How to Cut Words From Your College Essay—Without Using ChatGPT

Sometimes I think: What would happen if Apple Maps disappeared tomorrow!? This thought is typically followed by low-key panic—“Awesome, I have absolutely zero navigational skills! I will be useless during the apocalypse!”— and a healthy level of self-annoyance. Although I managed to drive from New England to Florida using only a paper map fifteen years ago, my skills have been free-falling off a cliff since approximately 2014, the year I finally stopped printing directions off MapQuest and caved to my smartphone. Upside? I spend zero time thinking about how I’m going to get somewhere. Downside? It now takes me significantly longer to not only memorize directions but also troubleshoot traffic, accidents, or construction. I also have little concept of how different streets or roads connect, or the various shortcuts I can take if I miss a turn. Yikes!

It makes sense—I’m no longer actively engaged in navigating. I turn off that part of my brain, turn on my music, and let the map tell me what to do. In doing so, I’ve freed up brain space reserved for navigating, but at the cost of the ability to do that task on my own. This “independence cost” is important to consider whenever we replace any task with generative AI tools, like ChatGPT. Polishing and refining your writing is one of those tasks! Since we don’t want to end up like these guys, let’s review some simple steps you can take to cut words from your college essay without using AI.

Why does it matter if I use AI to cut words from my college essays?

You might be thinking, Listen, I’ll never have to slice and dice essays like this again, so might as well have ChatGPT do it! But trimming words isn’t about that—it’s about being able to look at what you wrote and decide what is and isn’t most important, both on a macro and micro level. And that’s a skill you’ll need when writing effective cover letters, resumes, and professional emails, not to mention college papers, technical reports, marketing materials, presentations, etc. Just because you can create a three-page resume doesn’t mean you should. Just because you don’t have a time limit for that work presentation doesn’t mean you should commandeer the entire morning. You get the picture.

In short, the art of focused, concise communication is, well, an art, which means it takes lots of practice.

Okay, but…is it unethical to use AI to trim words?

It depends. If you’re using AI to trim 10-15 words or less, and you specifically ask it not to change your phrasing, that’s typically okay. You’ll be missing out on the skill of doing it yourself, but it’s not an ethical issue, per se.

However, if you have to cut 50, 100, 200 words or more….then yes, using AI could be an ethical issue. AI can’t cut that many words for you without changing your phrasing. As a result, entire sentences and even paragraphs will be AI-generated, which dilutes your unique voice and writing style, and is way more obvious than you think.

Let’s take a look at an example. I asked ChatGPT to cut 10 words from my opening paragraph without changing my phrasing. Here is the result:

ChatGPT’s Cuts (10 words):

Sometimes I think: What would happen if Apple Maps disappeared tomorrow!? This thought is typically followed by low-key panic—“Awesome, I have absolutely zero navigational skills! I will be useless during the apocalypse!”—and a healthy level of self-annoyance. Although I managed to navigate from New England to Florida using a paper map fifteen years ago, my skills have been free-falling off a cliff since 2014, the year I finally stopped printing directions off MapQuest and caved to my smartphone. Upside? I spend zero time thinking about how I’m going to get somewhere. Downside? It now takes me longer to not only memorize directions but also troubleshoot traffic, accidents, or construction. I also have little concept of how different streets or roads connect, or the various shortcuts I can take if I miss a turn. Yikes!

To accomplish this, ChatGPT deleted words like absolutely, only, approximately, the year, significantly, also, and various. We’ll talk about this in a minute, but emphasis words should be some of the first to go if you need to cut.

Now, let’s see what happens when I ask it to cut 100 words from the first two paragraphs:

ChatGPT’s Cuts (100 words):

Sometimes I think: What would happen if Apple Maps disappeared tomorrow!? That thought is usually followed by mild panic—“Awesome, I have zero navigational skills! I’ll be useless during the apocalypse!”—and a healthy dose of self-annoyance. I mean, I once drove from New England to Florida with nothing but a paper map, but my sense of direction has been free-falling since 2014, when I stopped printing MapQuest directions and gave in to my smartphone.

Upside? I spend zero time worrying about how to get somewhere. Downside? It now takes me longer to memorize directions or adjust when traffic or construction throws me off. I barely understand how streets connect anymore—or which shortcuts to take if I miss a turn. Yikes.

It makes sense, though. I’ve stopped actively navigating. I turn off that part of my brain, turn on my music, and let the map take over. The same thing happens with generative AI: use ChatGPT too much, and your writing muscles get rusty. So today, we’re talking simple ways to trim your college essay—no AI required.

I bolded the sentences that ChatGPT changed significantly. It’s not that these sentences sound bad, but they don’t sound like me. Most importantly, though, I now have personally written less than half of this excerpt.

Additionally, ChatGPT ends many of its responses with more questions, making it easy to get carried away. Every time you say “yes” to questions like, “Would you like me to make it flow a little more conversationally (closer to blog or essay tone) or keep it tight and professional for instructional use?” or  “Would you like me to make a slightly more polished editorial version (same word count cut, but tuned for publication style or essay pacing)?” your natural voice gets diluted. It’s a slippery slope.

How to Cut Words From a College Essay Without Using AI

If you’re wondering how to cut words from your college essay without using AI, I’ve got lots of tips for you, organized by how many words you need to cut, and plenty of examples. Let’s dive in!

How to Cut 200+ Words from a College Essay

When you need to trim 200 words or more, it’s usually necessary to make some content cuts. This means finding and removing any insights, examples, or context that aren’t driving your essay toward its final takeaway. (Unclear about your final takeaway? Check out 10 Instructive Common App Essay Examples.)

Questions to Ask Yourself:

• Where do I wander away from the theme, provide too much backstory, etc.? Digression is natural, especially when you’re writing about yourself. However, just because a piece of information is personally important to you doesn’t mean it’s important to this particular essay. Think about what is most critical for the reader to understand.
• How many examples have I included? Which are the most effective? Least effective? Try cutting the least effective example(s), and see how your essay sounds without them.
• Have I structured my essay in the best way? Every story has a narrative arc, and where you start within that arc—and how you’d like it to conclude—determines how much context and backstory you’ll need to provide. A different starting point may naturally cut large chunks of text.

How to Cut 100+ words from a College Essay

If you’re a fairly economical writer, you’ll likely need some larger-level content cuts (see above). However, if your language is more lyrical and you like to digress, you might be able to trim 100+ words by taking a closer look at how your ideas are expressed on a paragraph or sentence level.

A word of caution before we proceed…

Preserve your reflection! Please!

Your reflection is the most important part of your essay. It’s where we learn the most about you as the applicant, and where you set yourself apart from other applicants by sharing your unique perspective, values, and worldview.

We often see students try to preserve their introduction at the expense of their conclusion. It makes sense—choosing an intro is hard, and if you’ve made yours especially vivid or immersive, it can be hard to cut. However, your final few paragraphs are what your reader will be left with, so as you make paragraph and sentence-level cuts, start from the top and work your way down, keeping an eye out for:

1) Paragraphs with too much information.

Providing too many details is not hard to do, especially when describing a scene. For example:

Original: After I got ready, my mom drove me to the school. There were so many cars in the parking lot that she had to drop me off down the street. When I got inside, the auditorium was crowded. Colorful posters adorned the walls and streamers hung from the ceiling. Black folding chairs were set up in rows on the stage and reminded me of the folding chairs my mom kept in the basement for birthday parties, although it had been years since we used them. The bright lights felt harsh, and my clothes felt scratchy.  (95 words)

If this essay is ultimately about learning how to feel more comfortable in crowded spaces, the author can likely remove or trim the sentences about getting to the school. They might also remove the detail about the folding chairs being infrequently used for home birthday parties unless it serves a specific purpose.

Revised: The auditorium was crowded. Colorful posters adorned the walls, streamers hung from the ceiling, and black folding chairs were set up in rows on the stage. The bright lights felt harsh, and my clothes felt scratchy.  (36 words)

2) Similar sentences.

Look for sentences that describe the same idea, feeling, object, setting, or moment. Then, try to combine the most important information. For example:

Original: There were so many cars in the parking lot. Every space was taken, and some cars were double-parked or on the grass. Other cars were circling endlessly. (27 words)

Essentially, all of these three sentences tell us either directly or indirectly that so many cars are in the parking lot. Combining them might look like this:

Revised: When we arrived, every parking space was taken, and some cars were double-parked or on the grass. (17 words)

3) Broad or vague phrasing.

This type of phrasing is rife in AI-generated essays, which tend to feature quite a few “filler” sentences that don’t impart anything of value. To save words, improve your writing, and distance yourself from AI suspicions, prioritize direct, specific language. For example:

Original: After having some struggles sophomore year, I wanted to make a difference in people’s stress levels, especially before finals, so I started a therapy dog initiative that was a lot more work than I thought, especially when it came to setting everything up and dealing with issues I hadn’t anticipated. These issues included many meetings with the superintendent and dog handlers, and, hardest of all, figuring out how to address student allergies. (72 words)

Revised: After sophomore year AP exams, I decided to start Test Friends, a therapy dog initiative, to reduce my classmates’ testing stress. Although it required weeks of meetings with the district superintendent and local dog handlers, the most complex part was addressing student allergies. (44 words)

How to Cut Under 100 words from a College Essay

If you’re at the point where you feel that all your sentences are necessary, focus on how they’re constructed:

1) Use precise verbs.

Be on the lookout for phrasal verbs and continuous tenses, which are often overused:

• Phrasal verbs are typically composed of a verb + a preposition that, together, create a new verb. Examples include put up, put off, took off, look up to, etc.
• Continuous tenses are composed of a “to be” verb plus the present participle, or “-ing” form, of a verb, like was going, were playing, am doing, etc.

Sometimes, these constructions are necessary, but it’s good to go through your essay with a fine-tooth comb, looking for perpetrators like these:

Original: I was putting up fliers on telephone poles. (8 words) Revised: I taped fliers to telephone poles. (6 words)

Original: I found myself putting off assignments. (6 words) Revised: I started delaying assignments. (4 words)

Original: I always looked up to my older sister. (8 words) Revised: I always idolized my older sister. (6 words)

Original: We were going to go play at the playground down the street, but decided to go to Sarah’s house instead. (20 words) Revised: Instead of playing at the playground, we went to Sarah’s house. (11 words)

Original: I was trying to figure out how we could work together as a team. (14 words) Revised: I brainstormed how we could work together as a team. (10 words)

2) Shift to active voice, when appropriate.

Similar to “Show don’t tell,” this piece of writing advice often feels annoyingly vague. To identify passive voice, students are often taught to look for sentences that contain the “to be” verb + past participle, which is helpful, but passive voice is more of a grammatical concept than a particular sentence construction, as we review in this blog post. Essentially, the grammatical subject of your sentence receives the action vs. performs the action, which results in wordier, less energetic sentences. For example:

Passive: The plants were watered by me. (6 words)

Active: I watered the plants. (4 words)

Passive: My research study on pond water was inspired during my internship with the Department of Forestry. (16 words)

Active: My Department of Forestry internship inspired my research study on pond water. (12 words)

3) Reduce “I” sentences.

Since the essay is written in the first person from your perspective, we are going to assume the observations are yours. Some “I” sentences are necessary, of course, but too many can make your essay feel repetitive and cluttered. Look for spots where you use “I” multiple times in one sentence or in back-to-back sentences, like this:

Original: I was walking down the street when I saw a woman in front of me. I noticed that she was putting up flyers on every telephone pole. I wondered what she was doing. (33 words)

Revised: While walking to the store, I noticed a woman putting up flyers on every telephone pole. What was she doing? (20 words)

4) Evaluate prepositional phrases.

Prepositional phrases begin with prepositions like before, during, in, at, through, on, of, under, with, etc., and typically communicate where something or someone is in space and or time, as we review in this blog post. However, too many prepositional phrases can clutter a sentence. For example:

Original: After breakfast, I noticed a car on the side of the road in front of my house. (17 words)

Revised: After breakfast, I noticed a strange car parked outside. (9 words)

5) Cut unnecessary adjectives or adverbs.

Adjectives and adverbs can add essential color or context to your writing, but are often overused. To start, look for “stacked” adjectives or adverbs that have similar meanings, and choose just one that you feel is most evocative. For example:

Original: It was a gray, rainy day, and I was driving to work, feeling tired, run-down, and burnt out. (18 words)

Revised: It was raining hard as I drove to work, feeling burnt out. (12 words)

6) Use emphasis words sparingly.

Emphasis words include really, very, absolutely, incredibly, extremely, etc. Some are okay, but if used too frequently, they’ll be distracting and ineffectual. You can simply cut them, or try using more precise adjectives or adverbs. For example:

Original: I was really happy when my club received approval, and felt extremely lucky that our hard work paid off. (19 words)

Revised: When my club received approval, I felt ecstatic that our hard work paid off. (14 words)

Final Thoughts

Using AI to cut words from your college essay may not seem like a big deal. Using Apple Maps might not, either—until your smartphone glitches and you can’t get to the grocery store.

Writing is a foundational skill that you’ll use for a lifetime, so it’s always in your best interest to develop and preserve it.

Working on a college essay that you just can’t seem to get right? Book a free consult today to see how our essay coaches can help you produce the best possible version of your work.