Just about any topic could theoretically make a good essay about personal growth, but it is important that the overall message conveys maturity.

What In The Event You Avoid?

Do not pick something you never actually care about just because you think it could sound good. With astronomy books in the library for a weekend to glean enough knowledge to write your essay, your lack of enthusiasm will come through if you say you love black holes but you actually hate them and you tortured yourself.

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

What Exactly Is It Asking?

You are able to write about anything with this one!

What Do They Want to Know?

Since this is a choose-your-own-adventure prompt, colleges aren’t to locate anything specific to the prompt. However, it is in addition crucial to demonstrate a few of the same qualities that colleges are seeking in most 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 look at touching on in your essay.

What type of Topics Could Work?

If you currently have a topic at heart because of this the one that doesn’t really fit with some of the other prompts, do it now!

What In The Event You Avoid?

Avoid essays that aren’t really about you as an individual. So no submitting your rhetorical close-reading regarding the poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn” you wrote for A.P. English! However, if you want to write about the way that “Ode on a Grecian Urn” made you reconsider your complete approach to life, go ahead!

We know what forms of students colleges desire to admit. You want to get you admitted to your dream schools.

5 Key Takeaways About the Common App Essay Questions

We have covered a lot of ground, but try not to panic. I’ve collected the main ideas you have to keep in mind as you plan your Common App essay below.

Neatly packaged takeaways. (Henry Faber/Flickr)

For prompt 1, it is absolutely vital that the topic be something genuinely meaningful to you personally. Don’t write about something just because you think it is impressive. Big achievements and leadership roles, like 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 personally beyond that it was cool to be in charge or that you liked winning.

It’s better you get every detail right 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.

Most students have an event or interest that will work for either prompt 2, prompt 4, or prompt 6. If you’re uncertain what you need to write about, think about challenges you’ve faced, an issue you solved or wish to solve, or your major passions that are intellectual.

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

These questions enquire about specific types of experiences that its not all school that is high has received. You, don’t feel compelled to write about them if they don’t speak to.

If it seems obvious to you if you do want to take on prompt 3 or 5, however, remember to clearly explain your perspective to the reader, even. For prompt 3, you have to just establish not that which you believe but why you believe it and exactly why that belief matters to you. For prompt 5, you need to clarify the way you moved from childhood to adulthood and what which means to both you and others.

These prompts elicit some of the most personal responses, which will make for great essays but in addition feel too revealing to students that are many. Trust your instincts and don’t pick a subject you’re not comfortable writing about, but try not to hesitate to take on a hard or controversial topic if you are excited with the necessary nuance about it and think you can treat it.

Be sure to Explain What Your Experience Taught You

I have attempted to emphasize this idea throughout this guide: it isn’t adequate to simply describe everything you did, you must explain what it supposed to you.

Pushing past the surface level while avoiding cliches and generalizations is a big challenge, but it is also exactly what will create your essay stand out. Be sure you understand what personal quality you wish to emphasize in mind as you write before you start and keep it. Try to avoid boring generalizations and only more specific and insights that are personal.

Then, as you return back through your essay to edit, every step of this way think about, “so what?” Why does the reader have to know this? What does it show about me? How can I go one step deeper?

Don’t Worry By What You Would Imagine You Are Expected To Write

There is not one right reply to these prompts, and yourself a disservice if you try to find one you’ll end up doing. What is important will be tell your story — and no one can tell you what which means as it’s unique for your requirements.

Many students believe that they should write about resume-padding activities that look especially impressive, like volunteering abroad. These essays are often boring and derivative since the writer does not have anything to really say on the topic and assumes that it will speak for itself. However the point of a statement that is personaln’t to describe what you’ve done, it’s to show who you really are.

Make the right time and energy 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 methods for crafting a great one, check out our complete explanation of the basics for the statement that is personal.

Be sure you’re prepared for all of those other college application process as well, with our guides to asking for recommendations, currently talking about extracurriculars, using the SAT, and researching colleges.