With that in mind, here are the Common App essay prompts:
Writing a Common App essay seems to be a difficult process. However, you just need to find a story from your life that can be interesting and inspiring for others and discuss it in your writing. I’m sure you’ll enter the college of your dreams and enjoy every moment there. Give it your best shot, and you’ll see that college essay writing is a unique and engaging activity that will provide you with valuable experience!
Looking for help with the 2024-25 Common Application Essay? Below CEA’s Founder, Stacey Brook, breaks down all you need to know about this year’s prompts. Be creative! This essay gives you a chance to express your thoughts and show your personality, so use this opportunity to persuade colleges that you will become their best student. Because we are committed to getting you the most timely and comprehensive essay advice on the interweb, we have made a guide to help you navigate the ins and outs of all seven prompts. Before you dive (or cannonball!) into our pool of essay advice, we’d like to leave you with one last little secret: . In fact, in our instructional and , we encourage applicants to root around for their most meaningful stories first and consider the prompts later. This is a process we call the Backwards Brainstorm, and you can learn more about it . For now, the main point we want you to take away is this: The prompts don’t really matter. What matters is the story you want to tell. (And that you floss at least every other day—trust us, it will pay off in the long run.) We are as sure as ever that every single one of you has a valuable story (or two or twelve!) to communicate to admissions. All it takes is ample time for reflection and a little writerly elbow grease to find it. So take a peek at what the 2024-25 application has in store for you, absorb what these prompts are really asking, and then forget about them (really!) as you explore the endless possibilities. Overall, this prompt is what we at College Essay Advisors call a “choose-your-own-adventure” prompt. It has historically served as a fabulous catch-all for subjects that don’t fit within the confines of the other prompt options. A recent addition to the Common App’s prompt selection now offers even more freedom to applicants (more on that later), but students should still think of Prompt #1 as a topic of immense choice, reeled in by a few helpful guidelines. Please note that the UW essay questions must be answered within our application. For the Common App, that means within our UW questions. We do not consider the Common App essay.
Why does the Common App Essay—and other college essays—matter?
This remains one of the most challenging prompts of the Common App’s selection, even though it has become slightly friendlier with the addition of the option to discuss a time you questioned an idea instead of challenged one. This prompt requires a student to speak passionately about beliefs and ideology, which are often onerous subjects that can be difficult to mold into compact stories. It can be one of the hardest questions to steer in a positive, productive direction without traveling into preachy, overly didactic territory. This is also a more precarious prompt than most in that students need to carefully assess the risks of espousing beliefs that might be polarizing for the readers of their applications.
Common App Essay Guide Part 1: Ideation
As part of your application, some colleges require an essay. The Coalition’s essay prompts allow you to share experiences or perspectives that shape who you are – because your story and your identity matters.
Common App Essay Prompts 2024–2025
You can try to read some Common App essays examples before you start writing your essay just to get inspiration and understand what colleges expect you to submit. However, do not copy others’ ideas.
Brainstorming Common App Essay topics
Hey guys!
I will be applying to the most selective colleges. I am about to start my application essays. There are a few prompts in the common app and also there is the last one which allows us to create and answer our own prompt. Guys, my question is, will universities consider it bad if I create my own prompt? Should I just stick to the fixed prompts?
What I wrote about for my Common App Essay
DO: You might shy away from this topic because you think your life has been easy, or you haven’t overcome an enormous challenge–don’t! If this prompt jumps out at you, focus on a challenge that may seem small but made a huge difference in your character development. Sometimes the most insignificant instances make for the best stories. When tackling this prompt, focus on recent history rather than on an obstacle you overcame when you were young and may not remember with as much clarity. Once you choose the obstacle or setback you want to discuss, talk about your feelings in a mature and emotionally intelligent way, selecting an experience that demonstrates your potential to thrive in and learn from difficult situations. As with any other prompt, try to show, rather than tell, this growth. You could potentially juxtapose two situations: one in which you failed, and a later one in which you implemented what you learned the first time around in order to succeed.