
However, keep in mind that you do that for inspiration only and that your goal is not to copy anyone-ultimately, you’ll have to come up with your very own story and present it in your very own way. If most of the applicants applying to a top college have similar academic profiles, how can the schools distinguish one candidate from another? It’s all in the story you craft, and we’re here to help you present the best version of you! Preparing to Write Your Common App EssayĪ good starting point for writing a successful application essay is reading Common App essay examples that got other students admitted to their schools of choice. This essay is one of the most important parts of your application, and in some cases, especially for top-tiered schools, it is weighed as much as, or more than, your grades and test scores-estimates say that they can account for anywhere from 10 to 30% of admission decisions. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.ĭid you notice a common theme among these questions? At its core, the Common Application essay is designed to make you answer the question, “WHO are you?” What colleges and universities want to know is (1) how your experiences or background have shaped you into the person you are today and (2) how who you are today is going to affect your future academic performance.
Share an essay on any topic of your choice. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging it makes you lose all track of time. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. If this sounds like you, please share your story. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. While the Common Application essay regularly makes adjustments to its essay prompts, for the 2022-2023 college application season, the prompts will remain exactly the same as last year, when the rarely used prompt about solving a problem was replaced with one that was inspired by scientific research on gratitude and kindness, to, according to Common App President & CEO Jenny Rickard, “help students think about something positive and heartfelt in their lives.” The list for 2022-2023 also still contains the optional COVID-19 prompt that appeared in 2020. What do I need to include in the Common App Essay? We’ll discuss such additional requirements in another post. Those links will lead you to a website where you can upload your art portfolio and additional documents. If you’re applying to art schools, the schools will provide extra links on their Common Application sites. Now, many of the top-tiered schools require additional information and essays, but most of these documents can be uploaded into the Common Application. Neat, huh? Essentially, you choose the schools you want to apply to, add them to your application list, fill in the general demographic and biographical information, upload or input academic records and standardized testing information, designate people to write you recommendations, and upload the Common Application essay.
Most of the schools also require or accept the Common Application essay. These participating colleges and universities all use the same common biographical and academic information forms. The Common Application centralizes the admissions process for over 900 schools. If you keep the following tips in mind, we’re confident that you’ll be well on your way to drafting a strong application essay that screams out, “Dear College, this is who I am, and here’s why you want me!”
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So, you’re applying to college and are probably panicking about how to write the hardest part of your application: the Common Application essay. Common App Essays are a crucial part of any college applicant’s admissions materials.
The Common Application is the most widely accepted undergraduate college admission application in the US.