College essay clichés, counted in 1402 essays
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In 1402 personal statements submitted to NudgeEssay, essays rated close to a familiar story shape averaged 47.3% of our rubric, while essays that fit no familiar shape averaged 66.3%. Clichéd first lines mattered far less: 11.1% opened with a quotation and scored about average.
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Snapshot of , 1402 essays. Counted from the database, never typed. Ratings are our AI reader’s, on self-selected drafts.
How close essays sit to a familiar story, and how they scored
| Rating | Essays | Avg score |
|---|---|---|
| Medium risk | 606 | 56.4% |
| Low risk of reading as a familiar story | 507 | 63.7% |
| Fits no familiar story shape | 209 | 66.3% |
| High risk of reading as a familiar story | 81 | 47.3% |
Our reader's rating of how much the essay reads like a story admissions readers see often.
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Clichéd first and last lines
| Pattern | Essays | Share | Avg score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opens with a quotation | 155 | 11.1% | 61.2% |
| Opens with a question | 75 | 5.3% | 60.8% |
| "Taught me that" in the last lines | 77 | 5.5% | 59.4% |
| "I am ready" / "I can't wait" to close | 22 | 1.6% | 55.8% |
Text patterns in the first or last lines. All essays averaged 60%. Patterns in fewer than 20 essays are not shown.
The topic patterns behind these ratings are counted on the most common college essay topics page.
How these were counted
Counted from NudgeEssay’s own database on October 15, 2026 by read-only queries that return totals only: no essay text, no names, no single essay. Essays uploaded August 20, 2026 to October 15, 2026. Rules: undergraduate college essays only (graduate and law essays excluded); excludes NudgeEssay's own, admin and test accounts, and essays we reviewed from public posts; first read of each distinct essay text only (repeat uploads and re-reads of a revised draft removed, except on the revision page); any group is shown only when 20 or more essays share it.
- Every rating is NudgeEssay's AI reader's judgement, not an admissions office's.
- The essays are self-selected: people who chose to get a review. They are not all applicants.
- Most are drafts, not final submissions.
- An average score beside a group shows the two go together, not that one causes the other.
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- What memorable college essays do differently
- When students work on their college essays
- How much a revised draft improves
- College essay statistics
- The most common college essay topics
Questions
- What are the most common college essay clichés?
- In 1402 personal statements, the most common clichéd opener was opens with a quotation (11.1%). Our reader also rated how close each essay sits to a familiar story shape, like the sports-injury comeback or the mission-trip epiphany: 5.8% were rated high risk.
- Do clichés hurt a college essay?
- Essays our reader rated high risk of reading as a familiar story averaged 47.3% of our rubric; essays that fit no familiar shape averaged 66.3%. A clichéd opening line mattered much less than a clichéd story shape. This is an association in self-selected drafts.
- Should I start my college essay with a quote?
- 11.1% of essays did, and they averaged 61.2%, about the same as everyone else (60%). A quote is not a penalty, but it is also not a hook: the first line of your own is what gets read.