3 ways to approach common college essay questions
Looking for help with the Common Application Essay? Hello, students and parents of the future class of ! The time has come. This wide range of questions, meant to inspire candidates in their search for compelling personal stories, is ideal for exploring essay topics of all tones, styles, and subjects. Because we are committed to getting you the most timely and comprehensive essay advice on the interweb, we have made a guide to help you navigate the ins and outs of all seven prompts. Before you dive or cannonball!
The 2020 Common Application Essay Prompts
Each college you apply to is likely to have anywhere from one to three supplementary prompts, and each one is going to be different. Or is it? We at CollegeVine have analyzed the vast majority of college essay prompts to help students receive the guidance they need to succeed in the college admissions process. Keep reading to learn all about these prompt archetypes, some examples of these archetypes in real college essay prompts, and a detailed walk-through of how you should approach your essays.
The Academic Interest essay prompt is the one where the Admissions Committee seeks to learn more about your intellectual passions, deciphering what areas of academia most fascinate you and why. You are also going to have to explain why you chose the intended major that you did. Here are some examples of actual colleges that have used Academic Interest Prompts:. When planning out this essay, you need to think hard about why you chose your intended major in the first place.
Think of some specific things that you like about the major and your best experiences with the subject inside and outside of the classroom.
Why is it so appealing that you want to immerse yourself in it for four years? The more specific you can be, the better. You should also do some research and find a specific class or program that you are excited to be a part of, along with any related extracurriculars that the university offers that you find fascinating. During my senior summer, I participated in lab work through the Neurological Summer Program at the University of Washington.
I found the time passing quickly; I was mesmerized by the brain. Every night I itched to get back to my research to analyze all my results, and I began to consider the interest in science to be mine alone. A concentration in cognitive neuroscience at Brown offers a window into cutting edge science through extraordinary programs like the Brown Institute for Brain Science and its summer research opportunities for undergraduates, while also allowing for a holistic, interdisciplinary, liberal arts education that is unparalleled.
The student briefly explains his background, what inspired his love of science, and why Brown is the best place for him to explore that interest. Academic Interest Essays should not only explore your interest in the subject, but also why the school in question would best help you achieve your academic goals.
If your essay as a higher word count, you might consider zooming in on some important experiences with your academic interest, and showing us your passion through storytelling, rather than simply describing it. Many colleges give prompts that ask you to talk about your background, culture, and the communities that have shaped you. Sometimes, they will add in a special component to the prompt that asks you to discuss how you would bring diversity to the campus.
This could obviously be an ethnic, gender, or racial background, but it could also be a community based on experiences that are unique to you. For example, you could be in a community of people who grew up in a low income bracket or had a certain illness. As a general rule, you should pick a community or identity that is significant to you; if extracurricular-related, that identity should take up at least of the 10 activities on your Common App list.
What is the strongest emotion you feel about your background? Have your emotions about your background changed over time, or do you have any strong negative emotions towards your background?
Have you developed any skills or talents as a result of your background? What challenges have you faced as a result of this community membership? Through these questions, you should be able to outline three formative experiences you had as a result of your upbringing. With these things in mind, you can start crafting your essay.
A good essay in this category will discuss your current emotions about your background or membership in a community and how those emotions evolved over time. To support, you should try to weave in anecdotes more or fewer based on word count throughout the essay and discuss the evolution of your emotions.
Similar to the function, she can have manic phases where her emotions lie above the x-axis and she is hyperactive and anxious. She can just as easily dip far below the x-axis where she becomes depressed and distant. This curve has existed, or at least has manifested itself, for the past six years. It takes every ounce of my compassion to watch my sister struggle, knowing I can do nothing to help her. I choose my words delicately around her, screening out comments that could trigger a swing.
When we were kids, the disorder was more dormant and we had a typical sibling relationship. We bickered over which type of cereal to buy or which seat at the dinner table was ours.
We shared secrets and jokes under the covers and hummed our favorite songs. Now we hardly exchange text messages over the course of months at a time. I try to push aside my inherent desire to understand and categorize her volatility because I know that this is not what is needed.
Instead, I do my best to love her and let her know that I will always be there as a pillar for her, and my parents, to rely on. I am stability, and that is how I must stay. The author effectively uses the sine curve metaphor to illustrate the ups and downs his sister experiences, and that he and his family experience as a result.
He shows us the evolution of their relationship by comparing his fond memories to his current lack of contact with his sister. He shows us through this essay that he can remain stable in volatile and emotional situations, and understands how to support those touched by mental health disorders.
This prompt archetype is all about your extracurriculars, the activities you participated in outside of the classroom. Here are some actual college essay prompts that fit into this prompt archetype:. The activity you choose to write about should usually stand out to you rather quickly. Just try to avoid writing about the same activity twice; if you wrote about something already in your Common App essay, or another supplement the school will see, pick another activity.
Further think about how you feel and what goes through your mind when you participate in this activity. Has this activity shaped your personality in any way? Have you developed any specific skills as a result of this activity? How does this activity affect the rest of your life? Focus on one of two things: your emotions and state of mind while you do this extracurricular, or how that activity helped you develop as a person.
And though leaving it in the hands of new editors next year will be difficult, I know our time together has only better prepared me for future relationships. The author shares her sense of humor, her passion for journalism, and her ability to work in a team and manage her time. Colleges love to see students who have given back to their community in some way. Some students have more impactful community service stories than others.
The best case scenario is if you have had a deep involvement in some sort of community service activity for years or have worked on a project of activism.
If the answer is yes, treat this prompt more or less like an extracurricular essay topic and delve into that commitment. If the answer is no, no worries. Perhaps you can think of a situation or event where you showed true altruism, kindness, activism, social change, social justice, generosity, or selflessness. Genuine commitments tend to be long-standing and really reflect your values. For example, if you do data entry for medical research, that has a positive social impact, albeit indirect.
Be ready to discuss a positive outcome that came from your involvement in this activity; this can be as tangible as a policy goal or as intangible as providing comfort to people. Seva is what binds my community together, and it has molded me into the person I am today. The Foundation assists the underprivileged in numerous ways, but social sustainability is the area that has always appealed to me the most.
At the AKF, this field involves challenging perceptions and attitudes about sustainable initiatives in order to spark social action. Ever since my presentation on social sustainability, I knew that my seva will thrive in this field. This project challenges students to remove their cell phones and laptops from the grid and subscribe to bike energy stations instead.
I aim to change the way students perceive energy as a commodity rather than a resource to take for granted. In the future, I hope to give back to my community by devoting my seva to social sustainability.
This student ties together two different community efforts with the concept of seva. She effectively conveys her dedication to social sustainability in these three paragraphs, though the second paragraph reads a little vague.
It leaves us with questions as to how exactly AFK works—to whom is she giving presentations? What sort of initiatives does AFK lead? The final paragraph is much clearer, and explains the exact project and mission. We at CollegeVine hope that these archetypes can help you organize and understand the essay prompts that are likely coming your way. Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses.
Trevecca Nazarene University: Explain how you anticipate your education at Trevecca Nazarene University will prepare you for your future career and help you to fulfill your goals and aspirations. What personal perspectives would you contribute to life at Rice? University of Mount Union: What values do you cherish the most and how have you demonstrated them through the choices that you have made? Stanford: Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences.
Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution. Barnard College: Barnard women seek to make a difference in their community, whether through the residence hall, classes, clubs, volunteer work, or a part-time job they hold. Describe how you make a difference in your community and what you have learned from that experience.
In what ways do you see yourself contributing to the community at Barnard, inside or outside the classroom? Loved the article? Share it! Short bio.
Sadhvi is a recent graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, where she double majored in Economics and Media Studies. Having applied to over 8 universities, each with different application platforms and requirements, she is eager to share her knowledge now that her application process is over.
Other than writing, Sadhvi's interests include dancing, playing the piano, and trying not to burn her apartment down when she cooks! Other articles by Sadhvi.
April 23, 5 min read College Lists. April 21, 4 min read College Lists.
The “Explain why you want to attend our. The “Discuss an issue”.
Writing samples are an important part of your application to any college. Your responses show how well you would fit with an institution; your ability to write clearly, concisely, and develop an argument; and your ability to do the work required of you should you be accepted. Use both short answer questions and personal essays to highlight your personality and what makes you unique while also showing off your academic talents. Short answer questions are almost harder to write than a personal essay, since you usually have a word limit. Often, this may be as short as words a paragraph.
If you have students who are looking to study at a university in the US, then there is a high probability they will submit some of their applications through the Common App. Over higher education institutions accept applications through the Common App.
With the application cycle soon underway, the CollegeVine essay team wanted to share our best strategies on how to write the all-important and often-intimidating Common App essays. This year, The Common App announced that prompts will remain unchanged from the cycle. Calculate your admissions chances right now and understand your odds before applying.
How to Write the Common App Essay 2019-20
With the inclusion of the popular "Topic of Your Choice" option, you have the opportunity to write about anything you want to share with the folks in the admissions office. The current prompts are the result of much discussion and debate from the member institutions who use the Common Application. The essay length limit stands at words the minimum is words , and students will need to choose from the seven options below. The essay prompts are designed to encourage reflection and introspection. The best essays focus on self-analysis, rather than spending a disproportionate amount of time merely describing a place or event. Analysis, not description, will reveal the critical thinking skills that are the hallmark of a promising college student.
How To Answer the 2020-21 Common App Essay Prompts
Each college you apply to is likely to have anywhere from one to three supplementary prompts, and each one is going to be different. Or is it? We at CollegeVine have analyzed the vast majority of college essay prompts to help students receive the guidance they need to succeed in the college admissions process. Keep reading to learn all about these prompt archetypes, some examples of these archetypes in real college essay prompts, and a detailed walk-through of how you should approach your essays. The Academic Interest essay prompt is the one where the Admissions Committee seeks to learn more about your intellectual passions, deciphering what areas of academia most fascinate you and why. You are also going to have to explain why you chose the intended major that you did. Here are some examples of actual colleges that have used Academic Interest Prompts:. When planning out this essay, you need to think hard about why you chose your intended major in the first place. Think of some specific things that you like about the major and your best experiences with the subject inside and outside of the classroom.
Because the college essay is not the same kind of essay that you write for your high school English teacher, it does not have to have the typical essay introduction, which provides a thesis statement. Just as you want to prepare the best answers to your college interview , here are seven tips for writing an engaging essay that will stand out from the rest!
College Essays. I'll break down every single Common App essay prompt by going over the following:. 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.
SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips
COVID Update: To help students through this crisis, The Princeton Review has amended our refund and cancellation policies to ensure maximum course flexibility for those who enroll between April 21 st and May 31 st. For full details, please click here. The Princeton Review is currently experiencing some Dashboard down time. Come back again soon for an update. Sorry for the inconvenience. Get help writing your college application essays. Find this year's Common App writing prompts and popular essay questions used by individual colleges. The college essay is your opportunity to show admissions officers who you are apart from your grades and test scores and to distinguish yourself from the rest of a very talented applicant pool. If you are using the Common App to apply for college admission in , you will have — words to respond to ONE of the following prompts:. Admissions officers want to feel connected to you and an honest, personal statement about who you are draws them in. Your love of superheroes, baking chops, or family history are all fair game if you can tie it back to who you are or what you believe in. You're trying to show colleges your best self, so it might seem counterintuitive to willingly acknowledge a time you struggled. But overcoming challenges demonstrates courage, grit, and perseverance! The obstacle you write about can be large or small, but you must show the admissions committee how your perspective changed as a result.
Popular College Application Essay Topics (and How to Answer Them)
Should I write a political-based common app essay? The Common App has just released its essay prompts for the to application season. Ethan Sawyer, a college essay advisor, says the first prompt is the best because it's the basic. Unlike every other aspect of the application, you control your essay. The Common Application essay prompts have been released for the. In terms of picking a topic, look for something that best. The trick to beginning. Stinson graciously shared her Common Application admissions essay with Business Insider, which we've reprinted verbatim below.
