COMMON APPLICATION ESSAY PROMPTS

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

Option #2: Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?

Option #3: Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

Option #4: Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?

Option #5: Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

PREWRITING IDEAS

Here are some ideas to help you get started, particularly if you have a topic that asks for a personal experience. If you think they will help, try some of these techniques to get your thoughts going.

I) Draw a timeline of your life. Put all important events on there. This may help you think of an event in your life that you could write about.

2) Draw an outline of your hand on a piece of paper. In the thumb, write 3-4 adjectives you would use to describe yourself In the index finger, write 3-4 adjectives your friends would use to describe you. In the middle finger, write 3-4 adjectives your parents would use to describe you. In the ring finger, write 3-4 adjectives that your teachers would use to describe you. In the little finger, write 3-4 adjectives some other person or group of people would use to describe you. Then pick the three best adjectives out of all of those and write them in the palm. For each of these adjectives, think of a time when you exhibited this trait. You could center a story around that.

3) Draw a blueprint outline of an important place where you have lived or spent time. Label each room as it was known to you when you lived there. Write on the picture events that happened in each place. This will help you think of events in your life that associate with a special place.

4) Try answering the sentence stubs below. These might help you think of an idea for an essay:

My favorite childhood memory is…

Every New Year's Eve I resolve…

Nobody knows I'm…

If I worked for a publishing company and could commission any author in history, it would be…

My room is ... and it shows about me…

If I could have dinner with any three people in history, they would be…

One of the best conversations I've ever had was…