This is a college essay that worked for .


Are you asking yourself, “What should I write my college essay about?” The Common Application, as well as some individual schools, will give you a list of prompts that are useful starting off points to help you tell your own story. While the Common Application prompts can change each year, some examples include:


Looking for supplemental essay examples? Click below to access sample essays for every supplemental essay prompt from the top universities and BS/MD programs in the United States. 235+ essays and counting.

Looking for supplemental essay examples? Click below to access sample essays for every supplemental essay prompt from the top universities and BS/MD programs in the United States. 235+ essays and counting.

This is a college essay that worked for .

When you receive feedback from someone editing your essay, take each suggestion for what it is—a suggestion. The important things to remember are to keep the essay in your voice, the way you would say it, and not to let someone rewrite your essay for you.

Looking for supplemental essay examples? Click below to access sample essays for every supplemental essay prompt from the top universities and BS/MD programs in the United States. 235+ essays and counting.

What do colleges look for in essays? When you’re learning how to write a college essay, it can be helpful to hear directly from the source who will be reading your work. We talked to Jared Pierce, Director of Undergraduate Admission, who offered tips for writing essays.

Looking for supplemental essay examples? Click below to access sample essays for every supplemental essay prompt from the top universities and BS/MD programs in the United States. 235+ essays and counting.


This is a college essay that worked for .

Although universities consider other elements such as and , an outstanding personal essay for college can help you stand out from other applicants. If you have a similar GPA and test scores to those of other applicants, an essay can allow you to differentiate yourself.

Resist the temptation to buy the “best college essays” book

The Common Application instructions stipulate that the length of your essay should be between 250 and 650 words. The form will count the number of words entered as you type, and will not allow you to submit the essay if it falls outside the parameters. If your essay is outside the length guidelines, check with colleges to see if you can mail your essay separately – most will tell you that would be acceptable. (Do make sure your names and one other identifying piece of information is on every piece of paper you mail.)

Tips for Writing an Honors College Essay

The essay also demonstrates a student’s readiness for college and likelihood of success. While an applicant’s GPA, SAT or ACT scores, and transcripts are important, a college application essay can offer an admissions department insights that these metrics don’t reveal.

This is a college essay that worked for (WashU).

No. Specific questions do not necessarily have specific answers. A good essay will be focused on a clear idea with supporting details. How one admissions counselor reacts to a particular essay may be entirely different from how another admissions counselor, your mom, or your friend might respond to the same essay. One thing we can all agree on is that grammar, spelling, and sentence structure is important. As far as content is concerned, we all have different opinions. What about writing on controversial topics? A controversial topic can be successful, but it must be done sensitively so that a reader with an opposite opinion can relate to your essay.

This section contains five examples of good college essays.

Many students feel that creative writing, a graded paper, poetry, or newspaper articles will enhance their application and provide a better picture of their writing ability. Unless the application says otherwise, most colleges will accept additional samples. Colleges know the materials that they need to make an admissions decision, but extra writing samples can be good supplements to those required materials. In most cases we would prefer copies of graded writing assignments.

Options for structuring a personal statement/college essay

George’s essay topic seems perfect for a hero’s journey outline. He arranges the elements in an outline that tells his hero’s journey, and tweaks some of those elements along the way. In one of those elements, he begins to ask himself questions. The first question he asks himself is if he should be like Job, in the Bible. God gives Job boils, kills his family, takes everything he has, but in the end Job accepts his fate. God puts everything back to rights. So let me show you the end of George’s essay, when he asks the questions while staring at a beautiful picture on the wall of a field of grass.