common application essay tips

common application essay tips

Mastering the Common Application Essay: Essential Tips for Success

1. Introduction to the Common Application Essay

The Common Application in the 21st century also provides a list of 456 colleges to which the application can be sent. Although it seems like the ease of a Common Application would cause students to become less stressed throughout the college admissions process, the additional essay requirements have actually made students more anxious. These extra essay prompts vary widely from college to college, but the ethos is the same: they want students to write some unique, personalized essays which express who they are as people. The first is an essay that students must complete, and the second is a series of essay questions that are specific to the university to which the student is applying.

College admissions can be a stressful process, leaving students feeling like they have a lot to prove; first to themselves, and then to the colleges to which they are applying. With multiple, high stakes deadlines to meet and college essays to write, plus a common misconception that these essays are the single most important part of the application, students commonly feel an overwhelming sense of dread and try to avoid the essay writing process at all costs. Thankfully, there is one application system that streamlines the process of pursuing a college education: The Common Application. The Common Application is a service that was established over thirty-five years ago, in 1975. It is designed to allow students to fill out a single application, which is then sent to multiple universities.

2. Understanding the Prompt and Crafting a Unique Response

Match your writing style. Is this a standard five-paragraph essay with an introduction, supporting examples and a conclusion serving as the main intention of the Common Application essay prompts? Colleges who receive this many applications look for reasons to entirely reject applications. If the essay doesn’t tell an interesting story about the student or explain their appeal to the college, the student runs the risk of being overlooked. Although very broad, the prompts still help narrow down the subject matter. And like any writing activity, the essay requires a thesis based on the writing prompt and directed to the point. Brainstorm and pick an idea. Then draft an outline. Once the writer’s organization is set, construct an opening statement that clearly brings the reader into the article. Use supporting detail and examples, and then tie everything together in the conclusion.

Understanding the prompt is the first step in turning in a successful essay. Colleges design the essay prompts to encourage students to reveal more about themselves than just their grades and test scores. The essay provides students the chance to share personal insights that are not easily gathered from other parts of the application. The Common Application includes five essay prompts designed to help demonstrate the student’s suitability for the college of his or her choice. The college admissions team uses these essay prompts to determine everything from how well the student organizes thoughts and writes to what the student will contribute to the school community.

3. Structuring Your Essay for Impact

It is definitely okay to not actually walk the reader through the entire event. For example, if your topic is learning to work independently, you might have asked your teacher why you received a certain grade. Instead of starting with “so my teacher told me I…” you could start right at your realization: “If I wanted an A on my This I Believe essay, or—in most classes—if I wanted a good grade on anything, it was obvious that I was going to have to be my only workhorse.” Know that you don’t have to sacrifice narrative for the sake of clarity. On that same topic, you might equally choose to structure your essay to emphasize a particular point. Conversely, starting at the beginning might create a compelling sense of growth and allow you to connect the subject to the other stories in your life.

It can be difficult to decide how to structure your essay. After all, we are not often asked to write personal narratives from start to finish. Often the most compelling essay is not ordered chronologically, but in terms of importance. There are several common organizational patterns, and your best choice will depend on what story you have to tell. Most Common Application prompts give you ample leeway in picking the specifics of your story, and they all involve a conflict of some sort. Looking at your anecdotes in terms of what, why, and so what, you might choose to start right at the climax and show the reader why it’s so important.

4. Showcasing Your Personality and Voice

Since you are not able to access your guidance counselor’s advice, it’s also incredibly important for you to have a number of teachers review your essays. While you do want to draw admissions officers’ attention to your personal qualities, you don’t want them to grant you admission because you are sarcastic, humorous, and entertaining. However, through your comment, the reader does learn that you are inventive and witty – traits that can breathe real life into top-heavy activities. Most of the rest of the application tells them to explore classes during their visits and come prepared to discuss the course they are most excited to take. The admissions officers want more than just numbers; they want to know “what’s it like to go to school with you?” Not only will you know that you express your thoughts in the best possible light, but Passion also has the advantage of letting the reader get a greater sense of who you are across the board. The Common Application essay also allows you to display the development of your own unique personal voice. The rest of your application, from your grades to your difficulty level, demonstrates what you did. Instead, the essay’s real goal is to show admissions advisors who you are.

While you are able to write about yourself in any way, shape, or form for the Common Application essay, don’t forget that when answering the specific question of the prompt, it’s vital to address it at its roots. No interpretation is needed. It’s very easy for a college student to see right through a fake version of a student’s voice, so be honest. Don’t copy anyone. Many essays begin life as a 500-word piece and are then pared down to 300 words. If a college asks, “Why did you choose our college?” the student’s reply should make a college listing exactly why they want to go to that specific school. For example, Lafayette College, Hamilton College, and Wake Forest University ask, “Compared with other years, what do you want in tradition, and why?” If you don’t honestly see anything very special for a college’s tradition.

5. Editing and Revising for Clarity and Coherence

Editing means “fixing.” It requires that you read your essay hypercritically, paying close attention to illogical connections, run-on sentences, and ungraceful transitions that sometimes follow heavy editing. Just because you love a sentence doesn’t mean it works. Examine the logical flow of your ideas, and make sure you haven’t led yourself or the reader down a garden path. Also, pick up the dictionary and verify the precise meaning of words. This practice may sound silly, but it is totally useful and helps you feel confident and forgetful. Then, copyedit by correcting technical errors. After all, you don’t want to leave careless mistakes on the page turning off the reader. At the comprehensive level, you may need to rearrange material from one paragraph or one section to another. Not before such massive reconstruction will you be ready to proofread and correct last-minute errors. Proofreading is hard because you didn’t leave enough time: You’re in a hurry. An hour before the AMC contest, however, is not a good moment for reviewing your solution. It can be helpful if your recruiter has been a teacher who has issued more than 40 F-grades in the past month. Otherwise, ask someone with a sharp pencil and stage left to read the essay and be brief and frank with you. You should make every effort to excel in that kind of challenge set a goal for schools that you feel are a little beyond your reach.