Should I Indent My Common App Essay?

When It Makes Sense

• Good fit: You are drafting your essay in a word processor and find indentation helps you visually organize paragraphs before pasting into the Common App. The indent itself may be preserved or lost when pasted, but using it as a drafting aid can support your writing process.
• Good fit: Your high school English teacher or counselor requires a formatted manuscript copy as a classroom assignment. In that case, indenting paragraphs in the submitted document makes sense for academic submission, even if the live Common App text box will not display it.

When You Should Avoid It

• Warning sign: You are relying on indentation as the only signal of a new paragraph in the Common App text box. If the platform strips or does not render the tab, your essay may appear as one dense block of text, which can hurt readability.
• Warning sign: You are spending significant time worrying about indentation instead of revising content, structure, or voice. Formatting nuances rarely influence admissions outcomes, so avoid it if it distracts from substantive editing.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Indentation is a conventional paragraph marker in formal writing, so it can signal polish and familiarity with manuscript standards during the drafting stage.
• When reading a printed or exported copy, indents can make paragraph boundaries clearer and improve visual flow for reviewers outside the Common App interface.

Cons

• The Common App text box may not preserve tab characters or paragraph indentation, so the final online version may look different from your original document.
• Over-focusing on formatting can divert attention from more impactful factors such as clarity, specificity, thematic focus, and proofreading.

Decision Checklist

• Will I use blank lines between paragraphs in the Common App text box as a reliable paragraph separator, regardless of whether I indent?
• Am I indenting because it genuinely improves readability, or because I am avoiding harder revision work on the essay itself?
• Have I previewed the pasted essay in the Common App preview screen to confirm how paragraphs appear before submission?

Alternatives to Consider

Most applicants use a blank line between paragraphs in the Common App text box instead of indentation. This approach is widely readable and consistent across devices. Another option is to indent only in the draft or teacher-review version and then convert to line breaks before copying into the application. If you submit optional supplementary writing samples elsewhere, you can follow the formatting rules of that specific submission portal.

Final Recommendation

Indentation is optional and usually invisible in the Common App. The safest, most practical approach is to separate paragraphs with a blank line in the online application text box and use indentation only if required by a classroom or print-copy format. Focus your effort on strong content and careful proofreading. If you have a high-stakes admissions decision or specific formatting requirement from your counselor, consult that professional directly.