Common App Essay Prompts - Amazon Web Services

Common App Essay Prompts

Below, we'll review each of the seven common application essay prompts and give you some discussion questions to help you formulate your essay topic.

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.

Is there something you mentioned on your application that is central to your identity, on which you would like to elaborate? Is there something that you want to tell admissions officers that did not fit anywhere else on your application? Here is your chance! Is your identity strongly shaped by your family structure, a hobby, a sport, an illness, or a transition? What is the story and how did it affect you? Tell admissions officers about it in a way that shows your best self. How does it make you someone college admissions officers want on their campus?

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?

This prompt can be tricky, but don't pass over it too quickly. We all experience obstacles, even if they don't cause outright failure. But if you choose this prompt, you need to put a positive spin on it. Notice the reference to what you "learned from the experience." Make sure that you explain how this experience made you a stronger, more thoughtful, compassionate, or insightful person. Tell admissions officers that you learn from your past mistakes and failures and you're a better person because of them. Notice that this prompt has three parts to it. You need to tell the story of:

o when you experienced a challenge, setback, or failure o how it affected you o what you learned from it.

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

This prompt can be a great one for students who fight for human rights or who have made change in their schools through student government, but an excellent answer to this prompt can be on a smaller scale as well. Perhaps you stood up for someone who was being bullied. Or maybe you spoke up in class even though your views were different than those of your peers. Finally, consider times you challenged your own beliefs or ideas; this could be an opportunity to show admissions officers that you have the ability to reflect on your own beliefs and change them as you grow and evolve. Notice, like the second prompt, this prompt has three parts. You need to:

o tell the story of when you challenged a belief or idea o explain what prompted you to speak up, act, or change your mind o explain what happened after your questioned/challenged the belief or idea.

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.

As noted in the prompt, this essay can have a variety of answers. Perhaps you want to write about the fact that your school was not recycling plastic bottles. Perhaps you want to write about your experience being excluded from a clique at school. Or maybe you want to write about something somewhat larger like finding homes for the homeless animals in your community. You just need to be able to cite a problem that is meaningful to you, explain why it is meaningful, and then offer a potential solution or describe what you did to remedy the problem. Do try to keep it fairly realistic. You probably want to stay away from extremely complicated solutions to large scale issues like war and famine, for example. The crux of the essay is the last sentence of this prompt: Why is this problem significant to you? Does it affect you personally or is it something you care about because you're concerned with the well-being of others? Or is it some other reason? Once you have explained why this problem is important to you, explain what you have already done to solve the problem and/or what you

will do in the future. While solving problems is not always simple or straightforward, your essay should be written in a straightforward, clear, and coherent manner.

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

You may want to avoid writing about an obvious, common event for this essay. Many admissions officers have read countless essays about getting one's driver's license or having one's Bat Mitzvah. Unless you're fairly common event has a unique twist, try to write about something more unusual. For this prompt, you don't have to write about something that marked some enormous transition in your life (though you can, of course). You can write about small things, too; it just has to be something that made you pause, reflect, and grow. Finally, if answering this prompt, remember to show Admissions Officers that you do, in fact, have the ability to reflect and grow. This shows that you are self-aware, responsible, and a great addition to a college community. But also don't shy away from acknowledging that you, like everyone else in the world, have more growing to do.

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?

Here's a prompt that cuts to the heart of the matter: what are you obsessed with? Your answer to this prompt will show admissions officers what you are truly passionate about, why you find things engaging, and what you do when you want to learn something. Pro tip: don't write about your video game addiction or your obsession with a celebrity or TV show unless you can connect this pastime with something clearly productive, philosophical, or career-related. You don't want to suggest that you will fail all of your college classes because you'll be locked in your dorm room playing Call of Duty. However, if your obsession with games like this stems from your interest in how stereotypes are spread and reinforced, narrative strategies, or the communities that form around multi-player games, then you'll be telling the admissions office something insightful about yourself and your interests.

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.

This prompt makes it easy for you to reuse something you've written for another type of application, but that doesn't mean this is the easiest prompt to choose. Sometimes writing without limits is more challenging that writing a response to something specific. If you do choose this prompt, make sure your resulting essay still achieves the purpose of the personal statement: it needs to convey something meaningful and specific about who you are. Don't let yourself stray off topic; this is why organizing your message around a story or event is useful.

Now that you've considered what you could write for each of the prompts, try to narrow down which one you're most excited about answering.

Our next lesson will cover brainstorming in more depth, so don't worry if you haven't picked a prompt yet; there's a lot more self-reflection yet to come!

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