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College Essays

If you're applying to more than one or two colleges, there's a good chance you'll have to use the Common Application, and that means you'll probably have to write a Common App essay .

In this guide, I'll cover everything you need to know about the essay. I'll break down every single Common App essay prompt by going over the following:

• What is the question asking?
• What do college admissions officers want to hear from you?
• What topics can you write about effectively?
• What should you avoid at all costs?

This will be your complete starting guide for Common App essays. After reading this, you should have a lot of ideas for your own essays and directions to write a really strong personal statement .

What Is the Common App Essay? Overview

Before we dig into the nitty-gritty of the individual prompts, let's quickly go over the logistics of the Common App essay and some general tips to keep in mind.

Most—but Not All—Schools Require the Essay

Keep in mind that the Common App essay is optional for some schools.

Here are a few examples of schools that do not require the Common App essay (note that some may require a school-specific writing supplement instead):

• Arizona State University
• Clemson University
• DePaul University
• Eastern Michigan University
• Georgia State University
• Old Dominion University
• Pratt Institute
• University of Idaho

If you're applying to more than one or two schools through the Common App, you'll almost certainly need to write a response to the Common App prompts. As such, we recommend sending your essay to schools even if they don't explicitly require it. You're writing it anyways, and it's the best way for the school to get to know you as a person.

It's also worth noting that because of the way this system is set up, you could theoretically send a different essay to each school. However, doing so isn't a good use of your time : if schools want to know something more specific about you, they'll require a supplement. Focus on writing a single great personal statement.

Pay Attention to the Word Limit

The exact word limit for the Common App essay has varied somewhat over the years, but the current range is 250-650 words . You must stay within this length; in fact, the online application won't allow you to submit fewer than 250 words or more than 650.

Some schools will state that if this isn't enough space, you can send them a physical copy of your essay. Don't do this. No matter how tempting it might be, stick to the word limit . Otherwise, you risk seeming self-indulgent.

In general, we advise shooting for an essay between 500 and 650 words long . You want to have enough space to really explore one specific idea, but you don't need to include everything. Editing is an important part of the essay-writing process, after all!

Don't Stress Too Much About the Question

As you'll see, the Common App prompts are very general and leave a lot of room for interpretation.

Moreover, colleges interpret the questions generously —they're more concerned with learning something interesting about you than with whether your topic perfectly fits the question.

Per a Common App survey from 2015 , 85% of member schools " feel the prompts should be left open to broad interpretation."

You can write about almost anything and make it work, so if you have an idea, don't let the fact that it doesn't fit neatly into one of these categories stop you. Treat these breakdowns as jumping-off points to help you start brainstorming , not the final word in how you need to approach the essay.

Make Sure You Look at This Year's Prompts

The Common App changes its prompts fairly frequently , so make sure you're familiar with the most up-to-date versions of the Common App essay questions . If you have friends or siblings who applied in past years, don't assume that you can take the exact same approaches they did.

This guide will go over the details of all seven current prompts, but first let's talk about some overall advice.

4 Tips For Finding Your Best Common App Essay Topic

As you're brainstorming and preparing to write your Common App essay, you'll want to keep these tips in mind.

#1: Make It Personal

The point of a personal statement is to, well, make a personal statement , that is to say, tell the reader something about yourself . As such, your topic needs to be something meaningful to you.

What does it mean for a topic to be "meaningful to you"?

First, it means that you genuinely care about the topic and want to write your college essay on it— no one ever wrote a great essay on a topic that they felt they had to write about .

Second, it means that the topic shows off a quality or trait you want to highlight for the admissions committee . For example, say I wanted to write about my summer job with the Parks Department. It's not enough to simply tell a story about my feud with a raccoon that kept destroying all the progress I made repairing a bench; I would need to make it clear what that experience ;shows about my character (perseverance) and explain what it ;taught me (that there are some things in life you simply can't control).

Remember that the most important thing is that your essay is about you . This advice might sound obvious, but when you're used to writing academic essays, it can be tricky to dive deep into your own perspective.

#2: Take Your Time

Give yourself plenty of time to brainstorm and write so you don't feel rushed into jotting down the first thing you can come up with and sending it right off. We recommend starting the writing process two months in advance of your first college application deadline .

On a similar note, you should take the essay seriously: it's an important part of your application and worth investing the time in to get right. If you just dash something off thoughtlessly, admissions officers will recognize that and consider it evidence that you aren't really interested in their school.

#3: Avoid Repetition

Your essay should illustrate something about you beyond what's in the rest of your application . Try to write about a topic you haven't talked about elsewhere, or take a different angle on it.

A college essay is not a resume —it's the best opportunity to show off your unique personality to admissions committees. Pick your topic accordingly.

#4: Get Specific

The best topics are usually the narrowest ones: essays focused on a single interaction, a single phrase, or a single object. The more specific you can get, the more unique your topic will be to you.

Lots of people have tried out for a school play, for example, but each had their own particular experience of doing so. One student saw trying out for the role of Hamlet as the culmination of many years of study and hard work and was devastated not to get it, while another was simply proud to have overcome her nerves enough to try out for the chorus line in West Side Story . These would make for very different essays, even though they're on basically the same topic.

Another benefit of a specific topic is that it makes coming up with supporting details much easier. Specific, sensory details make the reader feel as if they're seeing the experience through your eyes, giving them a better sense of who you are.

Take a look at this example sentence:

General: I was nervous as I waited for my turn to audition.

Specific: As I waited for my name to be called, I tapped the rhythm of "America" on the hard plastic chair, going through the beats of my audition song over and over in my head.

The first version could be written by almost anyone; the second version has a specific perspective—it's also intriguing and makes you want to know more.

The more specific your essay topic is, the more clearly your unique voice will come through and the more engaging your essay will be.

Breaking Down the 2022-23 Common App Essay Prompts

Now that we've established the basic ideas you need to keep in mind as you brainstorm, let's go through the 2022-23 Common App essay questions one at a time and break down what admissions committees are looking for in responses.

Keep in mind that for each of these questions, there are really two parts . The first is describing something you did or something that happened to you. The second is explaining what that event, action, or activity means to you . No essay is complete without addressing both sides of the topic.

Common App Essay Prompt 1: A Key Piece of Your Story

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

What Is It Asking?

This prompt is very broad. Is there something you do or love, or something that happened to you, that isn't reflected elsewhere in your application but that you feel is vital to your personal story ? Then this prompt could be a good one for you.

The key is that whatever you write about needs to be genuinely important to you personally, not just something you think will look good to the admissions committee. You need to clarify why this story is so important that you couldn't leave it off your application.

What Do They Want to Know?

This question is really about showing admissions officers how your background has shaped you . Can you learn and grow from your experiences?

By identifying an experience or trait that is vital to your story, you're also showing what kind of person you see yourself as. Do you value your leadership abilities or your determination to overcome challenges? Your intellectual curiosity or your artistic talent?

Everyone has more than one important trait, but in answering this prompt, you're telling admissions officers what you think is your most significant quality .

What Kinds of Topics Could Work?

You could write about almost anything for this prompt: an unexpected interest, a particularly consuming hobby, a part of your family history, or a life-changing event. Make sure to narrow in on something specific, though. You don't have room to tell your whole life story!

Your topic can be serious or silly, as long as it's important to you. Just remember that it needs to showcase a deeper quality of yours.

For example, if I were writing an essay on this topic, I would probably write about my life-long obsession with books. I'd start with a story about how my parents worried I read too much as a kid, give some specific examples of things I've learned from particular books, and talk about how my enthusiasm for reading was so extreme it sometimes interfered with my actual life (like the time I tripped and fell because I couldn't be bothered to put down my book long enough to walk from my room to the kitchen).

Then I would tie it all together by explaining how my love of reading has taught me to look for ideas in unexpected places.

What Should You Avoid?

You don't want your essay to read like a resume: it shouldn't be a list of accomplishments. Your essay needs to add something to the rest of your application, so it also shouldn't focus on something you've already covered unless you have a really different take on it.

In addition, try to avoid generic and broad topics: you don't want your essay to feel as though it could've been written by any student.

As we touched on above, one way to avoid this problem is to be very  specific —rather than writing generally about your experience as the child of immigrants, you might tell a story about a specific family ritual or meaningful moment.

Common App Essay Prompt 2: Coping With Obstacles

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

This prompt is pretty straightforward. It's asking you to describe a challenge or obstacle you faced or a time you failed, and how you dealt with it .

The part many students forget is the second half: what lessons did you learn from your challenge or failure ? If you take on this question, you must show how you grew from the experience and, ideally, how you incorporated what you learned into other endeavors.

This question really raises two issues: how you handle difficult situations and whether you're capable of learning from your mistakes.

You'll face a lot of challenges in college, both academic and social. In addressing this prompt, you have the opportunity to show admissions officers that you can deal with hardships without just giving up .

You also need to show that you can learn from challenges and mistakes. Can you find a positive lesson in a negative experience? Colleges want to see an example of how you've done so.

Good topics will be specific and have a clearly explained impact on your perspective . You need to address both parts of the question: the experience of facing the challenge and what you learned from it.

However, almost any kind of obstacle, challenge, or failure—large or small—can work:

• Doing poorly at a job interview and how that taught you to deal with nerves
• Failing a class and how retaking it taught you better study skills
• Directing a school play when the set collapsed and how it taught you to stay cool under pressure and think on your feet

Make sure you pick an actual failure or challenge—don't turn your essay into a humblebrag. How you failed at procrastination because you're just so organized or how you've been challenged by the high expectations of teachers at school because everyone knows you are so smart are not appropriate topics.

Also, don't write about something completely negative . Your response needs to show that you got something out of your challenge or failure and that you've learned skills you can apply to other situations.

Spilling your coffee is not an appropriate failure, no matter how disastrous it may feel.

Common App Essay Prompt 3: Challenging a Belief

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

There are two ways to approach this question. The first is to talk about a time you questioned a person or group on an idea of theirs. The second is to talk about a time that something caused you to reconsider a belief of your own.

In either case, you need to explain why you decided the belief should be challenged, what you actually did —if your story is just that someone gave you a new piece of information and you changed your mind, you should probably find a different topic— and how you feel about your actions in hindsight .

The obvious question this prompt raises is what your values are and whether you're willing to stand up for what you believe . Whether you've reconsidered your own beliefs or asked others to reconsider theirs, it shows you've put genuine thought into what you value and why.

However, colleges also want to see that you're open minded and able to be fair and kind toward those who have different beliefs than you do. Can you question someone else's beliefs without belittling them? If not, don't choose this prompt.

This prompt is really one where you either have a relevant story or you don't . If there's a belief or idea that's particularly important to you, whether political or personal, this might be a good question for you to address.

The main pitfall with this question is that it lends itself to very abstract answers . It's not that interesting to read about how you used to believe chocolate is the best ice cream flavor but then changed your mind and decided the best flavor is actually strawberry. (Seriously, though, what is wrong with you!?) Make sure there's clear conflict and action in your essay.

Divisive political issues, such as abortion and gun rights, are tricky to write about (although not impossible) because people feel very strongly about them and often have a hard time accepting the opposite viewpoint. In general, I would avoid these kinds of topics unless you have a highly compelling story.

Also, keep in mind that most people who work at colleges are liberal, so if you have a conservative viewpoint, you'll need to tread more carefully. Regardless of what you're writing about, don't assume that the reader shares your views .

Finally, you want to avoid coming off as petty or inflexible , especially if you're writing about a controversial topic. It's great to have strong beliefs, but you also want to show that you're open to listening to other people's perspectives, even if they don't change your mind.

Common App Essay Prompt 4: Gratitude Reflection

Reflect on something that someone had done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

The first part is straightforward: describe a time someone did something positive for you that made you happy or thankful  in a surprising way.  So it can't have been something you expected to happen (i.e. your parents gave you the birthday present you were hoping for).

Next, you need to explain how that surprising gratitude affected or motivated you. So, what was the result of this positive feeling?  How did you keep it going?

This prompt helps admissions officers see both what your expectations are for certain situations and how you react when things go differently than expected. Did you take it in stride when you were pleasantly surprised? Were you too shocked to speak? Why? What about the situation wasn't what you were expecting?  Additionally, it shows them what you personally are grateful for. Gratitude is an important personal characteristic to have. What in life makes you thankful and happy? Your answer will show admissions officers a lot about what you value and how you think.

Finally—and this is the key part—they want to know the larger impact of this gratitude. Did you decide to pay it forward? Use it as motivation to better yourself/your world? When something good happens to you, how do you react?

Because this is a reflection prompt, it's a great way to show admissions officers the kind of person you are and what you value. You'll have a lot of surprising moments, both good and bad, in college, and they want to know how you deal with them and how you spread the happiness you come across.

You can choose any event, even a minor one, as long as your reaction is  unexpected happiness/gratefulness. The "unexpected" part is key. You need to choose a situation where things didn't go the way you expected. So if your uncle, who has always been a great mentor, gives you great advice, that likely won't work because you'd be expecting it.

Next, it had to have had some sort of real impact so you can explain how your gratefulness affected you. This means that, even if the event itself was small, it had to have brought about some sort of lasting change in how you live your life.

To start, brainstorm times when something went better than expected/you were happily surprised by an outcome/you were especially grateful/someone restored your faith in humanity. Remember, this has to be, overall, a positive situation, as you're being asked about an event that made you happy or grateful. This is in contrast to prompts 2 and 3 which focus more on challenges you've faced.

Once you have your list, eliminate any instances that didn't affect or motivate you. The key part of this prompt is explaining the impact of your gratitude, so you need to write about a time when gratitude made you do something you normally wouldn't have done. This could be focusing on self-care/self-improvement, paying it forward by helping someone else, shifting your values, etc. Colleges want to see how you changed because of this event.

For example, say you decide to write about your first time traveling through an airport alone. You're not sure where to go, and all the workers look busy and like they're just waiting for their break. You're wandering around, lost, too shy to ask someone for help, when a gruff-looking employee comes up and asks if you need something. When you admit you don't know how to find your gate, they take the time to walk you to it, show you which screen to watch so you know when to board, and tell you to come get them if you need any more help. It's much more help than you thought anyone would give you.

Because of that person's actions (and this is the key part), you now always keep an eye out for people who look lost or confused and try to help them because you know how intimidating it can be to be out of your depth. You also know that many times people feel embarrassed to ask for help, so you need to make the first move to help them. If you have a specific example of you helping someone in need as a result, including that will make the essay even stronger.

Avoid scenarios where you were the first person to help another. The prompt is asking about a time someone was kind to you, and  then  you reacted in response to that. You need to have the grateful moment first, then the change in behavior.

Additionally, avoid examples where someone treated you badly but you rose above it. This is a situation where someone was kind to you, and you decided to keep that kindness going.

Look at those dummies, solving a problem!

Common App Essay Prompt 5: Personal Growth and Maturity

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Like Prompt 1, this one is very general. It's asking you to talk about something you did or something that happened that caused you to grow or mature as a person.

The other key point to remember when addressing this question is that you need to explain how this event changed or enriched your understanding of yourself or other people.

In short: when and how have you grown as a person ? Personal growth and maturity are complicated issues. Your essay might touch on themes such as personal responsibility and your role in the world and your community.

You don't have to explain your whole worldview, but you need to give readers a sense of why this particular event caused significant growth for you as a person.

This prompt can also help you show either your own sense of self-concept or how you relate to others.

Much like Prompt 3, this question likely either appeals to you or doesn't . Nonetheless, here are some potential topics:

• A time you had to step up in your household
• A common milestone (such as voting for the first time or getting your driver's license) that was particularly meaningful to you
• A big change in your life, such as becoming an older sibling or moving to a new place

It's important that your topic describes a transition that led to real positive growth or change in you as a person .

However, personal growth is a gradual process, and you can definitely still approach this topic if you feel you have more maturing to do. (Fun fact: most adults feel they have more maturing to do, too!) Just focus on a specific step in the process of growing up and explain what it meant to you and how you've changed.

Almost any topic could theoretically make a good essay about personal growth, but it's important that the overall message conveys maturity . If the main point of your essay about junior prom is that you learned you look bad in purple and now you know not to wear it, you'll seem like you just haven't had a lot of meaningful growth experiences in your life.

You also want the personal growth and new understanding(s) you describe in your essay to be positive in nature . If the conclusion of your essay is "and that's how I matured and realized that everyone in the world is terrible," that's not going to work very well with admissions committees, as you'll seem pessimistic and unable to cope with challenges.

Common App Essay Prompt 6: Your Passion

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

This prompt is asking you to describe something you're intellectually passionate about .

But in addition to describing a topic of personal fascination and why you're so interested in it, you need to detail how you have pursued furthering your own knowledge of the topic . Did you undertake extra study? Hole yourself up in the library? Ask your math team coach for more practice problems?

Colleges want to admit students who are intellectually engaged with the world. They want you to show that you have a genuine love for the pursuit of knowledge .

Additionally, by describing how you've learned more about your chosen topic, concept, or idea, you can prove that you are self-motivated and resourceful .

Pretty much any topic you're really interested in and passionate about could make a good essay here, just as long as you can put can put an intellectual spin on it and demonstrate that you've gone out of your way to learn about the topic.

So It's fine to say that the topic that engages you most is football, but talk about what interests you in an academic sense about the sport. Have you learned everything there is to know about the history of the sport? Are you an expert on football statistics? Emphasize how the topic you are writing about engages your brain.

Don't pick something you don't actually care about just because you think it would sound good.

If you say you love black holes but actually hate them and tortured yourself with astronomy books in the library for a weekend to glean enough knowledge to write your essay, your lack of enthusiasm will definitely come through.

Common App Essay Prompt 7: Your Choice

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

You can write about anything for this one!

Since this is a choose-your-own-adventure prompt, colleges aren't looking for anything specific to this prompt .

However, you'll want to demonstrate some of the same qualities that colleges are looking for in all college essays: things like academic passion, maturity, resourcefulness, and persistence. What are your values? How do you face setbacks? These are all things you can consider touching on in your essay.

If you already have a topic in mind for this one that doesn't really fit with any of the other prompts, go for it!

Avoid essays that aren't really about you as a person. So no submitting your rhetorical close-reading of the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" you wrote for AP English!

However, if you want to write about the way that "Ode on a Grecian Urn" made you reconsider your entire approach to life, go ahead.

The Common App Essay Questions: 5 Key Takeaways

We've covered a lot of ground, but don't panic. I've collected the main ideas you should keep in mind as you plan your Common App essay below.

#1: A Prompt 1 Topic Must Go Beyond What's in the Rest of Your Application

For prompt 1, it's absolutely vital that your topic be something genuinely meaningful to you . Don't write about something just because you think it's impressive. Big achievements and leadership roles, such as serving as captain of a team or winning a journalism award, can certainly be used as topics, but only if you can explain why they mattered to you beyond that it was cool to be in charge or that you liked winning.

It's better if you can pick out something smaller and more individual , like helping your team rally after a particularly rough loss or laboring over a specific article to make sure you got every detail right.

#2: Prompts 2, 4, and 6 Are Generally the Simplest Options

Most students have an experience or interest that will work for either Prompt 2, Prompt 4, or Prompt 6. If you're uncertain what you want to write about, think about challenges you've faced, a time you were grateful, or your major intellectual passions.

These prompts are slightly easier to approach than the others because they lend themselves to very specific and concrete topics that show clear growth. Describing a failure and what you learned from it is much simpler than trying to clarify why an event is a vital part of your identity.

#3: Prompts 3 and 5 Can Be Trickier—but You Don't Need to Avoid Them

These questions ask about specific types of experiences that not every high school student has had. If they don't speak to you, don't feel compelled to answer them.

If you do want to take on Prompt 3 or 5, however, remember to clearly explain your perspective to the reader , even if it seems obvious to you.

For Prompt 3, you have to establish not just what you believe but why you believe it and why that belief matters to you, too. For prompt 5, you need to clarify how you moved from childhood to adulthood and what that means to both you and others.

These prompts elicit some of the most personal responses , which can make for great essays but also feel too revealing to many students. Trust your instincts and don't pick a topic you're not comfortable writing about.

At the same time, don't hesitate to take on a difficult or controversial topic if you're excited about it and think you can treat it with the necessary nuance.

#4: Make Sure to Explain What Your Experience Taught You

I've tried to emphasize this idea throughout this guide: it's not enough to simply describe what you did—you also have to explain what it meant to you .

Pushing past the surface level while avoiding clichés and generalizations is a big challenge, but it's ultimately what will make your essay stand out. Make sure you know what personal quality you want to emphasize before you start and keep it in mind as you write.

Try to avoid boring generalizations in favor of more specific and personal insights.

Bad: Solving a Rubik's cube for the first time taught me a lot.

Better: Solving a Rubik's cube for the first time taught me that I love puzzles and made me wonder what other problems I could solve.

Best: When I finally twisted the last piece of the Rubik's cube into place after months of work, I was almost disappointed. I'd solved the puzzle; what would I do now? But then I started to wonder if I could use what I'd learned to do the whole thing faster. Upon solving one problem, I had immediately moved onto the next one, as I do with most things in life.

As you go back through your essay to edit, every step of the way ask yourself, "So what?" Why does the reader need to know this? What does it show about me? How can I go one step deeper?

#5: Don't Worry About What You Think You're Supposed to Write

There is no single right answer to these prompts , and if you try to find one, you'll end up doing yourself a disservice. What's important is to tell your story—and no one can tell you what that means because it's unique to you.

Many students believe that they should write about resume-padding activities that look especially impressive, such as volunteering abroad. These essays are often boring and derivative because the writer doesn't really have anything to say on the topic and assumes it'll speak for itself.

But the point of a personal statement isn't to explain what you've done; it's to show who you are .

Take the time to brainstorm and figure out what you want to show colleges about yourself and what story or interest best exemplifies that quality.

What's Next?

For more background on college essays and tips for crafting a great one, check out our complete explanation of the basics of the personal statement .

Make sure you're prepared for the rest of the college application process as well with our guides to asking for recommendations , writing about extracurriculars , taking the SAT , and researching colleges .

Alex is an experienced tutor and writer. Over the past five years, she has worked with almost a hundred students and written about pop culture for a wide range of publications. She graduated with honors from University of Chicago, receiving a BA in English and Anthropology, and then went on to earn an MA at NYU in Cultural Reporting and Criticism. In high school, she was a National Merit Scholar, took 12 AP tests and scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and ACT.

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Common App Essays | 7 Strong Examples with Commentary

Published on November 19, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on May 31, 2023.

If you’re applying for college via the Common App , you’ll have to write an essay in response to one of seven prompts.

Table of contents

What is the common application essay, prompt 1: background, identity, interest, or talent, prompt 2: overcoming challenges, prompt 3: questioning a belief or idea, prompt 4: appreciating an influential person, prompt 5: transformative event, prompt 6: interest or hobby that inspires learning, prompt 7: free topic, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

The Common Application, or Common App , is a college application portal that is accepted by more than 900 schools.

Within the Common App is your main essay, a primary writing sample that all your prospective schools will read to evaluate your critical thinking skills and value as a student. Since this essay is read by many colleges, avoid mentioning any college names or programs. Instead, save tailored answers for the supplementary school-specific essays within the Common App.

Regardless of your prompt choice, admissions officers will look for an ability to clearly and creatively communicate your ideas based on the selected prompt.

We’ve provided seven essay examples, one for each of the Common App prompts. After each essay, we’ve provided a table with commentary on the essay’s narrative, writing style and tone, demonstrated traits, and self-reflection.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

This essay explores the student’s emotional journey toward overcoming her father’s neglect through gymnastics discipline.

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

When “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” began to play, it was my signal to lay out a winning floor routine. Round off. Back handspring. Double back layout. Stick!

Instead, I jolted off the floor, landing out of bounds. Over the past week, I hadn’t landed that pass once, and regionals were only seven days away. I heaved a heavy sigh and stomped over to the bench.

Coach Farkas saw my consternation. “Mona, get out of your head. You’re way too preoccupied with your tumbling passes. You could do them in your sleep!”

That was the problem. I was dreaming of tumbling and missing my landings, waking up in a cold sweat. The stress felt overwhelming.

“Stretch out. You’re done for tonight.”

I walked home from the gym that had been my second home since fourth grade. Yet my anxiety was increasing every time I practiced.

I startled my mom. “You’re home early! Wait! You walked? Mona, what’s going on?!”

I slumped down at the kitchen table. “Don’t know.”

She sat down across from me. “Does it have anything to do with your father texting you a couple of weeks ago about coming to see you at regionals?”

“So what?! Why does it matter anymore?” He walked out when I was 10 and never looked back. Still, dear ol’ Dad always had a way of resurfacing when I least expected him.

“It still matters because when you hear from him, you tend to crumble. Or have you not noticed?” She offered a knowing wink and a compassionate smile.

I started gymnastics right after Dad left. The coaches said I was a natural: short, muscular, and flexible. All I knew was that the more I improved, the more confident I felt. Gymnastics made me feel powerful, so I gave it my full energy and dedication.

The floor routine became my specialty, and my performances were soon elevating our team score. The mat, solid and stable, became a place to explore and express my internal struggles. Over the years, no matter how angry I felt, the floor mat was there to absorb my frustration.

The bars, beam, and vault were less forgiving because I knew I could fall. My performances in those events were respectable. But, the floor? Sometimes, I had wildly creative and beautiful routines, while other times were disastrous. Sadly, my floor routine had never been consistent.

That Saturday afternoon, I slipped into the empty gym and walked over to the mat. I sat down and touched its carpeted surface. After a few minutes, my cheeks were wet with the bitter disappointment of a dad who only showed up when it was convenient for him. I ruminated on the years of practices and meets where I had channeled my resentment into acrobatics and dance moves, resolved to rise higher than his indifference.

I saw then that my deepest wounds were inextricably entangled with my greatest passion. They needed to be permanently separated. While my anger had first served to launch me into gymnastics, before long, I had started serving my anger.

Anger is a cruel master. It corrupts everything it touches, even something as beautiful as a well-choreographed floor routine.

I changed my music days before regionals. “The Devil” no longer had a place in my routine. Instead, I chose an energetic cyberpunk soundtrack that inspired me to perform with passion and laser focus. Dad made an obligatory appearance at regionals, but he left before I could talk to him.

It didn’t matter this time. I stuck every landing in my routine. Anger no longer controlled me. I was finally free.

Word count: 601

This essay shows how the challenges the student faced in caring for her sister with autism resulted in an unexpected path forward in her education.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

I never had a choice.

My baby sister was born severely autistic, which meant that every detail of our home life was repeatedly adjusted to manage her condition. I couldn’t go to bed without fearing that Mindy would wake up screaming with that hoarse little voice of hers. I couldn’t have friends over on weekends because we never knew if our entire family would need to shift into crisis mode to help Mindy regain control.

We couldn’t take a family vacation because Mindy would start hitting us during a long car ride when she didn’t want to sit there anymore. We couldn’t even celebrate Christmas like a normal family because Mindy would shriek and run away when we tried to give her presents.

I was five years old when Mindy was born. For the first ten years, I did everything I could to help my mom with Mindy. But Mom was depressed and would often stare out the window, as if transfixed by the view. Dad was no help either. He used his job as an excuse to be away from home. So, I tried to make up for both of them and rescue Mindy however I could whenever she needed it.

However, one day, when I was slowly driving Mindy around with the windows down, trying to lull her into a calmer state, we passed two of my former classmates from middle school. They heard Mindy growling her disapproval as the ride was getting long for her. One of them turned to the other and announced, “Oh my God! Marabeth brought her pet monster out for a drive!” They laughed hysterically and ran down the street.

After that day, I defied my parents at every turn. I also ignored Mindy. I even stopped doing homework. I purposely “got in with the wrong crowd” and did whatever they did.

My high school counselor Ms. Martinez saw through it all. She knew my family’s situation well. It didn’t take her long to guess what had probably happened.

“Marabeth, I get it. My brother has Down syndrome. It was really hard growing up with him as a brother. The other kids were pretty mean about it, especially in high school.”

I doubted she understood. “Yeah. So?”

“I’m guessing something happened that hurt or embarrassed you.”

“I’m so sorry. I can only imagine how you must have felt.”

It must have been the way she said it because I suddenly found myself sobbing into my trembling, cupped hands.

Ms. Martinez and I met every Friday after that for the rest of the year. Her stories of how she struggled to embrace living with and loving her brother created a bridge to my pain and then my healing. She explained that her challenges led her to pursue a degree in counseling so that she could offer other people what no one had given her.

I thought that Mindy was the end of my life, but, because of Ms. Martinez’s example and kindness, I can now see that Mindy is a gift, pointing me toward my future.

Now, I’m applying to study psychology so that I can go on to earn my master’s degree in counseling. I’m learning to forgive my parents for their mistakes, and I’m back in Mindy’s life again, but this time as a sister, not a savior. My choice.

Word Count: 553

This essay illustrates a student’s courage in challenging his culture’s constructs of manhood and changing his course while positively affecting his father in the process.

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

“No son of mine is gonna march around a football field wearing tail feathers while all the real men are playing football!”

I took a step backward and tried not to appear as off-balance as I felt. In my excitement, I had blurted out more information than my father could handle:

“Dad! I made the marching band as a freshman! Nobody does that—I mean nobody!”

As soon as I had said it, I wished I could recall those words. How could I forget that 26 years earlier, he had been the starting wide receiver for the state-champion Tigers on the same field?!

Still, when I opened the email on that scorching hot August afternoon, I was thrilled that five months of practicing every possible major and harmonic minor scale—two octaves up and two octaves down—had made the difference. I had busted reed after reed, trying not to puff my cheeks while moving my fingers in a precise cadence.

I knew he had heard me continually practicing in my room, yet he seemed to ignore all the parts of me that were incongruous with his vision of manhood:

Ford F-150 4x4s. Pheasant hunting. The Nebraska Cornhuskers.

I never had to wonder what he valued. For years, I genuinely shared his interests. But, in the fall of eighth grade, I heard Kyle Wheeling play a saxophone solo during the homecoming marching band halftime show. My dad took me to every football game to teach me the plays, but that night, all I could think about was Kyle’s bluesy improv at halftime.

During Thanksgiving break, I got my mom to drive me into Omaha to rent my instrument at Dietze Music, and, soon after, I started private lessons with Mr. Ken. Before long, I was spending hours in my room, exploring each nuance of my shiny Yamaha alto sax, anticipating my audition for the Marching Tigers at the end of the spring semester.

During those months of practice, I realized that I couldn’t hide my newfound interest forever, especially not from the football players who were going to endlessly taunt me. But not all the guys played football. Some were in choir and theater. Quite a few guys were in the marching band. In fact, the Marching Tigers had won the grand prize in their division at last year’s state showdown in Lincoln.

I was excited! They were the champions, and I was about to become a part of their legacy.

Yet, that afternoon, a sense of anxiety brewed in my belly. I knew I had to talk to him.

He was sweeping the grass clippings off of the sidewalk. He nodded.

“I need to tell you something.”

He looked up.

“I know that you know about my sax because you hear me practicing. I like it a lot, and I’m becoming pretty good at it. I still care about what you like, but I’m starting to like some other things more. I hope you’ll be proud of me whatever I choose.”

He studied the cracks in the driveway. “I am proud of you. I just figured you’d play football.”

We never talked about it again, but that fall, he was in the stands when our marching band won the state championship in Lincoln for the second time. In fact, for the next four years, he never left the stands during halftime until the marching band had performed. He was even in the audience for every performance of “Our Town” at the end of my junior year. I played the Stage Manager who reveals the show’s theme: everything changes gradually.

I know it’s true. Things do change over time, even out here in central Nebraska. I know because I’ve changed, and my dad has changed, too. I just needed the courage to go first.

Word count: 626

The student demonstrates how his teacher giving him an unexpected bad grade was the catalyst for his becoming a better writer.

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

I stared in disbelief at the big red letter at the top of my paper: D. 

Never in my entire high school career had I seen that letter at the top of any paper, unless it was at the beginning of my first name. 

I had a 4.796 GPA. I had taken every pre-AP and AP course offered. My teachers had praised my writing skills! However, Mr. Trimble didn’t think so, and he let me know it:

“Darwin, in the future, I believe you can do better if you fully apply yourself.” 

I furiously scanned the paper for corrections. Not even one! Grammar and syntax? Perfect. Spelling? Impeccable. Sentence and paragraph structure? Precise and indisputable, as always. 

Was he trying to ruin my GPA? Cooper was clearly his favorite, and we were neck and neck for valedictorian, which was only one year away. Maybe they were conspiring to take me down. 

Thankfully, AP Composition was my last class. I fled the room and ran to my car. Defiant tears stained my cheeks as I screeched my tires and roared out of the parking lot. When I got home, I shoved in my AirPods, flopped on my bed, and buried my head under the pillow. 

I awoke to my sister, Daria, gently shaking my arm. “I know what happened, D. Trimble stopped me in the hall after school.”

“I’m sure he did. He’s trying to ruin my life.”

“That’s not what he told me. You should talk to him, D.”

The next day, although I tried to avoid Mr. Trimble at all costs, I almost tripped over him as I was coming out of the bathroom.

“Darwin, can we talk?” 

He walked me down the hall to his room. “Do you know that you’re one of the best writers I’ve ever had in AP Comp?” 

“Then why’d you do it?” 

“Because you’re better than you know, Darwin. You impress with your perfect presentations, and your teachers reward you with A’s and praise. I do frequent the teacher’s lounge, you know.” 

“So I know you’re not trying.”

I locked eyes with him and glared. 

“You’ve never had to try because you have a gift. And, in the midst of the acclaim, you’ve never pushed yourself to discover your true capabilities.”

“So you give me a D?!”

“It got your attention.”

“You’re not going to leave it, are you?”

“Oh, the D stands. You didn’t apply yourself. You’ll have to earn your way out with your other papers.” 

I gained a new understanding of the meaning of ambivalence. Part of me was furious at the injustice of the situation, but I also felt strangely challenged and intrigued. I joined a local writer’s co-op and studied K. M. Weiland’s artistic writing techniques. 

Multiple drafts, track changes, and constructive criticism became my new world. I stopped taking Mr. Trimble’s criticism personally and began to see it as a precious tool to bolster me, not break me down. 

Last week, the New York Public Library notified me that I was named one of five finalists for the Young Lions Fiction Award. They described my collection of short stories as “fresh, imaginative, and captivating.” 

I never thought I could be grateful for a D, but Mr. Trimble’s insightful courage was the catalyst that transformed my writing and my character. Just because other people applaud you for being the best doesn’t mean you’re doing your best . 

AP Composition is now recorded as an A on my high school transcript, and Cooper and I are still locked in a tight race for the finish line. But, thanks to Mr. Trimble, I have developed a different paradigm for evaluation: my best. And the more I apply myself, the better my best becomes. 

Word Count: 627

This student narrates how she initially went to church for a boy but instead ended up confronting her selfishness by helping others.

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Originally, I went to church not because I was searching for Jesus but because I liked a boy.

Isaac Ono wasn’t the most athletic boy in our class, nor was he the cutest. But I was amazed by his unusual kindness toward everyone. If someone was alone or left out, he’d walk up to them and say hello or invite them to hang out with him and his friends.

I started waking up at 7:30 a.m. every Sunday morning to attend Grace Hills Presbyterian, where Isaac’s father was the pastor. I would strategically sit in a pew not too close but close enough to Isaac that when the entire congregation was instructed to say “Peace be with you,” I could “happen” to shake Isaac’s hand and make small talk.

One service, as I was staring at the back of Isaac’s head, pondering what to say to him, my hearing suddenly tuned in to his father’s sermon.

“There’s no such thing as a good or bad person.”

My eyes snapped onto Pastor Marcus.

“I used to think I was a good person who came from a respectable family and did nice things. But people aren’t inherently good or bad. They just make good or bad choices.”

My mind raced through a mental checklist of whether my past actions fell mostly into the former or latter category.

“As it says in Deuteronomy 30:15, ‘I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.’ Follow in the footsteps of Jesus and do good.”

I glanced to my left and saw Margaret, underlining passages in her study Bible and taking copious notes.

Months earlier, I had befriended Margaret. We had fourth-period Spanish together but hadn’t interacted much. She was friends with Isaac, so I started hanging out with her to get closer to him. But eventually, the two of us were spending hours in the Starbucks parking lot having intense discussions about religion, boys, and our futures until we had to return home before curfew.

After hearing the pastor’s sermon, I realized that what I had admired about Isaac was also present in Margaret and other people at church: a welcoming spirit. I’m pretty sure Margaret knew of my ulterior motives for befriending her, but she never called me out on it.

After that day, I started paying more attention to Pastor Marcus’s sermons and less attention to Isaac. One year, our youth group served Christmas Eve dinner to the homeless and ate with them. I sat across from a woman named Lila who told me how child services had taken away her four-year-old daughter because of her financial and living situation.

A few days later, as I sat curled up reading the book of James, my heart suddenly felt heavy.

“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”

I thought back to Pastor Marcus’s sermon on good and bad actions, Lila and her daughter, and the times I had passed people in need without even saying hello.

I decided to put my faith into action. The next week, I started volunteering at the front desk of a women’s shelter, helping women fill out forms or watching their kids while they talked with social workers.

From working for the past year at the women’s shelter, I now know I want to major in social work, caring for others instead of focusing on myself. I may not be a good person (or a bad one), but I can make good choices, helping others with every opportunity God gives me.

Word count: 622

This essay shows how a student’s natural affinity for solving a Rubik’s cube developed her self-understanding, academic achievement, and inspiration for her future career.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

The worst part about writing is putting down my Rubik’s cube so that I can use my hands to type. That’s usually the worst part of tackling my to-do list: setting aside my Rubik’s cube. My parents call it an obsession. But, for me, solving a Rubik’s cube challenges my brain as nothing else can.

It started on my ninth birthday. I invited three friends for a sleepover party, and I waited to open my presents right before bed. Wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows flew through the air as I oohed and aahed over each delightful gift! However, it was the last gift—a 3 x 3 x 3 cube of little squares covered in red, green, blue, yellow, white, and orange—that intrigued me.

I was horrified when Bekka ripped it out of my hands and messed it all up! I had no idea how to make all the sides match again. I waited until my friends were fast asleep. Then, I grabbed that cube and studied it under my blanket with a flashlight, determined to figure out how to restore it to its former pristine state.

Within a few weeks, I had discovered the secret. To practice, I’d take my cube with me to recess and let the other kids time me while I solved it in front of them. The better I became, the more they gathered around. But I soon realized that their attention didn’t matter all that much. I loved solving cubes for hours wherever I was: at lunch, riding in the car, or alone in my room.

Cross. White corners. Middle-layer edges. Yellow cross. Sune and anitsune. 

The sequential algorithms became second nature, and with the assistance of a little black digital timer, I strove to solve the cube faster , each time attempting to beat my previous record. I watched speed solvers on YouTube, like Australia’s Feliks Zemdegs and Max Park from Massachusetts, but I wasn’t motivated to compete as they did. I watched their videos to learn how to improve my time. I liked finding new, more efficient ways of mastering the essential 78 separate cube-solving algorithms.

Now, I understand why my passion for my Rubik’s cube has never waned. Learning and applying the various algorithms soothes my brain and centers my emotions, especially when I feel overwhelmed from being around other people. Don’t get me wrong: I like other people—just in doses.

While some people get recharged by spending time with others, I can finally breathe when I’m alone with my cube. Our psychology teacher says the difference between an extrovert and an introvert is the situations that trigger their brains to produce dopamine. For me, it’s time away, alone, flipping through cube patterns to set a new personal best.

Sometimes, the world doesn’t cooperate with introverts, requiring them to interact with many people throughout the day. That’s why you’ll often find me in the stairwell or a library corner attempting to master another one of the 42 quintillion ways to solve a cube. My parents tease me that when I’ve “had enough” of anything, my fingers get a Rubik’s itch, and I suddenly disappear. I’m usually occupied for a while, but when I finally emerge, I feel centered, prepared to tackle my next task.

Secretly, I credit my cube with helping me earn top marks in AP Calculus, Chemistry, and Physics. It’s also responsible for my interest in computer engineering. It seems I just can’t get enough of those algorithms, which is why I want to study the design and implementation of cybersecurity software—all thanks to my Rubik’s cube.

Just don’t tell my parents! It would ruin all the fun!

Word count: 607

In this free topic essay, the student uses a montage structure inspired by the TV show Iron Chef America to demonstrate his best leadership moments.

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Iron Chef America: College Essay Edition

The time has come to answer college’s most difficult question: Whose story shows glory?

This is … Iron Chef America: College Essay Edition!

Welcome to Kitchen Stadium! Today we have Chef Brett Lowell. Chef Brett will be put to the test to prove he has what it takes to attend university next fall.

And the secret ingredient is … leadership! He must include leadership in each of his dishes, which will later be evaluated by a panel of admissions judges.

So now, America, with a creative mind and empty paper, I say unto you in the words of my teacher: “Let’s write!”

Appetizer: My first leadership experience

A mountain of mismatched socks, wrinkled jeans, and my dad’s unironed dress shirts sat in front of me. Laundry was just one of many chores that welcomed me home once I returned from my after-school job at Baskin Robbins, a gig I had taken last year to help Dad pay the rent. A few years earlier, I wasn’t prepared to cook dinners, pay utility bills, or pick up and drop off my brothers. I thought those jobs were reserved for parents. However, when my father was working double shifts at the power plant and my mom was living in Tucson with her new husband, Bill, I stepped up and took care of the house and my two younger brothers.

Main course: My best leadership experience

Between waiting for the pasta water to boil and for the next laundry cycle to be finished, I squeezed in solving a few practice precalculus problems to prepare for the following week’s mathletics competition. I liked how the equations always had clear, clean answers, which calmed me among the mounting responsibilities of home life. After leading my team to the Minnesota State Finals for two years in a row, I was voted team captain. Although my home responsibilities often competed with my mathlete duties, I tried to be as productive as possible in my free time. On the bus ride home, I would often tackle 10 to 20 functions or budget the following week’s meals and corresponding grocery list. My junior year was rough, but both my home and my mathlete team needed me.

Dessert: My future leadership hopes 

The first thing I ever baked was a chocolate cake in middle school. This was around the time that Mom had just moved out and I was struggling with algebra. Troubles aside, one day my younger brother Simon needed a contribution for his school’s annual bake sale, and the PTA moms wouldn’t accept anything store-bought. So I carefully measured out the teaspoons and cups of various flours, powders, and oils, which resulted in a drooping, too-salty disaster.

Four years later, after a bakery’s worth of confections and many hours of study, I’ve perfected my German chocolate cake and am on my way to mastering Calculus AB. I’ve also thrown out the bitter-tasting parts of my past such as my resentment and anger toward my mom. I still miss having her at home, but whenever I have a baking question or want to update her on my mathlete team’s success, I call her or chat with her over text.

Whether in school or life, I see problems as opportunities, not obstacles, to find a better way to solve them more efficiently. I hope to continue improving my problem-solving skills next fall by majoring in mathematics and statistics.

Time’s up! 

We hope you’ve enjoyed this tasting of Chef Lowell’s leadership experiences. Next fall, tune in to see him craft new leadership adventures in college. He’s open to refining his technique and discovering new recipes.

Word count: 612

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

The Common App essay is your primary writing sample within the Common Application, a college application portal accepted by more than 900 schools. All your prospective schools that accept the Common App will read this essay to understand your character, background, and value as a potential student.

Since this essay is read by many colleges, avoid mentioning any college names or programs; instead, save tailored answers for the supplementary school-specific essays within the Common App.

When writing your Common App essay , choose a prompt that sparks your interest and that you can connect to a unique personal story.

No matter which prompt you choose, admissions officers are more interested in your ability to demonstrate personal development , insight, or motivation for a certain area of study.

To decide on a good college essay topic , spend time thoughtfully answering brainstorming questions. If you still have trouble identifying topics, try the following two strategies:

• Identify your qualities → Brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities
• Identify memorable stories → Connect your qualities to these stories

You can also ask family, friends, or mentors to help you brainstorm topics, give feedback on your potential essay topics, or recall key stories that showcase your qualities.

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

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How to Write the Common App Personal Statement Prompts 2021-2022

Padya Paramita

April 5, 2021

After months of research, weighing your options, and comparing acceptance rates, you’re finally settled on a college list that you’re happy with. Chances are, at least a couple of the schools among your choices use the Common Application . Aside from allowing you to fill out your personal and academic information once (instead of a dozen or so times!), the Common App is where your personal statement goes to help schools get to know you better. The personal statement is so crucial for your admissions success, so start familiarizing yourself with the Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022 now!

Writing about yourself can seem like an easy task at first glance, but when you sit down to brainstorm, you might reach a dead end. Where do you even begin? What experience is captivating enough to share with admissions officers? How do you narrow down your entire life story into 650 words? There’s a lot of pressure to find the right topic that will help you stand out. The Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022 can help you get started. To guide you through the essay questions for this year, I’ve outlined each of the prompts, how to tackle them, and strategic ways to take advantage of your freedom to write about a topic of your choice instead of selecting from the Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022.

The Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022

Let’s start with the basics. You only have to write about one of the prompts provided by the Common App. The word limit is 650 words, which is a scant number to narrate a powerful story without leaving out too many important details. Let’s take a closer look at each of the Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022 alongside some suggestions and ideas of how you might answer them: 

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

This topic is the most open-ended from the pre-assigned questions in the Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022 . You can pretty much go any direction with this question since it’s asking about your background, identity, or interests. You might want to write about how you hold certain beliefs that have defined the course of your life. You can choose to elaborate on a cultural tradition that you look forward to and how the ways you’ve celebrated it changed with time. You can focus your essay on your career interest – for example, is there a compelling story that changed everything for you and developed your desire to pursue a career in politics after college? 

Take note of the second part of the question though, because you have to believe that your application would be incomplete without it. After you’ve written your first draft, ask yourself whether admissions officers could have evaluated your application just fine without knowing about what you’ve written. Colleges don’t need to know what your favorite television show is to decide whether you’re a top candidate – unless your connection to the show truly impacted your decision to pursue your passion.

Since you already have an activities list on the Common App, it’s important not to address topics that are already covered elsewhere. Your application shouldn’t already say the majority of what you write in your essay.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

You should be careful when answering a question about your greatest setback. Since top schools receive applications from students of all backgrounds, the definition of a “challenge” will vary from person to person. A setback is not one C on your report card in ninth grade after a lifetime of A’s. Admissions officers read essays from students who’ve experienced homelessness, debilitating illness, domestic violence, actual disasters. Does your definition of a challenge seem relatively minor when you think about these issues? If so, choose a different topic.

It’s important that you don’t exaggerate adversity. Don’t write about a minor soccer injury you received that had few repercussions, but is really a way for you to talk about your awesome team travel experiences. Find a topic that speaks to the best sides of you. 

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

There’s no definition in the Common App Personal statement prompts 2021-2022 about how grand the idea you’re challenging has to be. If you have a compelling story about arranging a protest in your neighborhood or school that tried to change the authorities’ mind, that’s awesome, and definitely something you should write about. But even something less tangible – such as changing your parents’ minds on why the women’s national soccer team deserves equal pay – could also be spun into a powerful story about what drives you to act and policies you’re passionate about. 

Remember to answer the second and third questions within the prompt – don’t spend all 650 words describing the idea. Why are you passionate about this cause? Was there an incident that changed how you viewed the belief yourself? And when thinking about the outcome – you don’t always have to succeed. You can frame your essay in such a way that shows you remain passionate and committed to pursuing your own understanding of truth, justice – whatever you have been inspired to challenge. Colleges appreciate students who are dedicated to their ideas and aren’t afraid to speak up. If tackled right, this topic could lead to a stellar essay. 

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

This prompt is a new addition to the personal statement questions. As with most of the Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022 , this prompt is less about the grandness of what someone might have done for you, and more about getting to know what’s important to you and how you’ve been affected or motivated by the situation—especially in these tough circumstances. The gratitude does not have to reflect your academic interest, but rather demonstrate your humility and connections with others in your community. Did a friend help you when you were at your lowest? Has a teacher-supported you through thick and thin? Have you and a sibling started an initiative together—and you were glad they were there for you?

Focus less on what happened and dedicate more time towards discussing how you’ve carried this gratitude forward. And remember, this should center around the high school you. If someone helped you out as a toddler, that story won’t intrigue admissions officers. 

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Over your four years in high school, you meet a lot of new people and go through a lot of new experiences. It’s not unheard of for someone to feel like a completely different person by the end of those four years. This topic among the Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022 is the place to reflect on that kind of growth. 

Like the other prompts, there’s no one way to interpret what the question asks. You could have gone from the weakest link in your football team or the member of your a capella group without solos. If you found yourself working hard to practice and improve, the end result may have been a happy one. 

Don’t forget to highlight what you understood about yourself through the experience. It could be about your own grit and never-give-up attitude. You could have learned who your true friends were in a time of struggle. Whatever it may be, make sure to exemplify how your actions have changed since the growth – is there anything different that you’ve noticed in your behavior or approach to matters? Colleges value students who demonstrate self-awareness.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

If you’ve got a niche interest that is more nuanced than most people realize – whether it’s the impact of teen girls on pop culture or the hidden meaning behind Gucci’s suits over the ages, tell admissions officers about it! Once you’ve explained the topic in a sentence or two, you should use the rest of the essay to talk about how you act on your interest and share it with others. 

The other good thing about this prompt is that nothing is too small. There’s no right answer – it’s what you think about and what you find interesting. Just be certain that you explain properly just why you’re so intrigued by the topic. It doesn’t have to be extremely deep like the history of the universe or how to find the cure to cancer. Explain why the topic matters to you – does it make you feel seen or represented in a way nothing else ever has? Does it inspire you to get out of bed every morning and drive towards change? Explore more than just the surface of the topic and show admissions officers your perspective. Who knows, you could teach them something new that makes them go, “that’s incredible!”

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

It’s important to note that the six essay prompts I have previously outlined exist simply to give you an idea of what you might write about. You don’t have to religiously stick to any of them because there is this one last option among the Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022. Interestingly enough, the topic of choice was the most popular prompt of 2018-19, with 24.1% of students taking this route. If you choose this option, make sure that the topic you’ve chosen doesn’t fall under any of the previous prompts. Yes, you may write about anything . Well, anything as long as it’s a story that is unique to you – you shouldn’t use your “personal” statement to talk about how proud you are of your best friend’s achievements as a basketball state champion. 

Don’t Let the Prompts Restrict You

Due to the final option allowing you to write on any topic, ultimately you have a lot of freedom when choosing from the Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022 . While the suggested prompts serve as helpful brainstorming catalysts and provide you with ideas of what schools generally look for when thinking about the personal statement, if you don’t want to write about a time you encountered a challenge or a topic that makes you lose track of time, that is more than okay. If you thought you were writing an essay about a problem you’d like to solve, but the final product ends up being about how you realized you want to dedicate your life to helping animals and starting your own pet adoption center, and you feel that it fits none of the pre-assigned prompts, you can just change your topic selection. 

When you select which topic you’ve chosen on the Common App, you can change your selection as long as you haven’t sent it in.

Regardless of which prompt you choose, it’s important to answer all of the questions. It can be very easy to get carried away with narrating the focal point of your story scene by scene, but remember to save some words for other parts of the prompt. As you’ve seen above, all of the Common Application personal statement prompts 2021-2022 have an analysis element. Once you’ve finished your first draft, re-read the prompt and make sure you’ve addressed each part of the question. If you’ve written on a topic of your choice, ensure that your essay hits on a bigger picture. How did the event help you grow? Why is the issue important to you? 

Your personal statement could be the “it factor” which demonstrates why you’re a candidate schools don’t want to pass up. While it is only one component of your application, a memorable personal statement can always help your case. It’s one of the things you can control at the time you’re filling out your application, so don’t underestimate the power of the right topic choice. The goal in your topic selection from the Common App personal statement prompts 2021-2022 is to produce a well-written, well-edited essay, and convincingly move admissions officers to send you that coveted acceptance letter. 

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2021-2022 Common App Essay Prompts

February 26, 2021

The decision-makers at the Common Application have officially announced that the Common App essay prompt menu for the upcoming 2021-22 admissions cycle will be slightly different than in 2020-21. In the opinion of the College Transitions staff, the choice for nothing more than minor tinkering was a wise one. A quick look at the data shows that the prompts, as presently constituted, received rave reviews across the board—more than 95% of admissions officers, guidance counselors, parents, and students rated the selections positively.

In this blog we will review:

• What’s new in 2021-22?
• The COVID-19 essay
• A look at all 2021-22 Common App essay prompts
• The most popular Common App prompts that students choose
• Advice on brainstorming/writing your Common App essay

What’s New for 2021-22?

The Common App essay prompts will remain the same for 2021-2022 with one exception. The following prompt will be clearing out its desk and entering an early retirement:

Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

Replacing Ex-Prompt #4 will be New Prompt #4:

• Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

According to the folks at the Common App, this one was inspired by scientific research on gratitude and kindness, specifically the benefits of writing about the positive influence of other people in our lives.

The COVID-19 Optional Essay

The optional COVID-19 question will remain within the Additional Information section. For tips on whether to/how to best utilize this space, check out our blog on the topic — How to Answer the COVID-19 Question on the Common App.

All 2021-22 Common App Essay Prompts

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Which prompts are most popular?

In most recent cycle reported by the Common App, the most frequently selected topic was #7, the “topic of your choice” essay. This prompt was chosen by 24.1% of applicants. Prompt #5, the “discuss an accomplishment” essay was a close second, attracting 23.7% of seniors. The bronze medal went to prompt #2, the “challenge, setback, or failure” themed essay, which netted 21.1% of Common App filers. Overall, the three most popular prompts accounted for 68.9% of applicants.

Advice on brainstorming/writing your essay

The basic rules for writing a stellar college essay vary little from the general guidelines for producing any strong piece of written work: be authentic, tell a story that is personal and compelling, and diligently edit, revise, and polish your product.

Writing an essay that is compelling doesn’t mean that you need to have wrestled a puma, grown up in a cult, or discovered a new galaxy at age seven.  A great college essay can take place on a grand stage but it can just as effectively take place in everyday life.  There is a ready supply of drama, tension, and conflict in the course of a typical day.  Over the course of your life you have undoubtedly had experiences that constitute worthy topics.  Think it over.  Talk to family and friends.  Your compelling story will emerge.

We also invite you to review the following resources to help with your college essay writing:

• Advice on what to do is useful, but tips on what not to do are of equal importance. Check out our Five Essay Topics to Avoid to discover what topics admissions officers are sure to find unappealing, off-putting, or downright gross.
• If you are a real go-getter, you may also wish to get a start on the most prevalent Common App supplement required by colleges—the “Why this College?” essay. Reference our guide for mastering the “Why this College?” essay .
• If you are also applying to a school in the University of California system, you’ll also need tips on answering the UC Personal Insight Questions .
• Are you a transfer applicant? Don’t worry, we have advice for you too in our blog entitled How to Write a Winning Transfer Essay.
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The New 2021-2022 Common App Essay Prompt

In this article, College Advisor Julia discusses the new Common App essay prompt. For more guidance on your personal essays and the college application process in general,  sign up for to work with an admissions coach 1-on-1.

If you are planning on applying to college, you likely know that most colleges require applicants to submit a personal essay in response to one of seven prompts provided by  CommonApp.org .

On February 16th, 2021,  CommonApp.org  published the  Common App Essay Prompts  for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle with one notable change. Common App changes tend to be relatively limited from year to year; generally, students in each admissions cycle are provided with same 6 topics in addition to one topic of choice for their personal essay submission.

Read on to find out how the 2021-2022 Common App changes might affect your college applications and how you can best take advantage of the new prompt on your Common App essay.

The New Common App Essay Prompt

This year’s prompts are listed below, with the new prompt in bold:.

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Prompt #4 is the only prompt that has changed during the 2021-2022 admissions cycle.

The previous Common App essay prompt #4:

“Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma — anything of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.”

The new Common App essay prompt #4 for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle:

“Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?”

Why is there a new Common App prompt?

Note the distinct change in tone to this prompt—while the previous prompt asked students to consider a dilemma or challenge, this year’s prompt foregrounds happiness and gratitude. After a long year of challenges including (but not limited to) the COVID-19 pandemic, this question prompts students to reflect positively on the people in their lives.

According to  CommonApp.org , prompt #4 was “inspired by scientific research on gratitude and kindness, specifically the benefits of writing about the positive influence of other people in our lives.” The organization describes the new prompt as “an invitation to bring some joy into [each student’s] application experience.”

CommonApp.org  also quotes Common App President & CEO Jenny Rickard on the decision to add a new essay prompt, stating, “Particularly at this challenging time, we can help students think about something positive and heartfelt in their lives. And we can do it explicitly.”

Why is the new Common App essay prompt important? How can this help me and my college application?

In your Common Application profile, you will fill out an activities/honors sheet, write and submit supplemental essays, manage your letter recommendations, and more. The CommonApp plays a huge role in your college admissions process, so it’s important to understand it inside and out. This includes any changes that are made to the essay prompts.

This new Common App essay prompt has never been seen before by Admissions Officers. If you choose to write on this topic, your essay can present a fresh outlook that they may not have previously encountered.

This new prompt also gives you the opportunity to showcase your gratitude, your interactions with others, and your growth. These traits will help Admissions Officers consider how you will contribute to their college communities.

So, should  I  write on this prompt? What should I write about?

If you’d like to discuss this how to approach this essay prompt (or any of the Common App essay prompts) with a college admissions expert, consider working with a personal advisor at  CollegeAdvisor.com . A mentor can work with you one-on-one to ensure that your application stands out to the Admissions Officers and can answer any questions that you have regarding the Common App.

The Admissions Experts at  CollegeAdvisor.com  understand that the CommonApp website can be tricky to navigate, especially if you’re the first in your family or peer group to apply to college. Our team of over 100 advisors includes recent graduates and current college students from schools across the nation—including top Ivy League universities—so we know first-hand how the college process works as well as how any changes to this process can affect your application.

This article was written by Julia Riew, Harvard University ‘22. If you want to get help with your college applications from CollegeAdvisor.com  Admissions Experts ,  register with CollegeAdvisor.com today.

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February 16, 2021

2021-2022 Common Application Essay Prompts

The 2021-2022 Common Application essay prompts have been released and we’ve got them for our readers. The headline? The essay prompts will remain the same, with one exception. The following essay prompt, which was the least selected by college applicants among last year’s seven options , is no more: “Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma — anything of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.” In its place? The new prompt will read: “Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you.”

Common App. Releases 7 Personal Statement Prompts

The seven prompts for the 2021-2022 Common Application will read as follows, as Common App. released this week .

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

The Covid-19 Additional Essay Prompt Lives On

If you’re wondering if the optional Covid-19 essay prompt will be on this year’s application, as it was on last year’s application, the answer is yes. As Common App. writes on its site, “We will also retain the optional COVID-19 question within the Additional Information section.” And if you’re wondering if your child should answer this prompt, you must be new to our college admissions blog because as our loyal readers know all too well, that which is optional in highly selective college admissions should not be considered optional.

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2021-2022 Common Application Essay Prompts

Last week, the Common Application made its announcement about the 2021-2022 essay topics. While most of the topics remained the same as in years past, (and while “a topic of your choice” continues to be an option!) the Common App did make one big change, which was adding this prompt:

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

First, I’ll say that I am a big fan of this new question! Several years ago, I got interested in reading research about how people can maximize their happiness. I learned that acknowledging and expressing gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to feel happier! So perhaps it is no surprise that I find myself smiling as I think of all the people and opportunities for which I am grateful  (My grandmother for teaching me excellent handwriting, my first grade teacher for indulging my obsession with penguins… the list goes on and on!)

Of  course, students are still free to choose whatever prompt will best fit the story of their lives and high school experiences. And while these personal essays are a major challenge, they are also a critical component of the college application process. A student’s essay helps convey the person behind the transcript or scores, and helps admissions offices understand better what makes a student unique and interesting.

The good news is that having help developing a personal statement topic, outlining a clear and compelling essay, and polishing can all help make your student’s essay stand out. We hope you will consider joining our counselors and essay coaches at our summer boot camps or for hourly college counseling or essay coaching meetings!  

Happy Writing. 

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How to Approach the Common App Essay Prompts and Write a Great Response

Our best advice for choosing your common app essay prompt and writing a spectacular essay (2020-2021)..

The Common App is as close as college admissions get to one-stop shopping — almost 1000 schools use it.

What’s the gist? The Common App asks for a personal essay. It gives you seven possible prompts — you choose just one. And it’s got a diabolically short word limit of 650 words .

How do I do well on this? Successful essays cover the one or two experiences you’ve had that best show how you’ll succeed in college and beyond. That’s no easy task. But you can give yourself a leg up.

Once you’ve looked over the prompts below, check out our free resources, including:

• How to choose the best prompt for you — including our counterintuitive approach, and mistakes to avoid.
• How to best structure your essay — should you “journey” or should you “montage”?

For personalized help with your Common App essay, try us at Prompt . We’re here to help you succeed, whether you still need to get started, or are looking for feedback on what you’ve written so far.

Common App Prompts 2020-2021

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma — anything of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

You choose just one of the seven prompts.

The essay has a word limit of 650 words.

Which Common App prompts are the most popular?

This graph illustrates the choices made by over 1,500 Promptclients. According to our data, two essays are by far the most popular — the “Background” essay (#1) and the “Accomplishment” essay (#5), with roughly 30% of our clients choosing each.

Interestingly, the most popular choice according to the Common App ’s own data is different. It’s the “choose your own topic” prompt (#7), which is only the fourth-most popular among our students. But, except for that, the Common App reports the same sequence as we do, with the “Accomplishment” essay (#5) also in second position, and the “Obstacle” essay (#2) also in third.

The Admissions Strategist

How to answer the common app essay prompts (2023-2024): the updated guide.

The Common Application (usually called the Common App) is a college admissions application accepted by over 700 colleges and universities.

Depending on the schools to which you are applying, the Common App can greatly streamline the admissions process.

For example, you could potentially apply to five schools by filling out only one application — and better yet, writing only one essay!

• Of course, this makes the application and  the essay extra important .
• The Common App will impact your chances of getting into not just one school, but a variety of colleges and universities.

Luckily, the Common App prompts for 2023-2024 are the same as last year, so you can start preparing now.

In this article, we’ll take a look at each of the seven prompt choices and how you  can effectively address them .

Some of these topics have been used in previous years, some are revised versions of previous prompts, and others are entirely new.

The word count for each topic remains at 650 .

Here’s the full list of Common App essay prompts:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from  obstacles we encounter  can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a  challenge, setback, or failure.  How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you  questioned  or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your  thinking ? What  was the outcome ? 4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or  realization  that  sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.  6. Describe a  topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? 7. Share an essay on  any topic of your choice . It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Now that you know the Common App prompts, which topic should you choose, and how should you get started?

Choosing the Right Common App Prompt

As you read through the prompts, you should choose at least three favorites. For each of these three, you should  brainstorm a few ideas . Ultimately, you’ll write an essay for the prompt that yields the best essay idea.

The “best idea” will be:

• Interesting (something you genuinely want to write about).
• A good representation of who you are and what you can bring to a college campus.
• Something that will make you stand out from the thousands of other applicants; an idea that’s fairly unique.
• Engaging, interesting, or thought-provoking.

Once you find an idea that meets these criteria, you’ll know which prompt you should write!

Now, let’s take a close look at each of the seven Common App prompts to give you some guidance and inspiration.

Common App Prompt 1: Background, Identity, Interest, or Talent

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

This prompt has long been a Common App favorite, largely because it offers students a great deal of flexibility.

The possibilities for this essay are nearly endless, but ensure that you focus on these keywords: “background, identity, interest or talent” that is extremely “meaningful” to them.

To address this essay effectively, you will need to identify what part of your “background, identity, interest, or talent” is important to you, as well as explaining what makes it so meaningful.

How has it shaped your life or personality?

Consider the following questions:

• What life experiences, interests, or achievements do I have that set me apart from my peers?
• What have I achieved or experienced that has influenced my life or shaped me into the person I am?
• What experiences or interests have shaped my career ambitions, personality, or values?
• What background, identity, interest, or talent is an essential part of who I am?
• What do I want admissions officers to know about me that isn’t already on my application?

Answering questions like these can help you decide on a topic for Common App Prompt #1.

This wide-open prompt gives you a chance to address interesting life experiences, a unique family dynamic, interests or talents that have inspired you, etc.

Remember that you only have 650 words, so get specific.

For instance, instead of a vague essay about your love of music, you could write about how attending your first concert inspired you to make music yourself, so you’re now self-taught on several different instruments.

• It’s also critical to write about how your background or identity has changed, challenged, or motivated you.
• Don’t simply write about the background without any personal context.
• For example, if you are writing about your Indian-American heritage, don’t write too much about the heritage itself. There are thousands of other Indian-American students applying to college the same time as you, so you want to stand out.
• In order to stand out, try to tell a story that features a conflict stemming from your identity, interest, background, or talent.
• Did you face a challenge and grow from it? What lessons did you learn?
• Your identity, interest, background, or talent will not help you stand out. It’s your personal story in relation to one of these elements that will help you stand out.

Common App Prompt 2: Learning from Challenges, Setbacks, and Failures

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

This prompt has three parts, and an effective essay must address all of them.

First, you must talk about a challenge, setback, or failure you’ve experienced. Next, you must explain how it impacted you  and  what you learned as a result.

• It’s best to write a positive essay that focuses less on the problem and more on the solution.

So you can spend some time describing the challenge, setback, or failure, but the majority of the essay should focus on how you overcame it and what you learned.

Your response to the situation should demonstrate positive qualities like persistence, resilience, courage, integrity, humility, etc.

Questions for you to consider include:

• Do I respond well to challenges and obstacles? Do I keep trying, maintain a positive attitude, etc.? What experiences have I had that demonstrate these qualities?
• What have been the biggest challenges in my life? Did anything positive come from these experiences? What did I learn?
• Are there any challenges or failures I’ve faced that made me a better or more successful person in the end?

You can address just about any challenge, big or small. You could write about growing up in poverty or being bullied because of a speech impediment.

Alternatively, you could write about something like missing a penalty kick that resulted in losing the district championship.

At the same time, stay away from topics that may seem overdone, like not earning an “A,” or a little silly, like not getting to go to a friend’s party.

• Topics that call your judgment into question should also be avoided, as well as anything that points to illegal or illicit activity.

Remember that the focus of this essay should be on your ability to overcome hardships, see the silver lining, and learn important lessons.

• Don’t fall into the “failure trap.” You might be tempted to write, at length, about your challenge or setback. Giving too much background info on your challenge will take the spotlight off you.
• Remember to stay focused on growth, values, and lessons learned.
• Think about how you’ve changed and how those changes will accompany you in college. How will these changes help you contribute to a college campus?

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Common app prompt 3: challenging beliefs or ideas.

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

This prompt calls for a passionate essay about ideas, values, and beliefs. It’s particularly challenging because it can be hard to write a positive essay that doesn’t get overly preachy.

It can also be difficult to write about a belief or value in just 650 words.

• Additionally, this prompt is a little risky because you want to avoid overly polarizing topics that may be off-putting to the admissions officer reading the essay.

Done well, however, an essay addressing this prompt can be insightful and demonstrate your ability to stand by your beliefs while still considering the ideas of others.

If you have a specific story to share that’s related to this topic, it can be a good choice.

You should brainstorm using the following questions:

• Why are you someone who stands up for what you believe in?
• When have you stood by an unpopular opinion or belief? Why?
• What ideas, values, and beliefs deeply matter to you? Why?

Successful essays on this prompt have covered a wide range of topics.

• One student wrote about challenging her parents’ old-fashioned beliefs about feminism, while another wrote about challenging her own self-doubt and insecurities.

Whether the essay focuses on a serious or minor idea or belief, it should be something you strongly believe in.

You should discuss how this belief has impacted your life, rather than preaching about why you’re right and others are wrong, etc.

It’s also good to demonstrate a willingness to consider other beliefs.

• Don’t denigrate or insult other viewpoints. You’re young, and your perspectives will change as you grow older. You don’t want colleges thinking you’re close-minded.
• Focus on the outcome. What impact did this challenge or endorsement of a belief have on your life and community?
• Have a vision. How will this learning process change your actions moving forward?

Common App Prompt 4: Gratitude

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

This prompt gives you a chance to demonstrate how you view your past experiences, those you’ve met, and how you’re continuing to grow in the face of new challenges and problems.

It’s also very broad. It can be a large or small gesture that someone has done for you.

Questions for inspiration include:

• What challenges have you faced in the past, and who has helped you deal with them? How did this person help you? Encouragement? Advice?
• What is a meaningful problem you’ve faced in the past? Why did you need help with it? What made the situation so tough for you?
• When have you already solved a problem or helped make a positive change? Who helped you when you were making that positive change?
• What makes you want to take action and affect change? Who has inspired you to make change?
• If you could change anything about the world, what would it be? How might you change it? Who would you ask for help?

Whatever you write about in response to this prompt, make sure it’s relevant to you on a personal level. You should quickly explain your problem or the predicament you were in and tell the reader who helped you out.

Ideally, the problem should be linked to your formative experiences, goals, or passions.

Spend no more than 25% of your essay explaining the background of your problem, who helped you, and how they helped you.

Then, spend the rest of your essay telling the reader what you learned and how you are going to apply this lesson to the future.

• Tell us what you are going to do as a result of the gratitude you have for someone helping you out.
• Or, better yet, explain what you have done to pay it forward.
• Explain why it matters to you?

Colleges want to see that you are someone who appreciates help when it’s given to you  and  that you are someone who will improve from the experience. You want to tell a story that demonstrates how and why you are a better person for having been helped by another generous soul.

Spend 75% of your essay explaining how you’ve changed and what you have done or are going to do to better the world around you. Don’t get stuck in vaguery. Tell the admissions officer specific action steps you have taken or will take to improve your home or community.

Focus on how you can better the lives of others.

Common App Prompt 5: Accomplishment, Event, or Realization Leading to Personal Growth

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others .

An effective response to this prompt should briefly discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization. The majority of the essay should focus on how you learned and grew as a result.

The event described in this essay can be big or small, and sometimes the smaller events result in essays that are unique and surprising.

You could write about meeting an important person, having an influential volunteer experience, or learning something new while traveling or at camp this summer.

You may want to consider the following questions:

• What experiences or moments in my life have changed me as a person?
• What have I realized that has impacted my life and the way I live it?
• When have I learned something so important that it made me change or grow?

Remember that the focus of this essay should be on some sort of transformation you have experienced, causing you to learn and grow as a person. The event, realization, or accomplishment described should have made you view the world in a different, more mature manner.

• Have a vision. How will this realization change your actions moving forward?
• What does your personal growth entail? It’s not enough to state you’ve grown — you must also show the college admissions officer how this growth has changed or will manifest into your actions.
• Since your realization, how have you treated people differently, embarked on problem-solving adventures, or approach challenges?

Common App Prompt 6: An Engaging Topic, Idea, or Concept

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

This topic is brand new, and it gives you a chance to show off your talent for self-directed learning.

It also helps admissions officers get to know what is important and intriguing to you.

• If you choose to write this essay, make sure you write about something that truly excites you, and that this passion comes through in your essay.

To get started, you can think about the following:

• What do you love? What truly excites you? Why?
• When something interests you, how do you learn more? Do you go to the library, watch documentaries, talk to a mentor?
• What makes learning about this topic so satisfying for you?
• How much time and energy do you devote to the subjects that truly matter to you?

This essay should highlight one of your passions. It should also demonstrate that you enjoy independently exploring information about the ideas and subjects that intrigue you.

This essay should suggest a love of knowledge and new challenges.

As with other Common App prompts, the topic you choose to address can be large or small in scope.

• You could focus on your love of dystopian literature or your obsession with learning about birds.
• You could write about a fascination with other cultures or a passion for cooking.

As long as it’s something that interests you and that you learn more about independently, it’s fair game for this essay.

• It’s important to demonstrate your curiosity in this essay.
• How do you pursue your passions?
• What is your work ethic like?
• What’s the story behind your curiosity, and why is it so important to you?
• How have you acted on this interest?

Common App Prompt 7: Any Topic of Your Choice

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

The meaning of this essay prompt is pretty clear: Write about anything you want.This is both easy (because you don’t have to follow particular instructions and answer multiple question parts) and challenging (because it’s very broad, with no guidance offered).

If you have a pressing topic you would love to write about, and it isn’t covered by any of the other prompt options, then this is the perfect prompt choice.

In addition to the other questions we’ve mentioned here, you can consider:

• What’s one thing admissions officers really need to know about you?
• What’s important about you that can’t be found on your transcripts, extracurricular activities, or other application information?
• Is there an experience you’ve had that admissions officers should know about in order to truly understand you?
• What’s something you can bring to a college campus that other students probably can’t?

Some students feel that this type of essay prompt offers  too much  freedom. If that’s the case, you can choose one of the other prompts that offers more guidance.

But if there’s a specific experience or anecdote you would love to share, this prompt provides that opportunity.

Make sure that whatever you talk about, you’re able to relate it to who you are as a person.

The essay should still give admissions officers insight into how you can contribute to a college campus, and what sets you apart from other applicants.

Advice From an Expert

We asked Melissa Richards, vice president for communications and enrollment management at Sweet Briar College, on how to write the best Common App essay.

This is what she had to say:

Tell us a story — an engaging story that is meaningful to you and sheds light on your character, personality, interests, ambitions or resilience. Think through your story structure, just as you would if you were writing a fictional essay with you as the protagonist. Has there been a compelling event or a goal that was meaningful for you? What challenges did you face, and most importantly, how did you triumph? Was there a moral or lesson that now fuels your passions to achieve great things?

Answering the Common App Essay Prompts

With the new Common Application essay topics, you can write about anything that’s meaningful to you.

• If Prompts 1-6 don’t cover something that you really want to say, you can choose to address it with Prompt 7.

None of these topics are better than the others. You just need to choose the topic that can best represent who you are and what you will contribute to a college campus, giving admissions officers more insight into your personality and character.

For each of these prompts, make sure you answer all parts of the question, relate the topic to yourself, and follow the guidelines listed above.

Fundamental Tips for the Common App Essays

While different schools may put varying levels of emphasis on the essay, it is your one chance to truly stand out from the crowd.

The rest of your application will be filled with numbers: SAT scores, GPA, class rank, years spent in various extracurricular activities, hours of community service, etc.

Chances are that many students will have similar numbers, so a successful Common App essay is an opportunity to showcase a more complete picture of you and set you apart from applicants with similar qualifications.

Use the eight tips below to help you write the best college essay. Combine these tips with the advice I gave for each prompt above to write an excellent Common App essay.

1. Strive for uniqueness

College admissions officers read thousands of essays, so you want to find something different and memorable about which to write.

Have you mastered a rare skill? Emigrated from another country or learned multiple languages?

• Started a charity, community service project, or school club? Volunteered in a foreign country?
• Overcome a hardship?
• Developed an unusual hobby or interest?
• Participated in a unique family tradition?

Even if you answered “no,” to all of these questions,  you can still present creative ideas and perspectives . For example, students have written successful essays on the following topics:

• A love of crossword puzzles
• A failed (and later passed) driving test
• A favorite place, used as an extended metaphor for the student’s life
• A mission to fold 1,000 origami cranes
• A metaphor comparing the student’s college of choice to her favorite food: the hummus-tabouli wrap
• A daily task: reading the morning announcements at school
• Growing strawberries in a high school locker

Almost any unique topic,  even one that’s seemingly insignificant , can lead to a strong Common App essay.

The essay simply needs to be well-written, and the topic should convey something about you or about your perspective on life.

2. Address the topic

Of course, it’s also important to ensure that your essay is on topic. Carefully read through the topic(s) to make sure you understand the question(s).

• Most schools will provide multiple prompts, so choose the prompt that you can answer the most creatively while still remaining on topic.

If there are multiple parts to the question, be sure that all parts are addressed.

3. Take time to brainstorm and plan

Instead of settling on the first idea that comes to mind, try brainstorming at  least 5-10 ideas for the prompt .

Write down any idea that comes to mind, no matter how silly, just to get the creative juices flowing.

Once a topic has been selected, it’s important to spend time carefully planning the essay. Consider the following:

• What examples, details, or anecdotes will you include in your essay?
• What will be the topic or focus of each paragraph?
• What “hook” will you use in your introduction?
• How will you conclude your essay?
• Where can you include figurative language: similes, metaphors, or other creative uses of language?

Planning prior to writing the Common App essay creates a solid foundation for an  organized, insightful, and ultimately successful  essay.

4. Start writing your Common App essay right now

It’s normal for students to freeze up and get writer’s block when they sit down to write their essay.

Simply start writing, not pausing to edit or agonize over word choice and grammar.

• The best way to avoid writer’s block is to freely get your ideas on the page.

Later, you can go back and carefully polish your work. However, now is the time to worry about  what  you want to say instead of exactly  how  to say it.

5. Begin with an engaging “hook”

If you can immediately think of an engaging hook for your essay, that’s great.

If not, you can go back after writing your rough draft and try to find the perfect catchy beginning for your essay.

A “hook” is something that immediately  grabs the reader and makes them want to continue reading .

• College admissions officers read many, many essays that begin with something like, “I have always loved…” or, “I have always wanted to…” or, “An experience that has shaped my life is…”

A better way to begin the essay is by using an anecdote that paints a vivid picture.

For example, if you are writing about your experience on the track team, you could start with something like, “As I waited for the sound of the starter pistol, the seconds felt infinite.”

Other possibilities include beginning with a surprising statement, asking an intriguing question, or starting with a short sentence that leaves the reader wanting to know more.

6. Show, don’t tell

You’ve probably heard this writing advice before, and it certainly holds true for college essays.

• Keep in mind that an effective Common App essay is intended to be personal and creative. It’s not a formal academic essay.

With that in mind, use vivid imagery, specific details, and engaging anecdotes to illustrate your points.

• Instead of telling the admissions officer that you love reading, provide memorable details, like the fact that you can’t even see a cereal box without reading the packaging.

While trying to include plenty of details, also make sure that you explain or analyze each anecdote, clarifying what this says about you as a person (and as a candidate for admission).

7. Let personality and voice shine through

A strong college essay should allow the admissions officer to almost “hear” you speaking as they read.

This doesn’t mean that you should use slang, but it does mean avoiding the excessive use of fancy vocabulary.

If you use high-level vocabulary in everyday life, that’s fine, but don’t push yourself to use a thesaurus or litter the essay with five-syllable words.

• It’s obvious to an admissions committee when a student is trying too hard, and it makes the essay sound stiff and stilted. (This doesn’t mean not to use any high-level vocabulary at all; just don’t overdo it.)

Be creative or quirky; write as if you’re talking to a favorite relative or teacher, and even use humor when appropriate. You want the admissions officer to read the essay and think, “I’d like to meet this kid.”

8. Proofread multiple times

Nothing kills a great essay like  glaring mistakes in spelling, grammar, and word usage .

Read over your Common App essay, and get a few other sets of eyes on it as well.

• Show the essay to your English teacher, a friend or relative who’s a skilled writer, the valedictorian of your class, or anyone else that you trust to help find and correct errors.

Aside from language conventions, here are a few other things for which to look:

• Is your essay well-organized, with transitions smoothly and logically connecting ideas?
• Does the essay clearly answer the topic or prompt?
• Do you provide analysis, explaining the significance of your examples, details, and anecdotes?
• Does the essay “sound” like you and reflect your personality?
• Does it include a hook that grabs you from the start?
• Are sentences varied in structure, with a good mix of both short and long sentences?
• Does the essay end on a powerful and/or memorable note?
• Is there anything in the essay that seems out of place or off topic?
• Is the meaning clear?
• Are any sentences worded awkwardly and in need of revision?

A college essay must be a clear, insightful, and engaging read.

If you follow these eight tips, you are sure to write a stellar and successful college essay.

How to Use Specific Details in Your Common App Essay (Examples Included)

Use your words wisely.

There are a variety of words and phrases that are almost never appropriate to use when you are aiming to be specific.

The worst culprits from this group are “thing” and “stuff.” These two words convey little to no meaning and should definitely be avoided.

Let’s look at two examples:

Example 1: When I traveled abroad I learned many things and saw a lot of cool stuff. Example 2: When I traveled abroad to Egypt with AFS, my worldview changed significantly. For the first time, I understood what it felt like to be an outsider and not understand the language and customs around me. This experience taught me to ask questions when I felt confused such as when I saw people taking off their shoes before entering their home.

In the first example, the only information the reader learns about you is that you traveled abroad and enjoyed it.

That’s great, but not specific enough for a committee to want you to offer you money to go to school.

• Conversely, in the second example we learn where you traveled, how you were changed by your experience, a realization you had while abroad, and how you adjusted to a difficult situation.

This is not only more detailed, but it provides your reader with an understanding of what you are passionate about, and how you overcome obstacles (hint: this also clues your reader in on what you might be like as a college student).

Other words and phrases to use cautiously include: “kind of,” “like,” “sort of,” “about,” “whatever,” “whenever,” “something,” “very,” and “basically.”

Examples of Detailed Sentences in College Essays

A student’s love of engineering:

It’s also about being part of the community.  I am interested in activities like the Formula Sae racing and ChemE Car that would allow me to apply my engineering knowledge outside of the classroom.

A student ending her essay that discussed his love for theatre:

Once provoked, any person, even the most hard working and guileless among us, can fall victim to the horrors of violence. As the old conundrum goes, “Does art model life, or does life model art?”

A student writes about his love for current events and politics:

I fostered my love of international affairs and history at a very young age listening to the adventures of a fictional character named Dirk Pitt.  These novels, all of which would begin by describing a global historical event, had me hooked on these disciplines by the age of seven.  As I matured, so did my hunger for history and politics.  I began to love to debate political policy with my teachers.  I would listen to right wing radio with my father, as well as watch CNN with my mother.  This bipartisan upbringing allowed me to foster well informed opinions concerning the way in which our nation was lead.

Another student admits his financial predicament:

My dad is disabled and receives Social Security Disability for me and our family.  Furthermore the Social Security that my family receives on my behalf will expire upon my graduation.  I also receive New York State Child Health Plus Health Insurance which terminates when I leave to go to school, placing further financial burden upon my family.

A student writes about his ability to survive and grow from adversity:

There may be candidates with more decorated applications with sundry extracurricular activities, but my extracurricular activity is survival. I truly believe I can accomplish greatness because I have been pushed down so many times that it is now my nature to force myself up, no matter how broken, and continue onward.

A student talks about her love for a particular field and a professor who teaches in it:

Professor Phillips has a tremendous reputation in the fields of both law and business, and I am greatly interested in the confluences of these fields. Personally, I want to study economics and international relations while assuming a third major in one of the sciences. Science and technology are the basis of many new markets in the business world, and exploring a new product in this field requires scientific, legal, and economic understanding.

Another student describing the international political situation from several years ago:

Russia could breach Georgia truce, top US official warns. Moscou souffle le chaud et le froid sur Kiev. China recalls milk powder amid health scandal: diplomatic source. Chine-Un lait au goût amer pour les autorités locales. These are a few of the titles of news articles that I saw on my daily raiding of Google News, a daily tradition that I have been practicing for the last three years.

How to Use the Right Tone in Your Common App Essay

Tone is what you communicate through the words and phrases you choose in your personal essay.

In speaking, we may change our tone by varying pitch or emphasis to communicate our feelings. In writing, we don’t have those tools, so we have to be very careful with our word choice.

Tone is not what you say, but  how you say it .

No matter what your topic, you want to communicate through your tone that you are:

•      Intelligent
•      Honest
•      Genuine
•      Thoughtful
•      Reflective
•      Respectful

Depending on the  specific subject , you may want to add other qualities to this list, but the ones above should be a part of every single personal essay written.

Here are a few simple ideas for getting your tone right:

Idea 1: Developing a Genuine Tone

Here is an example of a personal essay’s tone that sends the wrong message:

“On my service trip to Costa Rica, interacting with local families made me realize how bad other people’s lives can be and how lucky I am.”

So what’s wrong with this?

To test, ask yourself this question: what assumptions can I make about this person? First of all, the writer is very judgmental, which we can see when she identifies others’ lives as “bad.”

• Maybe she meant to discuss a level of poverty, education, or access, but none of that is clear.

The blanket statement “bad” is a flat-out judgment of someone’s character or situation, and is inappropriate for an essay.

Furthermore, this sentence doesn’t show that this writer is very genuine. She mentions being “lucky,” but again, we’re not quite sure what that means.

A college admissions officer might easily interpret this statement as saying “I sure am glad I’m rich, because my life doesn’t suck as much as most other people’s lives.”

• The author of this sentence has gone to Costa Rica and learned nothing about herself or others.

Let’s rewrite the sentence with a tone that communicates qualities more flattering to the writer:

“Through working on service projects with local families, my trip to Costa Rica taught me the value of helping others through understanding and working to improve their circumstances.”

Better, right? This excerpt shows no value judgment about the lives of others. The writer keeps the focus on herself and shows a genuine understanding of her subject.

Additionally, she shows herself to be helpful, dedicated, and selfless. Focused on action and reflection, this sentence has movement and depth.

Again, this issue of tone is all in the  wording .

Idea 2: Practicing Selection of Detail

Here an applicant has written:

“My position as captain of the lacrosse team allowed me, the highest scorer, to lead our team to the state championships.”

Often, tone is a matter of detail selection. In this case, the author is focusing on the wrong details for the message he wants to send. It’s clear he wants to communicate that he is a talented leader.

However, he is undermining the leadership aspect by also adding the detail of being the “highest scorer.” Serving as team captain is all about leadership through teamwork.

• This author is implying that he single-handedly led a team to state championships because he’s that good.

Any admissions officer will see this sentence as needless bragging.

At its worst, this sentence does not show any sense of what it means to be a captain.

Try this instead:

“My position as captain of the lacrosse team showed me how determination and perseverance could lead our team to the state championships.”

In this sentence, the focus isn’t  all  on the writer, but it’s also clear that he understands what a leadership position requires.

Importantly, he shows that a team sport is about the team, not about the person, while also emphasizing his critical role.

Idea 3: Communicating What You Learned

You want to show the college admissions officer that you’re a reflective applicant who can learn from diverse situations and people.

After all, that’s part of what the college experience is all about. However, the tone matters in the way you  deliver that information .

Consider this sentence:

“Visiting my grandfather in a Florida retirement community taught me how to be a better person and truly understand the world.”

An admissions officer reading this sentence will have the same questions as anyone else:

• Really? How? In other words, there’s no clear connection between the visit and the understanding.
• In addition, this author does not sound genuine. Does anyone think that a college applicant “truly understands the world”? If so, there would be no need for college!

While reflecting on an experience, your tone should also make you sound genuine and honest. Try this:

“Visiting my grandfather always reminds me of the value of storytelling, as his personal history gives me insight into the depth of his character.”

In this version, the author avoids exaggeration and gives a clear sense of what she has learned: the value of storytelling.

There is a clear connection between what her grandfather does (he tells personal stories) and the effect (she understands depth of character through stories).

These are all great qualities to have, but only through proper word choice is the message clearly communicated.

Take Time to Plan: A Strong Tone Takes Time to Develop

Remember that your college essay is an opportunity to present the best aspects of your character.

It can show a college the insight, care, and depth of understanding of which you’re capable.

Without the right tone, you risk giving the wrong impression, or missing a major opportunity to get a college interested in you.

Get Started ASAP: Here’s Why

If you are a college-bound student, you know about the key components of a college application: GPA, test scores, extracurricular activities, and the college essay.

Many students spend the majority of their time focused on the first three items on the list and leave the final item—the college essay—until a couple of weeks before applications are due.

• This is a mistake that you should avoid. One of the most important tips for crafting an excellent college essay is to start preparing early, preferably the spring or summer before senior year.

So if you’re wondering when you should get started on that essay, the answer is right now, and here are 10 reasons why.

1. Avoid exhaustion or burnout later

Once senior year is underway and application deadlines are looming, you will have a lot on your plate: regular schoolwork, filling out college and scholarship applications, possibly taking the SATs and/or ACTs, participating in extracurricular activities, and more.

You don’t want to add the college essay to the already overwhelming demands of senior year.

• Trying to write the essay while juggling multiple other commitments may result in a rushed, distracted, or poorly written final product.

It’s better to write the essay in the summer or the very beginning of the school year when your mind is still fresh and you can devote the appropriate amount of time and attention to your writing.

Most colleges release applications over the summer, so it’s possible for you to start writing as soon as college essay topics are available.

2. Essays are often the “tip factor”

While some people think that the college essay isn’t important in the grand scheme of the application process, an essay can actually  be the “tip factor” that gets you into a prestigious school .

• When students have comparable numbers (class rank, GPA, test scores, community service hours), the essay can set one candidate apart from the rest.
• A great college essay can push you into the “Yes” category, while a poor one can, unfortunately, do the opposite.

Essays are a particularly important factor at the more prestigious and selective schools.

• In 2014, for example, Stanford received more than 42,000 applications and accepted only 5%. When the competition is that stiff,  a fantastic essay can help you stand out .

In fact, a study from Harvard University found that while most colleges do initial cuts based on academic merit, the majority of “elite colleges and universities” first cut students based on “institutional fit,” including recommendation letters and student essays.

Why? At the most elite colleges, the majority of applicants have substantial academic merit, so that can be weighed later in the application review process.

• Initially, however, these schools want to create a class that is a great fit for the school, and closely evaluating the essay is one way to do so.

If you want to be admitted to top-quality colleges or universities, it’s crucial that you don’t minimize the importance of the essay or procrastinate. The earlier you start writing, the better!

3. Many scholarships also require essays

Scholarships also typically require  an essay or personal statement, so a well-written essay can help offset the consistently rising costs of a college education as well.

According to the College Board, just one year of tuition for a state resident attending a public college is up to $9,650.

• For out-of-state residents, this number climbs to $24,930, and it jumps to $33,480 for private colleges.

Those numbers represent just one year out of four (or more!), and they don’t even include room and board, textbooks, or other expenses.

For this reason, scholarship money is becoming more important than ever before, and a carefully planned essay can help you earn as much award money as possible.

With both admissions to prestigious institutions and scholarship money on the line, the college essay is a high-stakes piece of writing that should receive plenty of careful, thoughtful consideration and time.

4. Prepare to apply early decision

If you are planning to apply early decision, it’s even more important to get a head start on writing the essay.

Applying early decision means that you are absolutely certain about the school you want to attend, and you are willing to commit to withdrawing all other applications if accepted to this dream school.

• Most early application deadlines are November 1st, and students typically hear back as early as mid-December.

One benefit of applying early decision is that it can substantially increase your chances of being accepted.

• For example, Princeton’s early acceptance rate in 2013 was 18.3%, while the regular acceptance rate was just 5.44%. Other Ivy League schools report similar numbers.

If you’re certain a particular school is “the one” and want to boost your chances of admission, applying early decision is an excellent choice, and submitting a high-quality college essay is critical.

With a November 1st deadline, it’s especially important for students applying early decision to begin brainstorming, planning, and writing their college essay as early as possible.

5. Prevent writer’s block

We’ve all experienced writer’s block before: sitting down to write and staring blankly at a blinking cursor or a white sheet of paper. Without the pressure of a deadline, writer’s block isn’t a big deal.

However, if it’s for something as important as acceptance to colleges, a lengthy battle with writer’s block can be disastrous.

Writer’s Digest and SmartBlogger suggest the following techniques to combat writer’s block:

• Step away from your writing and do anything creative, including painting, scrapbooking, or building something for a few hours or days.
• Freewrite for 15 minutes a day.
• Dance, meditate, or practice yoga.
• Go on a short trip.
• Read books or magazines for inspiration.

These are nice ideas, but do you notice something they all have in common? They all require time. And if you’re on a very tight deadline, that’s something you just won’t have

Trying to do yoga, taking a trip, or painting when the essay is due in a matter of weeks, or even days, will probably just result in more stress, anxiety, and writer’s block.

If you start early, however, you’ll have time to relax, go for walks, read, and simply let your ideas and words marinate without feeling rushed.

Ultimately, this will result in a much better essay and a greater chance of earning scholarship money and acceptance letters.

6. Brainstorming, planning, writing, editing, and revising

Any piece of writing should go through a multi-step process, but this is especially true for a significant piece of writing like the college essay.

First, you should reflect and brainstorm.

• Writing about yourself isn’t easy, and it’s not something most of us do on a regular basis, so you may need some time to reflect on yourself and your experiences in order to come up with the perfect topic.

It’s best if you don’t settle on the first topic that pops into your head. Instead, you should spend time brainstorming and outlining several possible topics to find the one that will generate the best essay.

For many students, it’s helpful to spend a week or so simply reflecting and thinking about a topic for the essay before diving into the actual writing.

Of course, this isn’t possible if you wait too long to start writing.

After you have settled on a topic, planning is also essential. You should map out your main points, as well as the examples, evidence, or anecdotes you’ll include to illustrate them.

• You may also want to plan an excellent “hook” or “grabber” to start your essay, as well as an insightful conclusion. This process, too, can take some time.

Finally, it’s time to get to the writing stage. Of course, this won’t be accomplished in just one draft.

• For most writers, it’s helpful to write a “rough draft,” where words and ideas are simply spilled onto the page without worrying too much about grammar and word choice.

After you have determined what you want to say, you can go back and polish how you said it.

• This includes paying close attention to word choice, spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You should also ensure that you vary sentence structure, your essay is well organized, and your points are expressed clearly and concisely.

Once you revise and edit, you still aren’t done.

You’ll also want to have the essay looked at by several other people to ensure that it’s top-notch. Read the essay aloud to verify that everything sounds good and that your voice and personality shine through.

Your parent can also proofread the essay (although we don’t always recommend this).

• Recruit other friends or relatives who are skilled writers, or even ask your English teacher to take a look.

As the application deadline approaches, your teacher will likely be inundated with requests for letters of recommendation or essay proofreading, so it’s best to ask early in the school year.

If this process sounds time-consuming, that’s because it is!

You may think you can write a stellar essay in a couple of hours, but a truly impressive essay requires brainstorming, planning, writing, revising, editing, and review by others.

Each step can take days or even weeks, so an early start is essential!

7. Writing right now means more time later

It’s no secret that applying to colleges is a stressful experience. Students must pick colleges that are the right fit, fill out applications for schools and scholarships, and ensure that all components of the application are in order.

They also have to juggle a variety of deadlines and commitments.

• In a “Stress in America” study by the American Psychological Institution, it was reported that teens aged 13-17 are actually more stressed than adults, often at dangerous levels.
• These teenagers also report that stress negatively impacts their performance at home, work, and school.

Reducing your stress during your hectic senior year will benefit your overall mental and physical health, as well as your ability to continue performing well in school.

Writing the essay early is a great way to help lower your stress levels.

• Getting the essay completed over the summer, before all of these anxiety-inducing deadlines and requirements start piling on, can be a huge relief.

While other students are agonizing over last-minute essays, you can rest assured that your impressive essay was completed weeks or even months ago.

You will feel confident knowing that you spent plenty of time on your essay and were able to produce a high-quality final product.

This will also allow you to spend more time experiencing and enjoying your final year of high school—and possibly your final year living under your parents’ roof — instead of constantly stressing about college and the future.

8. Stick to the word limit

College essays typically have word limits and  these word limits tend to be a bit restrictive .

After all, admissions officers must read hundreds or thousands of essays, so limiting the length of these essays makes sense.

Many high school seniors write a great essay, check the word count, and realize that they’ll need to cut hundreds of words.

These students then struggle to strip the essay down to the essentials.

When you’ve written something you’re proud of, it’s very difficult to delete your carefully crafted words and sentences.

• It’s also difficult to know which words are necessities and which your essay can do without. For this reason, cutting an essay down to the word limit can be yet another time-consuming process.

You don’t want to wait until the last minute, realize the essay is far too long, and then panic as you try to meet the word count.

• Selecting the non-essential pieces of an essay should be done thoughtfully. If you rush, you may end up butchering it as you try to cut it down to size.

On the other hand, writing the college essay early allows you plenty of time to play with the word count, ensuring that size requirements are met without compromising the quality of the essay.

9. Attend workshops or seek help from a college essay consultant

Even for the most brilliant students, writing isn’t always a strong suit.

Fortunately, there are opportunities available that can help struggling writers, or even great writers who just need a little extra inspiration.

• Transizion offers an intensive, expert-taught college admissions essay writing boot camp.
• It features a 100% success rate and a 100% guarantee. Reserve your seat before time runs out.
• This boot camp will put you in the best position to succeed.

You can also attend college essay workshops. If you opt to go to a college essay workshop, it’s most helpful to attend with either a completed essay or a solid outline.

This way, you can receive specific feedback and guidance to polish the essay to perfection.

• Transizion’s boot camp allows you to send your instructors drafts of your college essays, so make sure to take advantage of this as early as possible!

Writing the essay right now can allow you to take full advantage of any essay workshops you’re able to attend.

If you decide to hire a college essay consultant, keep in mind that these professionals are often booked solid once application season draws near.

To ensure that you’re able to make use of such specialists, you’ll need to get an early start on your college essay.

10. Avoid any last-minute disasters on the essay

Imagine that you put the final touches on your college application, which is due tomorrow, and you are just getting ready to submit everything when your computer crashes.

You finally get the computer up and running again, but your college essay is nowhere to be found.

• This may sound unlikely, but it’s certainly happened before, and you don’t want it to happen to you.
• Writing the essay early can allow a “cushion” in case the unexpected occurs.

Additional circumstances could include a family emergency, forgotten application passwords, or other technological glitches.

• In 2013, for example, problems with the Common Application caused mass panic among high school seniors.
• Students were unable to log in, couldn’t submit forms, or even had entire essays deleted.

You want to avoid the possibility of anxiety, panic, or even missed admissions opportunities if emergencies like these occur.

If you finish the essay several weeks early, and something unfortunate were to happen, there would be plenty of time remaining to still salvage a solid college essay.

If you waited until the last minute, however, these circumstances would be beyond your control, and a life-changing opportunity could be missed.

Conclusion: Writing Your Common Application Essay

We know that you want to have the greatest possible chance of success in life, and that can mean securing admission to a quality college or university.

Writing the essay early will help you avoid stress and burnout, allow enough time to write a high-quality paper, and provide some “cushion” in the case of writer’s block, a word limit disaster, or other emergencies.

Submit an impressive, standout application by preparing for the college essay right now.

Learn how we can help you with college and career guidance! Check out our YouTube channel!

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Personal Essay and Short Answer Prompts

Personal essay prompts.

To help us get to know you in the application review process, you are required to submit a personal essay. For insight and advice about how to approach writing your personal essay, see our Expert Advice page. 

• Common Application first-year essay prompts
• Common App transfer essay prompt: Please provide a personal essay that addresses your reasons for transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve.
• Coalition, powered by Scoir first-year and transfer essay prompts

Short Answer Question

For both first-year and transfer applicants, we ask you to complete a short answer essay (approximately 250 words) based on one of two prompts. 

• Vanderbilt University values learning through contrasting points of view. We understand that our differences, and our respect for alternative views and voices, are our greatest source of strength. Please reflect on conversations you’ve had with people who have expressed viewpoints different from your own. How did these conversations/experiences influence you?
• Vanderbilt offers a community where students find balance between their academic and social experiences. Please briefly elaborate on how one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences has influenced you.

The Common App 2020-2021 essay prompts

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Let’s not bury the lede: the Common App first-year essay prompts will remain the same for 2020-2021.

As part of our commitment to making sure the essay prompts continue to serve students and Common App member colleges well, we invited feedback through a survey. Over the course of three weeks in December, over 10,000 people--two-thirds of them students--shared their thoughts. Here’s what we learned:

The current prompts do their job well.

Over 95% of every group who responded to the survey--students, counselors, teachers, admission officers--agree that the current prompts spark effective essays. That’s a testament to you. Over the last 8 years, based on your feedback and the indispensable counsel of our advisory committees, we’ve revised and refined the prompts so they guide students toward stories that will help Common App members make informed admission decisions.

Opinions about individual prompts are as diverse as the people who write and read the essays they inspire.

Aside from the agreement about general effectiveness, there was only one other area of consensus: people value the prompt inviting students to share a story about a meaningful background, identity, interest, or talent. Over 50% of respondents in each group identified this prompt as effective. And the rest? When asked what prompt they would like to see removed or replaced, respondents were all over the map, with no one prompt getting more than 35% thumbs down. Moreover, the groups didn’t agree with one another. Students love Topic of Your Choice. Members and counselors? Not so much. And while students aren’t inclined to discuss a time when they challenged a belief or idea, members appreciate what those essays reveal about the students who write them. What this feedback suggests is that no one likes everything, but everyone likes something. And that has been our goal since day one: making sure that all students can find a home in the prompts.

There’s always room for improvement, even if the prompts stay the same.

As we were reviewing the survey results with our counselor advisory committee, it became clear that how students approach an essay is just as important as what prompt they choose, if not more so. We have an opportunity to guide students, not in what they write but in how they think about what they write. To this end, we will develop new resources to support students through this part of the application.

Transfer essay prompts need some love too.

While the majority of feedback we received pertained to the first-year prompts, many of you also shared valuable insights about the transfer essays--feedback about both content and process. We continue to look for ways to improve the transfer application process, and we will have more to share about the transfer essay in the coming months.

Sharing the essay prompts so far in advance of the next application year is always a tricky dance. On the one hand, people are curious. Rising seniors want to know what they’ll be asked to write about, and counselors and teachers want to make sure they are prepared to guide their students. On the other hand, releasing the prompts can send a tacit message that the college application process starts now. That’s not our intent. Everyone approaches this experience from their own angle and at their own pace, and we’ll be there to support you along the way.

News and updates

Washington State University applications surge with help from Common App

Common App announces 2024–2025 Common App essay prompts

New research: First-generation definitions and their implications

Coalition Application Essay Prompts

You matter, and so does your story ✏️.

As part of your application, some colleges require an essay. The Coalition’s essay prompts allow you to share experiences or perspectives that shape who you are – because your story and your identity matters.

Select a prompt from the list below, and share an essay of about 500-650 words that will help admissions counselors get to know you.

Looking for additional support? Check out the Coalition’s resources on writing your essay

Essay prompts (for 2023-24 & 2024-25)

Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.

What interests or excites you? How does it shape who you are now or who you might become in the future?

Describe a time when you had a positive impact on others. What were the challenges? What were the rewards?

Has there been a time when an idea or belief of yours was questioned? How did you respond? What did you learn?

What success have you achieved or obstacle have you faced? What advice would you give a sibling or friend going through a similar experience?

Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.

Essay-writing advice from My Coalition Counselor:

Consejos para ensayos universitarios de consejeros de admisiones

Information on the UGA 2021 Application

  david graves        may 7th, 2020 in blog.

• UGA will accept any of the following freshman applications: The Common Application, The Coalition Application and the UGA based Application (only submit one application from one of these options).
• We will still accept documents from all the same providers (SCOIR, Naviance/Parchment, documents submitted through the UGA admissions site, mailed in materials, etc.)
• We will still require a Secondary School Report (SRR) from a counselor, an official transcript sent from your school, and we will accept optional letters of recommendation from teachers/community members.
• Currently, we will still require an official SAT or ACT exam result sent to us from the testing agency. If the University System of GA and UGA change this policy, we will announce it ASAP.
• The Freshman Application will open up on September 1.

UGA will require two essays, a longer personal essay (250-650 words) and a shorter essay (200-300 words).

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
• The shorter essay prompt will be the following – “The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application.”

Review Process

UGA still intends on having both Early Action and Regular Decision rounds, and we currently are still working on the same deadlines for both rounds as last year. If we need to change the materials deadline for one or both rounds, we will make an announcement as soon as we have made this determination.

• UGA understands that Spring courses and grades might look very different for some students and school systems this year, and we will take that into account in our review of an applicant’s academic record. We will calculate a GPA based on the grades that are on the official transcript, and P grades will not hinder a student’s chances of admission (though we cannot use them in a GPA calculation).
• UGA also understands that different student activities might have been altered due to the coronavirus epidemic, and we will take this into account in our holistic review process.

Tags: application changes , applications , essays , freshman admission

Freshman requirements

• Subject requirement (A-G)
• GPA requirement
• Admission by exception
• English language proficiency
• UC graduation requirements

Additional information for

• California residents
• Out-of-state students
• Home-schooled students

Transfer requirements

• Understanding UC transfer
• Preparing to transfer
• UC transfer programs
• Transfer planning tools

International applicants

• Applying for admission
• English language proficiency (TOEFL/IELTS)
• Passports & visas
• Living accommodations
• Health care & insurance

AP & Exam credits

Applying as a freshman

• Filling out the application
• Dates & deadlines

Personal insight questions

• How applications are reviewed
• After you apply

Applying as a transfer

Types of aid

• Grants & scholarships
• Jobs & work-study
• California DREAM Loan Program
• Middle Class Scholarship Program
• Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan
• Native American Opportunity Plan  
• Who can get financial aid
• How aid works
• Estimate your aid

Apply for financial aid

• Cal Dream Act application tips
• Tuition & cost of attendance
• Glossary & resources
• Santa Barbara
• Campus program & support services
• Check majors
• Freshman admit data
• Transfer admit data
• Native American Opportunity Plan
• You will have 8 questions to choose from. You must respond to only 4 of the 8 questions.
• Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words.
• Which questions you choose to answer is entirely up to you. However, you should select questions that are most relevant to your experience and that best reflect your individual circumstances.

Keep in mind

• All questions are equal. All are given equal consideration in the application review process, which means there is no advantage or disadvantage to choosing certain questions over others.
• There is no right or wrong way to answer these questions. It’s about getting to know your personality, background, interests and achievements in your own unique voice.  
• Use the additional comments field if there are issues you'd like to address that you didn't have the opportunity to discuss elsewhere on the application. This shouldn't be an essay, but rather a place to note unusual circumstances or anything that might be unclear in other parts of the application. You may use the additional comments field to note extraordinary circumstances related to COVID-19, if necessary. 

Questions & guidance

Remember, the personal insight questions are just that—personal. Which means you should use our guidance for each question just as a suggestion in case you need help. The important thing is expressing who you are, what matters to you and what you want to share with UC. 

1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. Things to consider: A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking the lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about what you accomplished and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities?

Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church, in your community or an organization? And your leadership role doesn't necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family? 2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side. Things to consider: What does creativity mean to you? Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do with that skill? If you used creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution? What are the steps you took to solve the problem?

How does your creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom? Does your creativity relate to your major or a future career? 3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? Things to consider: If there is a talent or skill that you're proud of, this is the time to share it.You don't necessarily have to be recognized or have received awards for your talent (although if you did and you want to talk about it, feel free to do so). Why is this talent or skill meaningful to you?

Does the talent come naturally or have you worked hard to develop this skill or talent? Does your talent or skill allow you opportunities in or outside the classroom? If so, what are they and how do they fit into your schedule? 4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. Things to consider: An educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. For example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that's geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you; just to name a few.

If you choose to write about educational barriers you've faced, how did you overcome or strive to overcome them? What personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome this challenge? How did overcoming this barrier help shape who you are today? 5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement? Things to consider: A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you've faced and what you've learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone?

If you're currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends or with my family? 6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom. Things to consider:  Many students have a passion for one specific academic subject area, something that they just can't get enough of. If that applies to you, what have you done to further that interest? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had inside and outside the classroom such as volunteer work, internships, employment, summer programs, participation in student organizations and/or clubs and what you have gained from your involvement.

Has your interest in the subject influenced you in choosing a major and/or future career? Have you been able to pursue coursework at a higher level in this subject (honors, AP, IB, college or university work)? Are you inspired to pursue this subject further at UC, and how might you do that?

7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? Things to consider: Think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place like your high school, hometown or home. You can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community?

Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? How did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both? Did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community? 8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California? Things to consider:  If there's anything you want us to know about you but didn't find a question or place in the application to tell us, now's your chance. What have you not shared with us that will highlight a skill, talent, challenge or opportunity that you think will help us know you better?

From your point of view, what do you feel makes you an excellent choice for UC? Don't be afraid to brag a little.

Writing tips

Start early..

Give yourself plenty of time for preparation, careful composition and revisions.

Write persuasively.

Making a list of accomplishments, activities, awards or work will lessen the impact of your words. Expand on a topic by using specific, concrete examples to support the points you want to make.

Use “I” statements.

Talk about yourself so that we can get to know your personality, talents, accomplishments and potential for success on a UC campus. Use “I” and “my” statements in your responses.

Proofread and edit.

Although you will not be evaluated on grammar, spelling or sentence structure, you should proofread your work and make sure your writing is clear. Grammatical and spelling errors can be distracting to the reader and get in the way of what you’re trying to communicate.

Solicit feedback.

Your answers should reflect your own ideas and be written by you alone, but others — family, teachers and friends can offer valuable suggestions. Ask advice of whomever you like, but do not plagiarize from sources in print or online and do not use anyone's words, published or unpublished, but your own.

Copy and paste.

Once you are satisfied with your answers, save them in plain text (ASCII) and paste them into the space provided in the application. Proofread once more to make sure no odd characters or line breaks have appeared.

This is one of many pieces of information we consider in reviewing your application. Your responses can only add value to the application. An admission decision will not be based on this section alone.

Need more help?

Download our worksheets:

• English [PDF]
• Spanish [PDF]

Personal Essay Topics

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• Writing Essays
• Writing Research Papers
• English Grammar
• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

A personal essay is an essay about your life, thoughts, or experiences. This type of essay will give readers a glimpse into your most intimate life experiences and life lessons. There are many reasons you may need to write a personal essay , from a simple class assignment to a college application requirement . You can use the list below for inspiration. Consider each statement a starting point, and write about a memorable moment that the prompt brings to mind.

• Your bravest moment
• How you met your best friend
• What makes your mom or dad special
• How you overcame a fear
• Why you will succeed
• Why you made a difficult choice
• A special place
• A place you try to avoid
• When a friend let you down
• An event that changed your life
• A special encounter with an animal
• A time when you felt out of place
• An odd experience that didn't make sense at the time
• Words of wisdom that hit home and changed your way of thinking
• A person that you do not like
• A time when you disappointed someone
• Your fondest memory
• A time when you saw your parent cry
• The moment when you knew you were grown up
• Your earliest memory of holiday celebrations in your home
• Times when you should have made a better choice
• A time when you dodged a dangerous situation
• A person you will think about at the end of your life
• Your favorite time period
• A failure you've experienced
• A disappointment you've experienced
• A surprising turn of events
• What you would do with power
• What superpower you would choose
• If you could switch lives with someone
• How money matters in your life
• Your biggest loss
• A time when you felt you did the wrong thing
• A proud moment when you did the right thing
• An experience that you've never shared with another person
• A special place that you shared with a childhood friend
• A first encounter with a stranger
• Your first handshake
• Where you go to hide
• If you had a do-over
• A book that changed your life
• Words that stung
• When you had the desire to run
• When you had the urge to crawl into a hole
• Words that prompted hope
• When a child taught you a lesson
• Your proudest moment
• If your dog could talk
• Your favorite time with family
• If you could live in another country
• If you could invent something
• The world a hundred years from now
• If you had lived a hundred years earlier
• The animal you'd like to be
• One thing you'd change at your school
• The greatest movie moment
• The type of teacher you would be
• If you could be a building
• A statue you'd like to see
• If you could live anywhere
• The greatest discovery
• If you could change one thing about yourself
• An animal that could be in charge
• Something you can do that robots could never do
• Your most unfortunate day
• Your secret talent
• Your secret love
• The most beautiful thing you've ever seen
• The ugliest thing you've seen
• Something you've witnessed
• An accident that changed everything
• A wrong choice
• A right choice
• If you were a food
• How you'd spend a million dollars
• If you could start a charity
• The meaning of color
• A close call
• Your favorite gift
• A chore you'd do away with
• A secret place
• Something you can't resist
• A hard lesson
• A visitor you'll never forget
• An unexplained event
• Your longest minute
• An awkward social moment
• An experience with death
• Why you'll never tell a lie
• If your mom knew, she'd kill you
• A kiss that meant a lot
• When you needed a hug
• The hardest news you've had to deliver
• A special morning
• How to Write a Narrative Essay or Speech
• What Is an Autobiography?
• How to Ace Your University of Wisconsin Personal Statements
• 7 Law School Personal Statement Topic Ideas
• Expository Essay Genre With Suggested Prompts
• Tips for the Pre-2013 Personal Essay Options on the Common Application
• 50 Topics for Impromptu Student Speeches
• 24 Journal Prompts for Creative Writing in the Elementary Classroom
• Writing Prompts for Elementary School Students
• Tips for Writing an Essay on an Event That Led to Personal Growth
• Do You Know What to Do If You Fail a Test in College?
• The 2021-22 Common Application Essay Prompts
• How to Write a Personal Narrative
• 61 General Expository Essay Topic Ideas to Practice Academic Writing
• Compose a Narrative Essay or Personal Statement
• Bad Essay Topics for College Admissions

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The 2020-2021 Common Application Essay Prompts Are Here

The Common Application has just announced that the essay prompts will be the same as those used in 2019-2020. Every cycle, the Common App offers six prompts that students can use to brainstorm great essay topics. There is also a seventh prompt to write on any topic of your choosing.

New to college applications? Keep reading this article to learn why these prompts matter, when to start your essay, and how you can be preparing for college applications now.

2020-2021 Common Application Essay Prompts

Here are the essay prompts from last year, which will be used again in this upcoming application cycle. Since we have worked with these prompts extensively in the past, we can confirm that these can inspire some pretty great essays.

Prompt #1: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Prompt #2: The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Prompt #3: Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Prompt #4: Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

Prompt #5: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Prompt #6: Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Prompt #7: Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

What is the Purpose of the Common App Essay?

By the time you apply to college, you have gathered a long list of grades, test scores, and extracurricular accomplishments. But, while admissions officers are interested in seeing what you have done with your high school years, what they really want to know is who you are. When people read your college application, they want to know, “Is this someone who will succeed at our school?”

In your essay, you get to tell a story or two that introduces admissions officers to you as a candidate for their school. In your introduction, you want to come across as smart, thoughtful, and mature. Your essay should be deeply personal, error-free, and written in language that demonstrates you are prepared for the academic challenge of college.

What you choose to write about does not matter nearly as much as how you address the topic. We have seen winning essays on the alarm clock, Robotics Club, death, and home cooking. The commonality that all these essays shared was that they portrayed the author as a thoughtful person of good character. Just about any strong college essay will answer these four questions:

• Why Am I Here?
• What is Unique About Me?
• What Matters to Me?

While the essay can be about any topic, the Common App provides a few suggestions to help students start out on the right foot. Whether you write to a prompt or brainstorm a fresh idea, make sure your essay addresses these for key questions. Before you begin writing essays, we recommend checking out our post How to Write the Common Application Essays 2019-2020 .

Ways to Prepare for College Applications Now

We recommend waiting until late summer or early fall of your Senior year before you begin writing personal essays. Those few months actually make a big difference in how students reflect on their lives and what anecdotes they choose to highlight. 

If you are eager to get a head start on the college application process, here are some goals you can shoot for now as a Junior:

1. Build an epic extracurricular profile.

If your goal is to ace your college applications, the single most important thing you can be doing (besides keeping your grades up) is to cultivate a crowning achievement of your extracurricular profile. Your Junior summer is your chance to demonstrate that you care deeply about these out-of-school interests. It’s your opportunity to show that you know how to maximize available resources to create something meaningful.

Take time as a Junior to think about what impact you want to have outside of the classroom. Think of positive experiences you have had leading up to this point when it comes to ECs. The more substantial of an impact your extracurricular endeavors make, the more competitive your application on the whole will be. 

Impact will look different for everybody. Some students have breadth of impact by planning a large event. Others accomplish depth of impact through a service project that supports a few people in a big way. Still others trailblaze, taking the first steps in the uncharted territories of an extracurricular activity that few students in their community pursue.

If you’re concerned about your extracurricular profile because you haven’t developed it much up until this point, there are still steps you can take to improve your ECs. See our post How to Improve Your Extracurriculars Junior and Senior Year for tips on how to make the most of the time you have left.

For more advice on how to craft a successful extracurricular profile, check out these CollegeVine posts:

Breaking Down the 4 Tiers of Extracurricular Activities

Your Complete List of Extracurricular Activities

Your Ultimate Guide to Summer Programs for High Schoolers

A Guide to Extracurricular Activities: Grade 11

2. Ask 2-3 people to write your letters of recommendation.

Think carefully about who should write these letters for you, and give them plenty of advance warning before your earliest deadline (at least one month). You should ideally ask teachers who know you both as a student, and in an extracurricular context; for example, your math teacher and debate advisor could be a good pick. This isn’t always possible of course, so you should always just aim for teachers who know you well and can speak very positively of you. You should also try to ask teachers you’ve had recently.

You can learn more about connecting with recommenders by checking out these related articles:

How to Pick Which Teachers to Ask for Letters of Recommendation

9 Rules for Requesting Letters of Recommendation from Teachers

What Makes a Good Recommendation Letter?

Should You Submit an Additional Letter of Recommendation?

A Step-by-Step Guide to Your Recommendation Letters

3. Complete all standardized testing.

While you will have opportunities to take your SAT, ACT, and SAT Subject Tests in your Senior fall, it pays to wrap up this process as a Junior. You will want the time your Senior year to focus on essays and extracurricular activities.

Here are a few additional resources for those looking to wrap up their standardized testing by the end of their Junior year:

When Is the Best Time to Take the SAT?

SAT vs. ACT: Everything You Need to Know

ACT Score Range: What Is a Good ACT Score? A Bad ACT Score?

Why Should You Take SAT Subject Tests?

Complete List of SAT Subject Tests

4. Familiarize yourself with the Common App and begin brainstorming essay ideas.

The Common App allows you to build one application and send it to hundreds of schools. Filling out the form is fairly straightforward, and most sections take less than a half-hour to complete. You can create an account today, and the Common App will let you roll over any information you have submitted when the 2020-2021 application cycle opens in August.

Beginning this process early ensures that little details will not slip through the cracks. For example, one student of ours practiced piano for ten years but almost forgot to note that extracurricular on her application. Luckily, she had been updating the form for months, so when she remembered this important extracurricular activity, it was easy for her to log on and update her file.

Additionally, the Common App lets you start brainstorming essay ideas. We recommend keeping a journal or running Google Doc of ideas so that you have a plethora of good ideas to choose from once it is time to start writing your essays. For more on brainstorming essay topics and the Common App in general, check out these links:

A User’s Guide to the Common App

What Is a Personal College Essay?

How Important Is the College Essay?

Where to Begin? 3 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises

Why This Common App Essay Worked: Prompt 2: “The Lessons We Take…”

Want access to expert college guidance — for free? When you create your free CollegeVine account, you will find out your real admissions chances, build a best-fit school list, learn how to improve your profile, and get your questions answered by experts and peers—all for free. Sign up for your CollegeVine account today to get a boost on your college journey.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

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Best of 2021: Personal Essays

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Since we started the #longreads hashtag in 2009 to share great reads on Twitter, curation has been the beating heart of Longreads . All year long, we highlight our favorite stories in the weekly Longreads Top 5 . At the end of the year, we love to reflect on and share the pieces that stayed with us, a tradition we’ve kept for 10 years ! Today, we’re kicking off our annual curation celebration with five moving personal essays we loved in 2021. Watch for lists over the next couple of weeks that highlight reported essays, investigative reporting, features, and profiles.

The Gradual Extinction of Softness , Chantha Nguon and Kim Green, Hippocampus Magazine , November 8, 2021

For this category, I’m recommending a moving, lyrical personal essay from Kim Green and Chantha Nguon. Nguon is a co-founder of a women’s social enterprise in rural northeastern Cambodia. For 10 years, these two friends have been collaborating on Nguon’s life story, through interviews and cooking sessions, which will eventually culminate into Slow Noodles , a memoir on food, loss, and recovered family recipes. This excerpt from the memoir-in-progress is an evocative piece on surviving the Cambodian genocide, and remembering the flavors, the memories, and the past that the Khmer Rouge regime tried to erase. It’s also sprinkled with “recipes,” made up of ingredients that reveal details of Nguon’s life, particularly of her childhood in Battambang: “Take a well-fed nine-year-old with a big family and a fancy French-Catholic-school education. Fold in 2 revolutions, 2 civil wars, and 1 wholesale extermination. Separate her from home, country, and a reliable source of food.” I’ve read this gorgeous essay a number of times, and each time I pay attention to new details — aromas, tastes — which make me appreciate it even more. — Cheri Lucas Rowlands

Authors Chantha Nguon and Kim Green on the story they wish they’d written this year:

We both loved “ Cambodian Americans Are Ready to Share Their Cuisine, On Their Terms ” by Maryam Jillani in Condé Nast Traveler . It’s a great primer on Cambodian cuisine that acknowledges the diaspora’s collective trauma without dwelling on it. And we love how she highlights the artistry of chefs we follow and admire. We wish we had written it but are also thrilled that Jillani did it so well.

Aftermath , Briohny Doyle, Griffith Review , October 24, 2021

In her exquisite piece about the human condition in the age of COVID, climate change, and other calamities, Briohny Doyle challenges readers — and herself — to give up the ghost of renewal. “What is an ideal community, a good life,” Doyle asks, “if nothing is renewed, if we are working in and through catastrophe with only what we have now and in the face of what will be?” This question is more than essay fodder. It’s a mantra, an incantation — for us all. — Seyward Darby

Author Briohny Doyle ‘s personal essay recommendation:

I’m a long-time admirer of Vanessa Berry’s writing, which is always marked by assiduous curiosity and intimate detail. Gentle and Fierce — the title of her new collection — describes her writing as much as her animal subjects. This essay, “ Perec’s Cat ” is a wonderful example of her enviably light touch at work.

Ghosts , Vauhini Vara, The Believer , August 9, 2021

Even as artificial intelligence creeps across science and technology, bulldozing computational problems, we comfort ourselves in the face of such power by thinking there are some things a program simply can’t do. A program can’t be funny, can’t be fraught, can’t be human. And maybe it can’t. But in Vauhini Vara’s gutpunch of an essay, we begin to see the glimmer of otherwise. Unable to write about her sister’s death of a rare cancer years earlier, Vara began feeding the linguistic engine GPT-3 prompts about her sister — and over the course of nine increasingly stirring attempts, their two voices meld in a way that wipes away any preconceptions you might have brought to the piece. This isn’t a warning klaxon about robot overlords; it’s a bracing exploration of what can happen when we finally hold the mirror at the perfect angle. — Peter Rubin

Author Vanessa Angélica Villarreal on “Ghosts”:

“My own writing is largely a practice of communion with the dead—recording forgotten lives, lost records, documenting collective memory. I personally use tarot to tap into my own unconscious and excavate the buried material there, and have noted the recent trend of astrology apps and tarot on TikTok and the uncanny specificity of its algorithms to ensure the right message finds you. It is brilliant to use AI as a divination tool, and to explore what mathematical fabric algorithms might be connected to beyond our understanding.”

Contraindications , Alison Criscitiello, The Alpinist , September 17, 2017

Alison Criscitiello’s essay about her climbing partner Anna Smith has stayed with me for a long time. It starts off as a rollicking adventure story: Two best friends embarking on a climbing expedition to the Indian Himalayas. The affection and admiration the women share spills out of her words, “opposites in almost every way imaginable, end members constantly bringing one another closer to an elusive center.” It is not just an exquisitely told quest: It is also about true friendship — and the joy found in sharing beautiful experiences.

Then it becomes something else. When Criscitiello describes Anna’s death, it is raw; I felt her pain. The essay turns into a survival story: Surviving not only the physical challenge of getting Anna off the mountain, but the grief, shock, and loneliness overwhelming Criscitiello now that she “no longer had Anna tethered to me.” For three days, she stays with Anna before a team arrives to help take her body down. Even then, Criscitiello remains, “guarding her” until Anna is finally cremated “along the shores of the Beas River in the heart of Manali” and her ashes taken home. It is time spent remembering Anna, whose “strength emanated from her core” and whose spark “set my aspirations afire.” — Carolyn Wells

The Grief Artist , Traci Brimhall, Guernica Magazine , January 6, 2021

Brimhall’s essay explores the influence that art, process, and ritual have on dealing with grief and loss as she mourns her mother’s death and the end of her marriage. So many essays deal with grief, but few consider the shape of it through so many disparate lenses. As Brimhall makes art out of the unexpected, she weaves a strand of persistent, insistent hope for the reader. “I love that nothing is wasted,” she writes. “Everything is ripe for transformation.” This essay reminds me that despite the fact that humans struggle with loss and change, maybe we can learn something about ourselves if we choose to lean on process and routine. Maybe too, we can get better at being more human as we deal with things that end, be it a life, a friendship, a marriage, or even just a time in our lives. — Krista Stevens

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First-year applicants: Essays, activities & academics

Rather than asking you to write one long essay, the MIT application consists of several short response questions and essays designed to help us get to know you. Remember that this is not a writing test. Be honest, be open, be authentic—this is your opportunity to connect with us.

You should certainly be thoughtful about your essays, but if you’re thinking too much—spending a lot of time stressing or strategizing about what makes you “look best,” as opposed to the answers that are honest and easy—you’re doing it wrong.

Our questions

For the 2023–2024 application, we’re asking these short answer essay questions:

• What field of study appeals to you the most right now? (Note: Applicants select from a drop-down list.) Tell us more about why this field of study at MIT appeals to you.
• We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it.
• How has the world you come from—including your opportunities, experiences, and challenges—shaped your dreams and aspirations?
• MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds together to collaborate, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to lending a helping hand. Describe one way you have collaborated with others to learn from them, with them, or contribute to your community together.
• How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect? What did you learn from it?

Depending on the question, we’re looking for responses of approximately 100–200 words each. There is also one final, open-ended, additional-information text box where you can tell us anything else you think we really ought to know.

Please use our form, not a resume, to list your activities. There is only enough space to list four things—please choose the four that mean the most to you and tell us a bit about them.

Self-reported Coursework Form

How you fill out this form will not make or break your application, so don’t stress about it. Use your best judgment—we’re simply trying to get a clear picture of your academic preparation by subject area. We see thousands of different transcripts, so it really helps us to view your coursework and grades in a consistent format.

Here are a few quick tips to help you complete this section:

• The self-reported coursework should be completed by students in U.S. school systems only. If you attend an international school, we’ll just use your transcript.
• The information you provide does not replace your official high school transcript, which must be sent to us from your school to verify your self-reported information (in order to avoid accidental misrepresentation, it might help to have a copy of your high school transcript in front of you while completing this form).
• Avoid abbreviations, if at all possible, and enter the names of your school courses by subject area. Please include all classes you have taken and are currently taking. If your courses were taken outside of your high school (at a local junior college or university, for example), tell us where they were taken in the “Class Name” field.
• In the “Grade Received” field, list term and/or final grades for each class, as found on your school transcript (semester, trimester, quarter, final, etc.). Use one entry only per class. For example, it’s not necessary to use a separate entry for each semester of the same class. Place all grades for a class in the same field, separating grades with commas.

Prompt's How-to Guide for the UCLA Personal Insight Questions

Uc los angeles' personal insight essay prompts, and how to ace them (2020-2021)..

The UCLA personal essay component is tough. Or rather, they are tough — all the University of California schools (including UCLA) require you to write four mini-essays of 350 words. And writing short is hard.

Luckily we at Prompt have spent enough time giving feedback on college essays to know what to do and what to avoid. So here are our UC-specific tips for you. These come from our years of coaching successful college essays.

• Tip #1. Choose last: A great way to waste a bunch of time is to read the prompts over endlessly, agonizing over which is best for you. Don’t do it! Instead, brainstorm on this (tough) prompt instead:how can you show that you will succeed in college and beyond? That’s what colleges really want to know. Once you’ve generated some good answers there, find the four prompts that best fit with what you want to say.
• Tip #2. Tell a story: Nobody’s going to read your first draft. Which is great news because it means you can start really bad. Most of us do. It’s what you do next that counts: making your jumble of thoughts into a story. A real story, with conflicts, stakes, resolution, pacing, distinctive characters, and other elements you’d find in a great episode of TV.
• Tip #3. Hunt down some feedback: Know any adults? Who know you well? And whose opinion you value? Grab them. Ask them to read what you’ve got, and share their thoughts. Feedback is a hugely underrated part of writing. And you can even get a professional to give it (that’s us at Prompt ). If you like the idea of personalized guidance from people who’ve done this thousands of times, get started here .

UCLA personal insight questions for 2020-2021

Respond to four of the following eight questions.

Each response is limited to 350 words.

• Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.
• Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
• What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
• Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
• Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
• Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.
• What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
• Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?