The college essay is a huge part of getting into the college of choice. This essay is your chance to show universities and colleges who you are, so you need to know how to let your writing do the talking for you.
You don’t want to simply write an essay based on standard examples and send it off without much thought. Instead, you should take time to prepare this very important piece of writing and make it a true representation of your work ethic and personality.
When looking at college essay prompts, all the possibilities can look overwhelming. That’s why we have compiled a list of the most common college essay prompts and shared with you a few answers that will help create a strong essay to impress your audience:
1. The Identity and Background Prompt
“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.”
This is the moment to share something about you that makes you who you are today. This can be any trait about you that you think defines your personality.
We recommend refraining from college essay topics that your readers are sure to have read a hundred times before. This can include a sport that you’ve played since you were young or a love of performing. You don’t want to submit a generic essay that creates no echo. Your essay voice should be your own. And you are unique! Choose a topic that is personal to you and allow it to grow naturally on the paper.
Some good examples of topics to choose from would be coming out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, how your family’s culture has tied into the person you are today, or how a childhood show turned you into the person you currently are. You can even write about building your childhood clubhouse and the lesson you learned doing it. Let your essay speak for you and make sure it only has interesting things to say.
2. Failure
“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?”
Students are sure to find this writing prompt as a possible choice for their college essays. This prompt allows you to share your life experiences and explain how something you have struggled with has impacted your life.
Failure can mean any setback you have faced whether that was in school, in an extracurricular activity, within your family, or even of yourself.
Remember that college application essays are not used as a way for college admissions officers to see how you failed. You should use this prompt as an opportunity to show how you move past challenges, solve problems, and never let setbacks stop you from achieving your life goals. Whatever the case is, give your essay character, and do not be afraid to pour your heart and soul into it.
3. Challenging a Belief
“Tell us about a time when you challenged your beliefs. Why? Would you do this again?”
A part of growing up and maturing is to question the beliefs you hold and decide if they are still relevant to who you are. You might have had an event happen that forced you to challenge what you believed in, and that event could have completely changed your beliefs.
This prompt is asking you to delve into the life experiences that made you question what you believe. It is an opportunity for school students to tell the reader what they took out of that personal experience – did they keep or change their beliefs, and what was their thought process throughout the event.
Not only does this prompt get a look into who you are, but it also gets a look into what goes through your head and how you handle taking in new information that can challenge everything you know. If you were a rebel, don’t be afraid to put it into convincing arguments that your rebellion was justified; be brave!
4. Problem Solving
“Write about a problem that you want to solve.”
This prompt is pretty straightforward. Colleges want to see what kinds of problems you see in the world, both big and small, and how you would go about solving them. This isn’t about “who can cure cancer first or solve world hunger” but instead getting a look into your problem-solving process and creative thinking.
You can show your creative thinking skills by choosing a unique problem that you may encounter on a day-to-day basis. It doesn’t have to be a huge problem. An example could be an ethical dilemma that you might struggle with, such as buying a puppy or rescuing an older dog for a member of your extended family.
5. Reflection and Gratitude
“Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?”
This is a brand-new prompt that encourages students to pay attention to what makes them grateful. Colleges want to see the unique things that make students grateful. The easy essay direction would be talking about how you are grateful for your friends and family, but this is the perfect opportunity to think outside the box.
Choose an interesting thing that makes you grateful and explain why you feel like this. Then, go into how it pushes you to go further in your life. An example of something unique would be being grateful for a school staff member singing happy birthday to the kids, or a present that changed your life.
6. Personal Growth
“Describe an accomplishment or event that has sparked personal growth and a new understanding of yourself and/or others.”
Colleges want to see personal growth, and this is the essay prompt to show that. You can write about anything from a life-changing event to something as small as a habit change in your everyday routine.
Not only should you explain what happened, but you should also talk about how that memorable experience caused changes to your life and way of thinking. Colleges want to see the personal reflection and how you have grown from a situation. Remember you can use any type of event or accomplishment, like learning how to tie your shoes, that could have sparked a new perspective on life.
Don’t Go Big, Go Unique
It is tempting to choose a big and complex essay that gravitates around a topic like trying to solve world hunger or talking about the time when you volunteered to help children in another country. However, when taking the route of big and cliché topics, you are more likely to forget the introspection and reflection part of the essay.
Unique topics may be smaller, but they go much deeper into who you are as a person. Colleges want to see the nitty-gritty of how you think, so choose something personal and outside of the box to ensure your acceptance letter and enjoy the educational opportunity you are striving for.
Don’t try to write the perfect essay! Write your essay about a topic that resonates with who you are. It can be a funny essay about a funny experience that has helped you learn something new about yourself or a piece of writing about an embarrassing moment that has helped you become a better person.
It can even be an essay about a favorite book if that book has shaped who you are or who you are aspiring to become. The sky is the limit as long as you keep it within 400-650 words.
