Top common app essays: Questions and Examples

Most colleges insist for an application essay from prospective students so that they get to know more about the student’s background, character, motivations and value as a potential student. The Common App college essay is is more of a personal statement, and is required by most Common App schools and plays an important part in the admission decisions of most institutions. A college application essay must be written the way you speak. Here’s more on how to effectively write a College Application (Admission) Essay.

Writing a Common App Essay

Why College Application Essay?

The college application essay is the perfect document to reveal more about yourself to the admission officers; they get to know more about your personality, aspirations, who you are beyond grades, test scores and a list of extracurricular activities.

However, many students struggle to get started or to come up with ideas for the essay.

Here are some tips that will help you come up a decent essay.

Talk About Yourself

Don’t focus on the great aspects of a particular college, the amount of dedication it takes to be a doctor or the number of extracurricular activities you took part in during high school.

Do share your personal story and thoughts, take a creative approach and highlight areas that aren’t covered in other parts of the application, like your high school records.

Keep Your Focus Narrow and Personal

Don’t try to cover too many topics. you are not writing a resume; this needs to provide more details about you.

Don’t simply state a fact to get an idea across, such as “I like to surround myself with people with a variety of backgrounds and interests.” Do include specific details, examples, reasons and so on to develop your ideas. For the example above, describe a situation when you were surrounded by various types of people. What were you doing? Whom did you talk with? What did you take away from the experience?

Use Your Own Voice

Don’t rely on phrases or ideas that people use frequently. Also avoid overly formal or business-like language, and don’t use unnecessary words just for the sake of increasing the length of the essay.

Do write in your own voice. For the above example, you could write about a real experience that you had and how it made you feel you had to take action.

Ask a Teacher or Parent to Proofread

Don’t turn your essay in without proofreading it, and don’t rely only on your computer’s spell check to catch mistakes.

Do ask a teacher or parent to proofread your essay to catch mistakes. You should also ask the person who proofreads your essay if the writing sounds like you.

Need help to write your College Application/Admission Essay? Please contact us here.

How Long Should a College Application Essay be?

There is no hard-and-fast rule about the length of a College application/admission essay; however, there are a few things that you should cover in your application essays. Generally speaking, most colleges suggest that essays be about 650 words long.

Common App Essays: Topics

Here are the top common app essays: Topics, Questions and Examples

Q. 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.

Q. 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?

Q. 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?

Q. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Q. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Q. Describe a topic, idea or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you ? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Q. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea ? What prompted your thinking ? What was the outcome?

Q. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

Q. Pick one woman in history or fiction to converse with for an hour and explain your choice. What would you talk about?

Q. Describe three experiences and/or activities that have helped develop your passion for a possible career in a Science & Technology field (Max 120 words for each experience)

Q. Much like the life of a professional scientist or engineer, the life of a “Technology Student” relies heavily on collaboration. Knowing this, what do you hope to explore, innovate, or create with your peers?

Q. The process of discovery best advances when people from various backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives come together. How do you see yourself contributing to the diversity of our Univeristy’s community?

Q. Many students pursue college for a specific degree, career opportunity or personal goal. Whichever it may be, learning will be critical to achieve your ultimate goal. As you think ahead to the process of learning during your college years, how will you define a successful college experience?

Q. Consider your application as a whole. What do you personally want to emphasize about your application for the admission committee’s consideration? Highlight something that’s important to you or something you haven’t had a chance to share. Tell us, don’t show us (no websites please).

Q. “I have no special talent”, Albert Einstein once observed. “I am only passionately curious”. Celebrate your curiosity in maximum 300 words.

Q. How you hope to use your college education

Q. Successful students at our university make the biggest impact by collaborating with others, including peers, mentors, and professors. Talk about a time, in or outside the classroom, when you worked with others and what you learned from the experience.

Q. Using the theme “Person who has influenced you in a significant way, say your father or mother” as a starting point, write about a person, event, or experience that helped you define one of your values or in some way changed how you approach the world.

Q. “Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.”

Q. Cats have nine lives, Pac-Man has 3 lives, and radioactive isotopes have half-lives. How many lives does something else—conceptual or actual—have, and why?

Q. Think about an idea or topic that has been intellectually exciting for you. Why are you drawn to it?

Q. Our students, faculty, and alumni engage issues of local, national, and international importance. Discuss an issue that is significant to you and how your college experience could help you address it.

Q. 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.