TOP 7 essay outline templates for college writing

By Published Writing Guides

The practice is the only way to master the art of essay writing. If you are passionate to improve your essay writing skills, this guide is going to be extremely helpful. You can make your essay stand out in the whole college if you follow the guidelines thoroughly.

The process of essay writing is simple and has a basic structure of introduction, body and conclusion. Here we will provide you top 10 essay outline templates for college writing. But let us first tell you about the dos and don’ts of essay writing.

How to write the best college essay yourself?

First of all, you must have a clear understanding of the topic you are trying to develop. Although you may want to jump straight into your college essay, you should know exactly what is being asked of you before you start writing a paper.

Read the outline or suggestions carefully and see what type of essay your teacher asks you to write if they indicate a minimum number of words and how much research is required.

These are some things you should be very clear about before you start:

Amount of words: If your essay only needs to be 500 words, it will be very different from an essay that needs to be 2,000 words. You must know the word requirement and keep it to the letter or vary a maximum of 10%. It would help if you did not write an essay much longer or much shorter than what was asked of you.
Amount of research required: Some subjects require you to write an essay based on your research. Others will request that you use course materials, such as novels or textbooks, as the basis for your work and draw your conclusions. However, almost every good essay is supported by solid research.

If you have any questions, check with your teacher to clarify any doubts you may have before the work delivery date.

Do’s and Don’ts of Essay writing

Let us first discuss the do’s:

Do follow the format of essay writing.
Do use the formal tone for essay writing.
Do use transition words to maintain the flow.
Do provide the evidences in essay body.
Do use simple sentences.
Do use present tense in your paragraphs.
Do make essay easy to read and understandable.
Do include your thesis statement in the beginning and ending.

Don’ts:

Don’t drag the essay with unnecessary information.
Don’t ignore formatting.
Do not rely entirely on proofreading apps.
Don’t address the reader.
Don’t create suspense.
Don’t include complex phrases and words.

Importance of essay outline

Writing an essay outline is one of the important step of essay writing process. It helps you to build the whole essay smoothly. Moreover, it also organizes your ideas and plays the role of a step-by-step guide in writing your essay and bringing your thoughts on paper. Some of an essay outlines you can use and for research paper outlines.

1.Basic Essay writing Template

Introduction

Thesis statement

Body

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2
Optional

Paragraph 2

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2
Optional

Paragraph 3

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2
Optional

Conclusion

2. Argumentative Essay Outline Template (like for 5-paragraph)

Argumentative essay has a series of statements and the literature has evidences to prove the arguments.

Introduction

Background Information (basic information about topic and point of agreement)
Thesis statement (states the position to be agreed in the essay)

Body

Reasons to support the thesis statement / argument 1.

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2

Reasons to support the thesis statement / argument 2.

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2

Reasons to support the thesis statement / argument 3.

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2

Counter reasons and responses to them.

Mention the opposing argument.
Refuse the opposing argument.

Conclusion

3. Popular college Essay Outline Template

The college essay outline template is most written and the outline is also basic.

Introduction

Thesis statement

Body

Paragraph 1

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2
Optional

Paragraph 2

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2
Optional

Paragraph 3

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2
Optional

Conclusion

4. MLA format essay outline template

Or MLA formatting you need to write the essay in.

Times New Roman
12 Font size
Double spacing
1” margin
Title case capitalization of heading
½ indent of new paragraph
MLA citation

Name:
Professor name:
Subject:
Date:
Essay Title

Introduction

Thesis statement

Body

Paragraph 1

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2
Optional

Paragraph 2

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2
Optional

Paragraph 3

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2
Optional

Conclusion

5. GRE issue essay outline template

The introduction of GRE should include statements like regarding this issue, he presents the argument to suggest, recently etc.

Introduction

Thesis statement

Body

Paragraph 1

Lack of evidence to support argument (4-6 sentences)

Paragraph 2

Weak evidence (4-6 sentences)

Paragraph 3

Vague language (4-6 sentences)

Paragraph 4

How to strengthen (2-3 lines)

Conclusion

1-2 essays

6. 5 paragraph essay outline template

Introduction

Background Information (basic information about topic and point of agreement)
Thesis statement (states the position to be agreed in the 5-paragraph essay)

Body

Reasons to support the thesis statement / argument 1.

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2

Reasons to support the thesis statement / argument 2.

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2

Reasons to support the thesis statement / argument 3.

Supporting evidence 1
Supporting evidence 2

Counter reasons and responses to them.

Mention the opposing argument.
Refuse the opposing argument.

Conclusion

7. Compare and Contrast essay outline template

As the name explain these essays are based on the comparison of two things.

Compare

Similarly
Likewise
also
both… and…
not only… but also…
neither… nor…
just like (+ noun)
similar to (+ noun)
to be similar (to)
to be the same as
to be alike
to compare (to/with)

Compare Essay Examples

Computers can be used to communicate easily, for example via email. Similarly/Likewise, the mobile phone is a convenient tool for communication.
Both computers and mobile phones can be used to communicate easily with other people.
Just like the computer, the mobile phone can be used to communicate easily with other people.
The computer is similar to the mobile phone in the way it can be used for easy communication.

Contrast

However
In contrast
In comparison
By comparison
On the other hand
while
whereas
but
to differ from
to be different (from)
to be dissimilar to
to be unlike

Contrast Essay Examples

Computers, although increasingly small, are not always easy to carry from one place to another. However, the mobile phone can be carried with ease.
Computers are generally not very portable, whereas the mobile phone is.
Computers differ from mobile phones in their lack of portability.
Computers are unlike mobile phones in their lack of portability.

Conclusion

There are various formats of essay writing. Some of them were mentioned above we hope they were helpful.

Ten tips for getting started in college essays

Consider the purpose of the essay. A personal statement helps separate college applicants. Done correctly tells the college why one student should be accepted versus another who has similar grades and test scores. Thus, the goal is to use the essay to position the student as someone who will contribute something of value to the school.
Select the topic of the college essay. Students should read the topics carefully and then choose a question that will reveal something personal and positive about themselves, such as their thinking, values, strengths, or diverse experiences.
Check out the general application tips. There are seven general application tips to choose from. These are comprehensive, open-ended questions designed to encourage reflection and writing.
Narrow the focus. Everything can’t fit into the essay, so students shouldn’t try. This is not an autobiography—narrow your focus to a specific experience, interest, or activity. Then try to tell the college admissions staff what they don’t already know. A personal statement should add something about you to your application that isn’t obvious elsewhere.
Write and keep writing. Students should use whatever writing process suits them, regardless of the number of words in the first draft.
Start with the hook: The opening of the essay should grab the reader’s attention.
Show, don’t tell. Admissions officials want to see that what is stated in the essay has happened. Students must demonstrate through examples or anecdotes that what they say about themselves in the essay is genuine.
Revise and edit. Get your essay to the word limit and then show it to other people. These other people may include parents, teachers, and counsellors. Families should also consider working with an experienced college counsellor with proofreading experience and knowledge of the admissions process to provide feedback. Nothing should confuse the reader, and there should be no gaps in the information.
Proofreading: check and recheck. Start early so you can submit on time: In addition to a personal application, several colleges ask applicants to submit one or more additional writing samples.
Take care of your tone. The tone is another crucial aspect of writing a great college essay. It would help if you achieved in your essays that your tone sounds professional, objective and informative. If you use very biased language to sound very convincing about your research, you will not sound authoritative. If you use straightforward phrases, you will not sound professional.
However, if you are writing a personal essay (such as writing an autobiography), you can use more comfortable and informal language. It can be objective, funny, slightly cynical, suspicious, or a little more passionate. Whatever the tone, it has to be appropriate to the subject. For example, if you write an essay about stem cells, your tone should be objective and disinterested; If you’re writing one about dating online, you could use a funnier, more relaxed tone.

Structure of an essay

We can define an essay in three parts according to its structure: introduction, development and conclusion, but what should each of them contain?

Introduction: This part should represent approximately 10% of the essay’s length and should perfectly summarize the topic that the author is going to deal with throughout the essay. In the introduction, the argumentative line that will be carried out in the rest of the parts of the essay will be reflected.
Development: It is the central part of the essay and, therefore, the one that should occupy the largest area, precisely around 80%. In this part, the author will present his ideas and arguments, citing other authors, magazines or reference books on the chosen subject. The main ideas and arguments that position the author on this topic will be presented. All explanations must be related to each other and are well cohesive.
Conclusion: The remaining 10% of the length of the trial corresponds to the conclusion. In this part, the author should summarize the most important ideas of all the text he wrote previously. What’s more, you should highlight the ideas that help you position yourself so that you can quickly know the author’s position.

Wrapping up

The task of writing a college-level essay can seem a bit complicated, especially if you don’t inspire and organized enough to develop your thoughts. Equally, this should not worry you; with simple planning, research work, plus some perseverance and dedication, you will find yourself in a position to start writing your university essays in a short time.

All essays must begin with an introduction, in which your main points to be developed will be established; from here, you must capture the reader’s attention and implant your thesis. This will be the main point you will be discussing in your essay. If you want to know how to start a college essay, follow these steps. Need professional writing help? Choose a good essay service from our homepage.

Even though we are in isolation, academic tasks are still valid, and essays are a type of text that your teachers highly request. If this is your case, consider the following tips on how to do a well-structured academic essay. Although the first thing to be exact about to be able to write an essay is the structure, it is not only about that, since other factors influence its quality.