The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated existing mental health struggles in the undergraduate population. Expressive writing is a low-intensity intervention effective in helping individuals process stress, trauma, and loss. The present study investigated the short-term efficacy of two distinct writing interventions in alleviating COVID-related distress among undergraduate students. The study also characterized common stressors experienced by college students during COVID-19. Participants were randomized to either the expressive writing condition or to a control writing condition that resembles the positive writing paradigm. Both groups decreased in COVID-related stress and depression but showed no changes in affect at two-week post-intervention. The two groups did not differ in the extent of improvement. Low-stressed participants benefited more from positive control writing, whereas highly distressed individuals experienced more notable improvements in stress from expressive writing. These findings suggest that positive writing may be a better resource for coping with COVID stress and loss than the traditional expressive writing approach for less distressed individuals. When a stressor is ongoing, engaging in exposure-based intervention may be counterproductive. The current study speaks to the need to re-evaluate the broad application of exposure-based interventions targeting COVID-related distress.