The Common Application Essay: Prompts 1 & 2

We hope you managed to read College Application Essays: Getting Started and have stimulated your thinking process and written a few short essays as well. This should put you in a good space to explore an integral component of a US undergraduate application-The Common Application Essay.

The Common App essay is a 650 word essay which firms an intergral part of the Common Application Form that gives you access to 886 plus colleges across the US and some in other countries as well. Majority of the US applicants use the Common Application form, therefore the Common App essay becomes mandatory to your application. It’s the one essay which will go to most of the colleges you apply to, therefore it deserves a special consideration, 

The GOAL of the essay is to “Impress a college admissions panel with a compelling personal story. It provides you the chance to “WOW” the reader and stand out from the crowd.” Its your chance to tell a compelling story about yourself, who you are as a person, away from the cold hard facts of grades, achievements, projects and internships. It’s your opportunity to be ‘You’.

There are 7 topics available at the Common App website and you are expected to write any one of them as part of the application.  Remember, almost every applicant to the US will be writing on one of these –so it’s really important to give a unique personal voice to your writing.

Here are some points you should keep in mind while brainstorming your essay:

• Try to be creative, honest and personal
• Words should create pictures and visuals
• Write from the heart
• An eyeball grabbing introduction-hook the reader from the 1st paragraph 
• 650 words should tell a complete story—an intro, a middle and some sort of conclusion.

Read the topics very carefully-dissect and identify key words and concepts. Jot down ideas or thoughts which connect your story to the key words. Include the ‘learning’ from the experience - how has the experience/knowledge changed you or impacted you. The essay will communicate conviction only if you base it on your own experience—another person’s story can never be yours.

Essay Prompt 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.

• Focus on the key words “background,” “identity,” “interest,” and “talent” and use them as launch points for your brainstorming. 
• The story is quintessentially you-your perceptions, your outlook, your hopes, your aspirations—it has played an integral role into moulding the person you are.
• Explain how and why the story you tell is so meaningful.

Thinking Points

• Has your family’s love of food and your resultant adventurous tastes and culinary curiosity allowed you to connect with cultures from around the world?
• Do your braces/curls define you?
• Did going to an exhibition inspire you to start an art/stamps/matchbox collection that has since expanded beyond the borders of your bedroom?-
• Have your yearly trips to see your extended family revealed something to you about your parents’ ability to overcome challenges and the work ethic you have absorbed as a result?
• What are the challenges and rewards of being raised by your siblings? Or the joint family? Or of being part of a family made up of stepsisters and stepbrothers?
• Are you consumed by a passion for cars, aeroplanes, machines or maybe patterns, shapes, colours?
• Are you involved in a sport, or an artistic pursuit, or debating, spellbee, quizzing so deeply that your characteristics are defined by it?

Essay Excerpt-A story of an applicant who loves learning…

Essay Prompt 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?

There are 3 parts to the topic-
1. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success--you need  to show how your encounter with an obstacle fits into the big picture of your personal growth and later accomplishments
2. Recount an incident or time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. The description of the challenge or failure that you are going to analyze. Keep in mind that the action requested here -- "recount” or narrate.
3. How did it affect you? Supplement with annecdotes.

Thinking Points

• Has a lifelong battle with stuttering ultimately increased your overall confidence and allowed you to participate in social activities and public forums without self-judgment?
• Did a parent’s fragile health situation challenge you to take on more responsibilities than the average teenager?
• Did your failure to follow directions lead you to failed project and subsequently create a respect for planning and detailing?
• A failure to apply yourself. Did laziness or over-confidence make you under-perform academically or in an extra-curricular event?
• A failure to behave appropriately. Did your conduct in a situation insult or hurt someone? How should you have behaved? Why did you behave the way you did?
• A failure to act. Sometimes our greatest failures are those moments when we do nothing. In retrospect, what should you have done? Why did you do nothing?
• Failing a friend or family member. Did you let down someone close to you? Disappointing others can be one of the most difficult failures to come to terms with.

DO NOT CHOOSE the inability to achieve an A on an exam and/or secure tickets to a cricket match or that time you did something illegal or absurd-like driving a car underage or eating 20 sweets in one sitting. 

Essay Excerpt-A story of an applicant who failed to speak up…

As this prompt has multiple parts to it, here are some point to help you structure your essay:

• You struggled with something, so how did you respond? 
• What emotions did failure evoke? Were you frustrated? 
• Did you want to give up or did the setback motivate you?
• Were you angry at yourself or did you project blame onto someone else? 
• Were you surprised by your failure? 
• Was this a new experience for you? 
• Be honest as you assess your reaction to the obstacle you encountered. Even if you were affected in a way that now seems inappropriate or an over-reaction, don't hold back as you explore the way that failure affected you.
• What did you learn from the experience? This is the heart of your essay, so make sure you give this part of the question significant emphasis. 
• Understanding what you learned requires self-analysis, introspection, self-awareness, and strong critical thinking skills.
• The best students are those who assess their failures, learn from them, and move on. You should aim to showcase qualities like resilience, determination, and humility.  To recognise one’s short comings and admission of failure is a sign of strength-don’t blame others.
• It is important to end on a upbeat and positive note-admissions officers should feel you will succeed in college and make a positive contribution to the campus community.

Let’s take a breather here-mull over the topics. Read the others using the same principle to dissect and understand the essay prompts. We will be discussing the next set of prompts soon.