sobota 8. listopadu 2014

How to Write Your Common Application Essay - článek z CollegeData


How can you choose a Common App essay topic that will reveal the true you? The good news is that almost any of them will work. Here's how.
Colleges want curious, persistent, articulate, and self-aware students. The Common Application essay topics throw the door wide open for each applicant to show how he or she is that kind of person.

What Should Your Common Application Essay Be About?
Think of the Common App essay topics as starting points. As Yale Admissions says, "It doesn't matter which topics you choose, as long as they are meaningful to you. Your perspective—the lens through which you view your topic—is far more important than the specific topic itself."
The Common Application Essay Topics for 2014-2015
  • ·       Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
  • ·       Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?
  • ·       Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
  • ·       Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?
  • ·       Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

How to Choose Which Topic to Pursue
Look at each topic and ask yourself what personal experiences come to mind. Write them down, and then look your list over.
  • ·       Chances are, the experiences that are most meaningful to you will make great themes for your essay. As Wellesley Admissions advises, "An essay about some small, even insignificant-seeming thing can be more powerful than the 'How I'll save the world' essay."
  • ·       Experiment with several topics before picking one. This will help you uncover the deeper connections that will bring your essay to life. Bear in mind that certain themes are overused and should be avoided unless you have a particularly unique angle. These include death, divorce, sports, travel, religion, politics, and brief volunteer experiences.

More Tips for the Written Portions of the Common Application
  • ·       You can upload your essay only three times, so make sure you have thoroughly reviewed and proofed it before the first upload.
  • ·       Heed the word count limit. The maximum word count is 650 words. But you don't have to write to the maximum. In fact, getting your message across in fewer words is more powerful. The minimum word count is 250 words.
  • ·       Pay equal attention to any writing supplement requested by the college. It can matter just as much to your admissions chances as your essay.


What's Next?