free workshops near you

Many high schools, public libraries and college access nonprofits run free essay workshops in the fall. Ask your counselor what’s nearby, or search your city’s name with “college essay workshop.”

What to ask your reader

“Is it good?” gets you a polite yes. These questions get you something you can use:

• What is this essay about, in one sentence?
• Where did you get bored or lost?
• Which line do you remember most?
• What do you know about me now that you didn’t before?
• Does it answer the prompt?

A message you can send today

A made-up example. Fill in the blanks and change it so it sounds like you.

How to use the feedback

• Look for patterns. If two readers stumble on the same paragraph, that paragraph is the problem, even if they disagree about the fix.
• Keep the voice yours. If a reader rewrites a sentence, take the note and write your own version.
• Stop at two or three readers. Past that, the notes start to fight each other.

Don’t let anyone write it for you

The Common App’s fraud policy covers passing off someone else’s writing, or “the substantive content or output of an artificial intelligence platform,” as your own. A good reviewer, a person or a tool, shows you where the essay is weak and lets you fix it. If anyone offers to rewrite it for you, say no.

Next: the step-by-step guide to writing it, or find your colleges’ supplemental essays.