How to answer all your college essay prompts in less time:
Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
The sky’s the limit here, as long as your topic is personal and reveals more about who you are as an applicant and prospective community member. Consequently, the only no-no would be to submit an academic, impersonal essay for this prompt. You should choose the prompt that enables you to write the strongest essay possible. The basic rules for writing a stellar college essay vary little from the general guidelines for producing any excellent piece of personal writing: be authentic, tell a compelling story, and diligently edit, revise, and polish your product. But where to begin? Since the Common App essay prompts are so open-ended, many of our students start writing an essay on a topic that is important to them first and then decide on a prompt later. This is an especially helpful strategy if none of the prompts catch your attention. However, if there is a prompt that feels particularly interesting, you can absolutely tailor your writing process to that specific option. Additionally, you might consider using the different prompts as a brainstorming tool. Go through the first six prompts one by one and bullet point several potential experiences that come to mind for each. Then, evaluate the topics you’ve collected. What stands out to you? Which topic are you interested in exploring further? What are you most excited to write about? Remember, there’s nothing stopping you from writing an exploratory draft for a few different topics before you make a final decision. All first-year applicants will complete a few Yale-specific short answer questions. These required questions are slightly different based on the application platform an applicant chooses. The 2024-2025 Yale-specific questions for the Coalition Application, Common Application, and QuestBridge Application are detailed below. One roadblock to improving stagnant essays is not having an outside perspective. Find a teacher, parent, or peer whose opinion you trust and ask their feedback on what they like about the essay and what they think might improve it. Remember: Sometimes people can give conflicting feedback, so beware trying to please everyone. If you’re looking for some advanced help on your essay and you can’t afford it, you may qualify for the to receive some individualized feedback.
I love this essay. Notice how it answers all the prompts above.
Applicants submitting the Coalition Application, Common Application, or QuestBridge Application will respond to the following short answer questions:
Find your college’s application essay prompts for 2024-25
Applicants applying with the QuestBridge Application will complete the questions above via the Yale QuestBridge Questionnaire, available on the Yale Admissions Status Portal after an application has been received.
Copyright College Essay Guy 2015-2024
We hear this more than you might think! Our best advice? Don’t stress—just pick “topic of your choice” if you’re stuck between two options. College admissions officers don’t pay much attention to what Common App prompt you chose. They will, however, look very closely at how well your supplemental essays answer the required prompts, which brings us to our final section…
Copyright College Essay Guy 2015-2024
College admissions offices word their supplemental essay prompts very intentionally, so we’d recommend making sure you clearly understand what the prompt is asking before you begin writing. Need more help? The has you covered with the latest prompts and tips for 50+ top colleges, including:
How to Answer the Common App Prompts
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Common App Essay Guide Part 1: Ideation
Have you ever walked through the aisles of a warehouse store like Costco or Sam’s Club and wondered who would buy a jar of mustard a foot and a half tall? We’ve bought it, but it didn’t stop us from wondering about other things, like absurd eating contests, impulse buys, excess, unimagined uses for mustard, storage, preservatives, notions of bigness…and dozens of other ideas both silly and serious. Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard.
—Inspired by Katherine Gold