College essay formats were designed to standardize papers, therefore, to make the process of their grading easier and more transparent. Now teachers have a list of requirements on the basis of which they decide whether you deserve an A or a B or even a lower grade.
 
Let us discuss the peculiarities of two common college essay formats- APA and MLA. Certainly, there are other college essay formats that you can use, but it is recommended to stick to one of the writing styles mentioned above.
 
MLA college essay format - its guidelines
 
Comparing the requirements for MLA and APA college essay formats, it can be noticed that the MLA writing style’s list of guidelines is relatively shorter than the APA list. To be more precise, in the MLA college essay format you do not need to include a title page, instead, you should only reflect your name, the name of your professor, your course title and the date in the left upper corner of the page.
 
Both MLA and APA college essay formats have a page header, but according to the MLA requirements you are to write your last name and the page number in the upper right corner of the sheet. As for the in-text citations, their format is pretty similar in all college essay formats - you state the author’s last name and the page number in parentheses. Finally, your Works cited page should consist of the sources that you have used in your paper.
APA college essay format - its guidelines
 
This writing style will give you a harder time than the one described above, so think twice before you decide to stick to this college essay format. First of all, you will have to include a title page with a running head, a page header, your information and a full title of your paper. Then you need to write an abstract - a short summary of your college essay. Appropriate citing and relevant headings will be only a plus. Reference page should include the sources you have used, arranged in the alphabetical order by the author’s last name.
 
Always remember that a college essay format was actually designed to help you, not to make your life harder.