Can You Use Humor in a College Essay?
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Can you use humor in a college essay? Yes, but it has to work. If it’s truly funny and reveals more than just your sense of humor, absolutely. Humor can be super effective if done well.
The risk is that the joke or the sarcasm or the turn of a phrase doesn’t land. If humor is part of who you are and how you think it will come across organically.
Short answer: Yes. If it’s truly funny and reveals more than just your sense of humor.
Longer answer: Humor can be super effective if done well. The risk is that the joke or the sarcasm or the turn of a phrase doesn’t land. Full inherent bias disclosure: I use humor to positively differentiate myself daily. If you’ve seen my other videos, you will notice the absence of the bookshelf behind me and that I have a character named Duke Earl King IV, Canine Ventriloquist.
If humor is part of who you are and how you think, it will come across organically.
Fun fact: Few things are as bad as getting caught trying too hard — whether it be humor or vocabulary. As Duke says, don’t do it.
Reference: the Common App essay prompts.
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