Here’s a tip: Keep it simple. According to the website Live Science .com, papers that feature long words and complicated font styles actually make the writer seem LESS intelligent. Why? Because these are two things students do when they’re trying to “pad” their work.

Dr. Daniel Oppenheimer is a professor of psychology at Princeton University. He conducted 5 separate experiments on how people respond to different font and vocabulary styles. And he found that simple writing done in an easy to read font – like the standard New Times Roman – made the author seem more intelligent. Oppenheimer says anything that makes a paper hard to read and understand - such as unnecessarily long words or complicated fonts - lowers the readers’ evaluation of both the material and the writer. Now, he’s not saying it’s necessarily bad to use long words – the problem comes when you start using them needlessly. The bottom line? Whether it’s a term paper or a college application, Oppenheimer says the simpler you keep it, the smarter you’ll seem.