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• What Do Colleges Look For in an Essay? | Examples & Tips

What Do Colleges Look For in an Essay? | Examples & Tips

Published on September 27, 2021 by Meredith Testa . Revised on May 31, 2023.

As part of the college application process , colleges ask prospective students for a personal essay in order to learn more about them. They want to see context on each student’s background, positive traits that the student could bring to campus, and examples of the student demonstrating those qualities.

That means that you, as an applicant, have a great opportunity to make a positive impression on the admissions officers with your essay. You should aim to write an essay that

• Humanizes you
• Makes your application memorable and differentiates you from other applicants
• Demonstrates your unique positive traits

Table of contents

Context: what sets you apart, positive character qualities, proof: show, don’t tell, two strategies for finding your essay’s topic, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Your application will probably be similar to many other students’ applications. There will likely be many students from the same geographical area as you with comparable grades and test scores who have similar interests. Admissions officers will use your essay to see how you stand out from the crowd.

The context that admissions officers are looking for could be anything about you that differentiates you from other students. It could include your ethnic or socioeconomic background, your values, your passions, or anything else that sets you apart from your peers. International students may want to write about why they want to study in the US.

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Of course, it’s important to show your best qualities in the essay. Admissions officers want students who can demonstrate specific positive character traits.

Self-reflection and vulnerability

Self-reflection is a sign of maturity, and it can elevate an application from good to excellent. Colleges already have a list of each applicant’s accomplishments, so a student who can admit their mistakes—and prove that they’ve learned from them—will seem more human and likable.

Some students are hesitant to show their flaws, but keep in mind that colleges know you aren’t perfect. If your essay is just about how fabulous you are, you might come across as inauthentic or, worse, arrogant.

Initiative is one of the top qualities that colleges look for. Students who show initiative will likely bring that take-charge attitude with them to college, where it will help them contribute to the campus.

The essay should always involve you taking some kind of action—it shouldn’t just be about things that happened to you. For example, rather than writing about how it was emotionally difficult for you when several family members caught COVID, write about specific coping strategies you developed during that time or ways that you contributed to the family while they needed you.

“Show, don’t tell” means that you should always aim to prove something rather than just state it. This is especially important to avoid sounding arrogant when writing about yourself . For example, don’t just tell admissions officers that you’re hardworking; show them by detailing how you accomplished a goal through hard work.

So how do you actually write all that? The first step is choosing a good topic . Here are two effective ways to choose a topic that meets expectations and impresses admissions officers.

Option 1: Start with your qualities

One approach is to start by thinking of positive character traits you possess and then finding examples of times you demonstrated those traits.

Option 2: Start with a story

You could also approach your topic selection in the opposite way: start with a story, then work backwards to show how it demonstrates your positive qualities.

• He is independent, as his parents were often preoccupied and couldn’t help him in the same ways that his peers’ parents could.
• He is unflappable, as dealing with emergencies has always been a regular part of his life.
• He is empathetic, as he realizes that some people are going through difficult times that aren’t necessarily obvious to outsiders.

Whatever you choose to write about, your essay should give admissions officers plenty of proof that you’re a desirable candidate. And make sure your essay has a memorable introduction and ends effectively to grab the reader’s attention.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

Colleges want to be able to differentiate students who seem similar on paper. In the college application essay , they’re looking for a way to understand each applicant’s unique personality and experiences.

In your application essay , admissions officers are looking for particular features : they want to see context on your background, positive traits that you could bring to campus, and examples of you demonstrating those qualities.

College application essays are less formal than other kinds of academic writing . Use a conversational yet respectful tone , as if speaking with a teacher or mentor. Be vulnerable about your feelings, thoughts, and experiences to connect with the reader.

Aim to write in your authentic voice , with a style that sounds natural and genuine. You can be creative with your word choice, but don’t use elaborate vocabulary to impress admissions officers.

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What Do Colleges Look for in an Essay? Examples & Tips

What is a College Essay?

The college essay is an essential element of the college application process. It presents an opportunity for students to personalize their college application, beyond grades and scores. It can also be one of the more nerve-wracking parts of the application process. 

If you are reading this article, you are like applying to college and taking the process seriously. The quality of the college you attend will have a big effect on your entire life, and taking a few hours to make your application the best it can possibly be may be the most lucrative time investment you will ever make.

What do colleges look for in an essay from applicants?

So, what do colleges look for in an essay? The answer is similar to what colleges look for in an applicant. To hit the right notes, you need to consider the perspective and even the mission statement of the college, which of course values intelligence, a good work ethic, and the type of personality that will represent the school. 

Therefore, the core aspects that admissions officials at any institution look for in an essay are:

·         Intelligence

·         Strong communication skills

·         Ambition and goals

·         Creativity

·         Proactivity and self-direction

·         Interest in education and self-betterment

These elements are not based on any abstract moral consideration–colleges want students who will make their institution stronger. They will look for evidence of these traits in your personal essay, as grades only reflect a few of these core aspects and abilities. 

Beyond these considerations, remember that an admissions officer (an actual human being) will read your essay and respond to it both rationally and emotionally. In many cases, that emotion is boredom. Keep in mind that these officials read hundreds of application essays each admissions season. But if your essay can successfully win them over, then you’ll be getting a letter that begins with a “We are delighted to announce…”

Qualities Colleges Look for to Include in Your Essay

Most achievements that colleges are looking for will be reflected in your college application, and therefore, these have been left off of the list below. The achievements showing your passion and drive, as well as your internal and external motivations, will be the ones to include in your application essay. 

Challenging extracurricular activities

Colleges want to see students who stretch themselves beyond the limits of the classroom. The kinds of activities you choose say a lot about your personality and even your morals. Whether or not you stick with your chosen undertakings exhibits your ability to commit to important projects in the long term.

Volunteer and work experience

Any experience you have that shows true commitment, leadership qualities and an interest in community is beneficial to your application. Include the organizations or companies you worked for and what your responsibilities were at each one. If you received any promotions or special recognitions, be sure to mention those as well.

Talents and passions

More colleges are moving away from accepting students who did the most “stuff” to looking for those who focus their energy in specific areas that they’re passionate about. Schools want to see what makes you special and how hard you’re willing to work at the things you care about.

Obstacles or challenges you have overcome

One of the most important aspects of a good college student is their ability to learn from mistakes and overcome challenges in order to achieve success. This is especially true for Common App Essay prompts . In your essay, focus on what exact difficulties or challenges you faced, how you overcame them, and what you learned from this experience. After all, admissions officials are more impressed by a student who came from an adverse situation and still achieved success than they are with a student who had every advantage handed to them and skated by on position and intelligence.

What is a well-written essay?

Admissions officers read a lot of essays, and a well-written one can make a refreshing change. Students should check their essays to make sure they clearly meet these criteria:

• Does the essay provide a direct answer to the essay question?
• Does it have a strong opening paragraph that captures the reader’s interest?
• Does it put forth a comprehensive argument or narrative? Does the student make a point and stick to it?
• Does it have a natural style that’s comfortable for the student and appropriate for the subject matter?
• Did the student use effective word choice, syntax, and structure?
• Does it contain correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling?
• Is it succinct? Did the student pay attention to the recommended length?

How to Write About Positive Qualities in an Application Essay

The rule of thumb here is always “Show–don’t tell.” When writing a college essay, skip generalized information. Instead, provide real, specific examples to support your statements. Your attention to detail will help make you more memorable to an admissions officer who has to read hundreds, if not thousands, of essays. 

For example, instead of “I love hiking,” you could say, “After reaching the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, I decided my next adventure would be climbing Mt. Everest.” What’s the difference between these two sentences? The first says you like something, while the second one illustrates that you do—but not only that, it also shows your level of commitment and your desire for challenge. Of the two example sentences, which do you think maximizes your use of words and would be more interesting to admissions officers?

Bad example: Claim without proof My teacher once told me that I was the most skilled and intelligent student she’s ever taught, and I believed her. When I set a goal, there’s no stopping me. I’ll work at it until it’s achieved—even if it’s to my own detriment.

Good example: Showing with concrete evidence In sophomore year, I decided to set a goal to raise more money for Relay for Life than any other student involved. I asked my neighbors, family, teachers, and even my paster, who sat through my 20-minute prepared speech about why donating to this campaign would be the best use of his money. I spoke to community groups. I did three straight weekends of door-to-door fundraising. And in the end, my efforts paid off—I succeeded in raising over $500 more than any other student.

Showing initiative and ambition

Initiative and ambition are top qualities that colleges look for in an applicant. Students who exhibit these traits will bring a positive and driven attitude with them to college, where it will help them contribute to the campus and succeed in their academic endeavors.

The college essay should always show how you took some kind of action—it shouldn’t just include things that happened to you as a passive individual. For example, rather than simply writing about how it was emotionally difficult when your older sibling got sick, discuss specific coping strategies you developed during that time or ways that you contributed to helping your sibling and family.

Showing self-reflection and growth

Personal growth is one of the most popular topics to write about since it represents what the admissions essay is all about: helping the college gain better insight into your personality and character. Some schools ask targeted questions — “What was the most challenging event you have ever faced, and how have you grown from it?” — while others leave the topic open: “Describe an event that has had great meaning for you. Explain why and how it has affected you.”

One of the most successful strategies is to use a past event as a lens through which you can assess who you were and the person you became, how you have grown and changed, and your transformation. Most children are curious, but were you the one who asked your teacher what caused the change of seasons of the year and then created a solar system model and explained the concept to your classmates? Though you may think that your topic needs to be bold and unique, this is not necessary to craft an effective essay. Instead, success lies in painting an accurate and vivid picture of yourself — one that will show admissions officers that you have much to offer their school.

Structure your essay with a clear beginning, middle, and end

When you include the basic plot elements of setting, introduction, conflict, and resolution, not only will your essay be more fun to read, it will be easier to write. And when writing is easier, you are usually having more fun and pouring more of yourself into your writing. You will find that this often translates into a more compelling story as well since passion and interest are hallmarks of any good story told to a friend or included on the page of an adventure or romance novel. When structuring your narrative arc, include the lessons you have learned from these experiences: How did you change? What did you learn? What did/do you plan to do differently because of these experiences? Anyone can write about how they won first place in a competition or spent a fantastic vacation in Europe. The important stuff is not in the itinerary, but rather in the diary–what you learned from the experience and how it impacted you.

Essay Introduction #1: Focus on Your Personal Qualities

One approach when beginning your application essay is to start by describing positive character traits you possess and then showing examples of times you demonstrated those traits.

Starting with your qualities A student wants to show that he is determined and tenacious. He thinks about times when he went above and beyond what was necessary to succeed in high school. He thinks of how he became the only student at his school to participate in three or more AP classes while also being involved in multiple sports and extracurricular activities. He also thinks of his volunteer work with his church at a local homeless shelter, where he made friends and connections with shelter guests and high-profile members of the community. These are the qualities around which his essay is focused.

Essay Introduction #2: Focus on a Personal Story

Another way to approach your essay topic is to start with a story and then work show examples that demonstrative your positive qualities.

Starting with a story A student’s sibling has been fighting cancer for the past three years, and he feels that this is an important experience that has shaped who he is today. He considers how the difficulties of this experience have changed him and help distinguish him from other applicants. 

From introducing his story at the beginning of his essay, this applicant can tie in the positive qualities he exhibits with the finer details of his personal story: 

• He is independent, as he needed to deal with taking care of a loved one in a serious and sustained way that his peers did not need to deal with.
• He is focused, as dealing with regular medical emergencies has not deterred him from achieving good grades and being part of his community.
• He is empathetic, as he understands personally how hard times can impact people.

Whatever essay topic you choose, your essay should provide admissions officers concrete evidence that you are an ideal candidate for their school. Your essay should have a memorable introduction that grabs the reader’s attention and guides the rest of your essay.

Repeat Your Qualities in the Essay Conclusion

Although your essay introduction is crucial in starting your essay off in a clear and impactful direction, how you end your essay is also important as it is the last thing that will remain in the reader’s mind. One surefire way to write a strong essay conclusion is to repeat the important qualities you discussed earlier. Recall details about your personal story or repeat the qualities you introduced at the beginning of the essay. Here is an example of what a good conclusion can capture what colleges are looking for in an essay: 

Concluding your essay by repeating your qualities During my high school years, my qualities of leadership, initiative, and hard work have help shape me to become the strong student I am today. As the head of our school’s volunteer group, I showed that even a teenager can make a big impact. As a student achieving high grades in all three of my AP courses, I demonstrated my dedication to education about all. Finally, as a daughter of working-class immigrant parents, I have used my value of hard work to achieve things my parents never thought possible. These values have contributed to making me the conscientious and successful student and person I am now, and they will surely continue to assist and guide me in my academic and professional career.

Interesting Essay Topics to Write About

There are hundreds of resources available online about writing college essays (including How to Write the Common App Essay ). And while you can find dozens of interesting and fruitful essay topics that have worked, here are just a few more that are not too specific and can be molded to fit your unique profile and personal story. 

1. A unique extracurricular activity or passion 

2. An activity or interest that contrasts heavily with your profile

3. A seemingly insignificant moment that speaks to larger themes within your life 

4. Using an everyday experience or object as a metaphor to explore your life and personality 

5. An in-the-moment narrative that tells the story of an important moment in your life

Additional Tips for Writing an Essay Colleges Will Love

Choose a strong essay topic.

First, whichever structure you will use, you need to ask yourself what you actually want to accomplish in life (esp. in terms of career) . This gives you your goals. You need to choose a program that helps you reach these goals—otherwise, you should seriously reconsider whether you should even be applying!  

If you are using the “Story” structure…

The story is going to be your topic, so make it an engaging tale… but remember you are not here to show that you are the next Shakespeare. There are three ways to go here: a story/description about yourself that shaped who you are and shows who you are. A story/description of something completely different that inspires you or is a metaphor for who you are.

If you are using the “Conveying passion for a subject” structure…

In this case, you have your topic (the subject you are passionate about), but remember the essay should be about what it means to you (don’t get bogged down in describing the subject itself). Use each subsequent paragraph to illustrate how you show passion for the subject or topic you have chosen. Be sure to use concrete details within the paragraph, but begin each paragraph with a “mini-thesis statement” that gives the reader a clear and concise summary of how you demonstrate your passion in a particular way.

Engage the Reader with Your Essay’s Narrative

The admissions officer will not be interested in a mere list of your personal qualities, extracurriculars, or accomplishments. This information is included elsewhere in your application. Instead, focus on showing who you are in your essay through a narrative that includes concrete details. 

But how can you plan the topics included in your narrative essay? First, grab a pen and jot down important experiences that spring to mind. Your experience could be something negative that eventually turns out to be positive or vice-versa. The most intriguing part of a negative experience is how you handled it and, hopefully, came out on top. Give your reader a setting to help them feel like they’re a part of your story and experience this moment of change with you.

Focus on what you care about most

Consider this a kind of brainstorming exercise. Close your eyes and imagine what drives you, motivates you, excites you, and inspires you to pursue great things (or at least fantasize about doing them). This might include a hobby, a genre of music, an important person in your life, a pivotal memory or experience, a book—anything meaningful that you consider part of your identity or that defines you. 

Start by listing these items and creating a word web of other relevant or secondary aspects of this one idea, person, object, or experience. Write some brief sentences about exactly why it is important to you. Once you have your list and a few sentences written, it should be a bit easier to narrow your topic to just one or two things at most.

Essay Editing for College Application Essays

One thing all schools look for in an essay is a document that is free of errors in grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and style. Admissions essay editing services are ideal for international students who struggle with English or simply want to take their essays to the next level. Students should take care to choose a company that’s reputable and employs highly qualified editors .

Check out Wordvice’s array of professional English editing services and proofreading services , including essay editing services, to learn how our editors can improve your essays and help you get into your dream school.

What are colleges looking for in my application essay?

Knowing what to include in a college essay is half the battle. Admissions teams look for many things, but the most influential are authenticity, writing ability, character details, and positive traits. The purpose of the essay is to shed light on your background and gain perspective on your real-world experiences.

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177 College Essay Examples for 11 Schools + Expert Analysis

College Admissions , College Essays

The personal statement might just be the hardest part of your college application. Mostly this is because it has the least guidance and is the most open-ended. One way to understand what colleges are looking for when they ask you to write an essay is to check out the essays of students who already got in—college essays that actually worked. After all, they must be among the most successful of this weird literary genre.

In this article, I'll go through general guidelines for what makes great college essays great. I've also compiled an enormous list of 100+ actual sample college essays from 11 different schools. Finally, I'll break down two of these published college essay examples and explain why and how they work. With links to 177 full essays and essay excerpts , this article is a great resource for learning how to craft your own personal college admissions essay!

What Excellent College Essays Have in Common

Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay.

Visible Signs of Planning

Building out from a narrow, concrete focus. You'll see a similar structure in many of the essays. The author starts with a very detailed story of an event or description of a person or place. After this sense-heavy imagery, the essay expands out to make a broader point about the author, and connects this very memorable experience to the author's present situation, state of mind, newfound understanding, or maturity level.

Knowing how to tell a story. Some of the experiences in these essays are one-of-a-kind. But most deal with the stuff of everyday life. What sets them apart is the way the author approaches the topic: analyzing it for drama and humor, for its moving qualities, for what it says about the author's world, and for how it connects to the author's emotional life.

Stellar Execution

A killer first sentence. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again: you have to suck the reader in, and the best place to do that is the first sentence. Great first sentences are punchy. They are like cliffhangers, setting up an exciting scene or an unusual situation with an unclear conclusion, in order to make the reader want to know more. Don't take my word for it—check out these 22 first sentences from Stanford applicants and tell me you don't want to read the rest of those essays to find out what happens!

A lively, individual voice. Writing is for readers. In this case, your reader is an admissions officer who has read thousands of essays before yours and will read thousands after. Your goal? Don't bore your reader. Use interesting descriptions, stay away from clichés, include your own offbeat observations—anything that makes this essay sounds like you and not like anyone else.

Technical correctness. No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafus—each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it.

And if you need more guidance, connect with PrepScholar's expert admissions consultants . These expert writers know exactly what college admissions committees look for in an admissions essay and chan help you craft an essay that boosts your chances of getting into your dream school.

Check out PrepScholar's Essay Editing and Coaching progra m for more details!

Links to Full College Essay Examples

Some colleges publish a selection of their favorite accepted college essays that worked, and I've put together a selection of over 100 of these.

Common App Essay Samples

Please note that some of these college essay examples may be responding to prompts that are no longer in use. The current Common App prompts are as follows:

1. 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. 2. 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? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? 4. 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? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. 6. 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?

7. 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.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of 177 college essay examples responding to current and past Common App essay prompts. 

Connecticut college.

• 12 Common Application essays from the classes of 2022-2025

Hamilton College

• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2026
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2022
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2018
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2012
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2007

Johns Hopkins

These essays are answers to past prompts from either the Common Application or the Coalition Application (which Johns Hopkins used to accept).

• 1 Common Application or Coalition Application essay from the class of 2026
• 6 Common Application or Coalition Application essays from the class of 2025
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2024
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2023
• 7 Common Application of Universal Application essays from the class of 2022
• 5 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2021
• 7 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2020

Essay Examples Published by Other Websites

• 2 Common Application essays ( 1st essay , 2nd essay ) from applicants admitted to Columbia

Other Sample College Essays

Here is a collection of essays that are college-specific.

Babson College

• 4 essays (and 1 video response) on "Why Babson" from the class of 2020

Emory University

• 5 essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) from the class of 2020 along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on why the essays were exceptional
• 5 more recent essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on what made these essays stand out

University of Georgia

• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2019
• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2018
• 10 Harvard essays from 2023
• 10 Harvard essays from 2022
• 10 Harvard essays from 2021
• 10 Harvard essays from 2020
• 10 Harvard essays from 2019
• 10 Harvard essays from 2018
• 6 essays from admitted MIT students

Smith College

• 6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018

Books of College Essays

If you're looking for even more sample college essays, consider purchasing a college essay book. The best of these include dozens of essays that worked and feedback from real admissions officers.

College Essays That Made a Difference —This detailed guide from Princeton Review includes not only successful essays, but also interviews with admissions officers and full student profiles.

50 Successful Harvard Application Essays by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson—A must for anyone aspiring to Harvard .

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays and 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe—For essays from other top schools, check out this venerated series, which is regularly updated with new essays.

Heavenly Essays by Janine W. Robinson—This collection from the popular blogger behind Essay Hell includes a wider range of schools, as well as helpful tips on honing your own essay.

Analyzing Great Common App Essays That Worked

I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them.

Example 1: "Breaking Into Cars," by Stephen, Johns Hopkins Class of '19 (Common App Essay, 636 words long)

I had never broken into a car before.

We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van.

Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back.

"Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?"

"Why me?" I thought.

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. "The water's on fire! Clear a hole!" he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I'm still unconvinced about that particular lesson's practicality, my Dad's overarching message is unequivocally true: much of life is unexpected, and you have to deal with the twists and turns.

Living in my family, days rarely unfolded as planned. A bit overlooked, a little pushed around, I learned to roll with reality, negotiate a quick deal, and give the improbable a try. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I definitely don't expect perfect fairness. So what if our dining room table only has six chairs for seven people? Someone learns the importance of punctuality every night.

But more than punctuality and a special affinity for musical chairs, my family life has taught me to thrive in situations over which I have no power. Growing up, I never controlled my older siblings, but I learned how to thwart their attempts to control me. I forged alliances, and realigned them as necessary. Sometimes, I was the poor, defenseless little brother; sometimes I was the omniscient elder. Different things to different people, as the situation demanded. I learned to adapt.

Back then, these techniques were merely reactions undertaken to ensure my survival. But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The question caught me off guard, much like the question posed to me in Laredo. Then, I realized I knew the answer. I knew why the coat hanger had been handed to me.

Growing up as the middle child in my family, I was a vital participant in a thing I did not govern, in the company of people I did not choose. It's family. It's society. And often, it's chaos. You participate by letting go of the small stuff, not expecting order and perfection, and facing the unexpected with confidence, optimism, and preparedness. My family experience taught me to face a serendipitous world with confidence.

What Makes This Essay Tick?

It's very helpful to take writing apart in order to see just how it accomplishes its objectives. Stephen's essay is very effective. Let's find out why!

An Opening Line That Draws You In

In just eight words, we get: scene-setting (he is standing next to a car about to break in), the idea of crossing a boundary (he is maybe about to do an illegal thing for the first time), and a cliffhanger (we are thinking: is he going to get caught? Is he headed for a life of crime? Is he about to be scared straight?).

Great, Detailed Opening Story

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame.

It's the details that really make this small experience come alive. Notice how whenever he can, Stephen uses a more specific, descriptive word in place of a more generic one. The volunteers aren't going to get food or dinner; they're going for "Texas BBQ." The coat hanger comes from "a dumpster." Stephen doesn't just move the coat hanger—he "jiggles" it.

Details also help us visualize the emotions of the people in the scene. The person who hands Stephen the coat hanger isn't just uncomfortable or nervous; he "takes a few steps back"—a description of movement that conveys feelings. Finally, the detail of actual speech makes the scene pop. Instead of writing that the other guy asked him to unlock the van, Stephen has the guy actually say his own words in a way that sounds like a teenager talking.

Turning a Specific Incident Into a Deeper Insight

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

Stephen makes the locked car experience a meaningful illustration of how he has learned to be resourceful and ready for anything, and he also makes this turn from the specific to the broad through an elegant play on the two meanings of the word "click."

Using Concrete Examples When Making Abstract Claims

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally.

"Unpredictability and chaos" are very abstract, not easily visualized concepts. They could also mean any number of things—violence, abandonment, poverty, mental instability. By instantly following up with highly finite and unambiguous illustrations like "family of seven" and "siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing," Stephen grounds the abstraction in something that is easy to picture: a large, noisy family.

Using Small Bits of Humor and Casual Word Choice

My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed.

Obviously, knowing how to clean burning oil is not high on the list of things every 9-year-old needs to know. To emphasize this, Stephen uses sarcasm by bringing up a situation that is clearly over-the-top: "in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed."

The humor also feels relaxed. Part of this is because he introduces it with the colloquial phrase "you know," so it sounds like he is talking to us in person. This approach also diffuses the potential discomfort of the reader with his father's strictness—since he is making jokes about it, clearly he is OK. Notice, though, that this doesn't occur very much in the essay. This helps keep the tone meaningful and serious rather than flippant.

An Ending That Stretches the Insight Into the Future

But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The ending of the essay reveals that Stephen's life has been one long preparation for the future. He has emerged from chaos and his dad's approach to parenting as a person who can thrive in a world that he can't control.

This connection of past experience to current maturity and self-knowledge is a key element in all successful personal essays. Colleges are very much looking for mature, self-aware applicants. These are the qualities of successful college students, who will be able to navigate the independence college classes require and the responsibility and quasi-adulthood of college life.

What Could This Essay Do Even Better?

Even the best essays aren't perfect, and even the world's greatest writers will tell you that writing is never "finished"—just "due." So what would we tweak in this essay if we could?

Replace some of the clichéd language. Stephen uses handy phrases like "twists and turns" and "don't sweat the small stuff" as a kind of shorthand for explaining his relationship to chaos and unpredictability. But using too many of these ready-made expressions runs the risk of clouding out your own voice and replacing it with something expected and boring.

Use another example from recent life. Stephen's first example (breaking into the van in Laredo) is a great illustration of being resourceful in an unexpected situation. But his essay also emphasizes that he "learned to adapt" by being "different things to different people." It would be great to see how this plays out outside his family, either in the situation in Laredo or another context.

Example 2: By Renner Kwittken, Tufts Class of '23 (Common App Essay, 645 words long)

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn't allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn't expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find -- with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials "RK-1" -- thatcyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry's book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I'm learning that it isn't the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek -- I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

Renner takes a somewhat different approach than Stephen, but their essay is just as detailed and engaging. Let's go through some of the strengths of this essay.

One Clear Governing Metaphor

This essay is ultimately about two things: Renner’s dreams and future career goals, and Renner’s philosophy on goal-setting and achieving one’s dreams.

But instead of listing off all the amazing things they’ve done to pursue their dream of working in nanomedicine, Renner tells a powerful, unique story instead. To set up the narrative, Renner opens the essay by connecting their experiences with goal-setting and dream-chasing all the way back to a memorable childhood experience:

This lighthearted–but relevant!--story about the moment when Renner first developed a passion for a specific career (“finding the goldbug”) provides an anchor point for the rest of the essay. As Renner pivots to describing their current dreams and goals–working in nanomedicine–the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” is reflected in Renner’s experiments, rejections, and new discoveries.

Though Renner tells multiple stories about their quest to “find the goldbug,” or, in other words, pursue their passion, each story is connected by a unifying theme; namely, that as we search and grow over time, our goals will transform…and that’s okay! By the end of the essay, Renner uses the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” to reiterate the relevance of the opening story:

While the earlier parts of the essay convey Renner’s core message by showing, the final, concluding paragraph sums up Renner’s insights by telling. By briefly and clearly stating the relevance of the goldbug metaphor to their own philosophy on goals and dreams, Renner demonstrates their creativity, insight, and eagerness to grow and evolve as the journey continues into college.

An Engaging, Individual Voice

This essay uses many techniques that make Renner sound genuine and make the reader feel like we already know them.

Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other).

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Renner gives a great example of how to use humor to your advantage in college essays. You don’t want to come off as too self-deprecating or sarcastic, but telling a lightheartedly humorous story about your younger self that also showcases how you’ve grown and changed over time can set the right tone for your entire essay.

Technique #2: intentional, eye-catching structure. The second technique is the way Renner uses a unique structure to bolster the tone and themes of their essay . The structure of your essay can have a major impact on how your ideas come across…so it’s important to give it just as much thought as the content of your essay!

For instance, Renner does a great job of using one-line paragraphs to create dramatic emphasis and to make clear transitions from one phase of the story to the next:

Suddenly the destination of my pickle car was clear.

Not only does the one-liner above signal that Renner is moving into a new phase of the narrative (their nanoparticle research experiences), it also tells the reader that this is a big moment in Renner’s story. It’s clear that Renner made a major discovery that changed the course of their goal pursuit and dream-chasing. Through structure, Renner conveys excitement and entices the reader to keep pushing forward to the next part of the story.

Technique #3: playing with syntax. The third technique is to use sentences of varying length, syntax, and structure. Most of the essay's written in standard English and uses grammatically correct sentences. However, at key moments, Renner emphasizes that the reader needs to sit up and pay attention by switching to short, colloquial, differently punctuated, and sometimes fragmented sentences.

Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research.

In the examples above, Renner switches adeptly between long, flowing sentences and quippy, telegraphic ones. At the same time, Renner uses these different sentence lengths intentionally. As they describe their experiences in new places, they use longer sentences to immerse the reader in the sights, smells, and sounds of those experiences. And when it’s time to get a big, key idea across, Renner switches to a short, punchy sentence to stop the reader in their tracks.

The varying syntax and sentence lengths pull the reader into the narrative and set up crucial “aha” moments when it’s most important…which is a surefire way to make any college essay stand out.

Renner's essay is very strong, but there are still a few little things that could be improved.

Connecting the research experiences to the theme of “finding the goldbug.”  The essay begins and ends with Renner’s connection to the idea of “finding the goldbug.” And while this metaphor is deftly tied into the essay’s intro and conclusion, it isn’t entirely clear what Renner’s big findings were during the research experiences that are described in the middle of the essay. It would be great to add a sentence or two stating what Renner’s big takeaways (or “goldbugs”) were from these experiences, which add more cohesion to the essay as a whole.

Give more details about discovering the world of nanomedicine. It makes sense that Renner wants to get into the details of their big research experiences as quickly as possible. After all, these are the details that show Renner’s dedication to nanomedicine! But a smoother transition from the opening pickle car/goldbug story to Renner’s “real goldbug” of nanoparticles would help the reader understand why nanoparticles became Renner’s goldbug. Finding out why Renner is so motivated to study nanomedicine–and perhaps what put them on to this field of study–would help readers fully understand why Renner chose this path in the first place.

4 Essential Tips for Writing Your Own Essay

How can you use this discussion to better your own college essay? Here are some suggestions for ways to use this resource effectively.

#1: Get Help From the Experts

Getting your college applications together takes a lot of work and can be pretty intimidatin g. Essays are even more important than ever now that admissions processes are changing and schools are going test-optional and removing diversity standards thanks to new Supreme Court rulings .  If you want certified expert help that really makes a difference, get started with  PrepScholar’s Essay Editing and Coaching program. Our program can help you put together an incredible essay from idea to completion so that your application stands out from the crowd. We've helped students get into the best colleges in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.  If you're ready to take the next step and boost your odds of getting into your dream school, connect with our experts today .

#2: Read Other Essays to Get Ideas for Your Own

As you go through the essays we've compiled for you above, ask yourself the following questions:

• Can you explain to yourself (or someone else!) why the opening sentence works well?
• Look for the essay's detailed personal anecdote. What senses is the author describing? Can you easily picture the scene in your mind's eye?
• Find the place where this anecdote bridges into a larger insight about the author. How does the essay connect the two? How does the anecdote work as an example of the author's characteristic, trait, or skill?
• Check out the essay's tone. If it's funny, can you find the places where the humor comes from? If it's sad and moving, can you find the imagery and description of feelings that make you moved? If it's serious, can you see how word choice adds to this tone?

Make a note whenever you find an essay or part of an essay that you think was particularly well-written, and think about what you like about it . Is it funny? Does it help you really get to know the writer? Does it show what makes the writer unique? Once you have your list, keep it next to you while writing your essay to remind yourself to try and use those same techniques in your own essay.

#3: Find Your "A-Ha!" Moment

All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world.

Check out essays by authors like John Jeremiah Sullivan , Leslie Jamison , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Esmé Weijun Wang to get more examples of how to craft a compelling personal narrative.

#4: Start Early, Revise Often

Let me level with you: the best writing isn't writing at all. It's rewriting. And in order to have time to rewrite, you have to start way before the application deadline. My advice is to write your first draft at least two months before your applications are due.

Let it sit for a few days untouched. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and think critically about what you've written. What's extra? What's missing? What is in the wrong place? What doesn't make sense? Don't be afraid to take it apart and rearrange sections. Do this several times over, and your essay will be much better for it!

For more editing tips, check out a style guide like Dreyer's English or Eats, Shoots & Leaves .

What's Next?

Still not sure which colleges you want to apply to? Our experts will show you how to make a college list that will help you choose a college that's right for you.

Interested in learning more about college essays? Check out our detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application , some suggestions on what to avoid when writing your essay , and our guide to writing about your extracurricular activities .

Working on the rest of your application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

The recommendations in this post are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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• Campus Life

Hey there, future college student! We know you’re busy worrying about grades and test scores, but have you ever wondered what do colleges look for beyond numbers? It turns out, a lot! 😨

So, don’t just focus on getting straight As . Take a break from studying, learn the secrets to impressing admissions committees , and check out these 11 insider tips that will help you stand out from the crowd.  

1. A High GPA and Class Rank

2. ap and honors classes, 3. strong sat/act scores, 4. commitment to extracurricular activities, 5. compelling letters of recommendation , 6. an excellent personal essay, 7. volunteer and work experience, 8. special talents or abilities, 9. passion for personal interests , 10. diversity, 11. a genuine interest in the college’s offering, what’s next when applying to colleges, what do colleges look for 11 ways to stand out to admissions committees: frequently asked questions .

Like it or not, getting into college is mostly a numbers game. In the eyes of the admissions committee, your high school grades predict your future academic performance. 

It’s likely that your transcript (a document listing your courses, grades, and honors) will be carefully reviewed . 🧐

Consistently high grades are important because they demonstrate your persistence to excel academically . But don’t panic; selection committees won’t expect perfection. 

You may not have straight As , but if you took challenging classes and did well, that may be just as impressive to the admissions officer — a B+ in calculus will say more than an A in Algebra 1. ✅

Plus, college admissions committees want to know how you stack up against your peers, and a high-class rank can help you a great deal in that aspect .  

READ MORE: Weighted GPA vs. Unweighted GPA: Which Do Colleges Look At?  

While these college-level courses may require extra time and effort, taking Advanced Placement (AP) and honors classes showcases your dedication to tackling advanced subjects with a more rigorous curriculum. 

Through AP classes, you can explore complex topics, develop critical thinking skills, and demonstrate academic excellence — which is what colleges look for in applicants. 🧠

The cherry on top is that you can save thousands of dollars in tuition when you earn college credit through AP exams. 🍒

Aside from boosting your GPA, this means that you might be able to skip introductory-level classes in college, thus reducing the number of courses you need to take .   

The mere mention of the SAT or ACT makes most high school students groan. But the reality is that your scores on these standardized tests can make a difference when it comes to impressing college admissions committees. 💯

It may not be the most exciting part of the application process, but investing time and effort into mastering these tests can pay off in a big way.

Students who perform well on the SAT or ACT exams have a better chance of getting into college , as well as earning prospective scholarships , early decision admission options, and college course credits. ✅

While several colleges have moved towards test-optional policies in recent years, submitting a strong test score is still on the list of things higher educational institutions look for in applicants and can give you an edge over your peers.

TIP: Over 80 percent of US colleges no longer mandate standardized tests for applicants. While test-optional colleges claim no bias, submitting SAT/ACT scores can boost your application, according to admissions experts.

READ MORE: SAT Dates and Deadlines: Quick Guide and Tips [2023-2024]  

From volunteering at animal shelters and starting environmental clubs to showcasing your mad guitar skills in a school band, extracurricular activities can be the golden ticket to your dream college! 

By dipping your toes in any of these side gigs, you’re demonstrating how well-rounded, curious, and engaged you are as a learner . 🏀

Admissions officers are interested in the impact of your work and the lessons you’ve learned along the way. So when filling out your application, make sure to highlight how you’ve grown and the challenges you’ve overcome .

READ MORE: How to Get Involved on Campus   

When considering what colleges look for in applicants, most students think about a high GPA, test scores, and essays. What many overlook is the significance of strong letters of recommendation . 🤔

A well-written letter from a credible teacher or counselor can highlight your strengths and contributions to your school or community. It can also provide insights into your personality and character that your grades and test scores can’t capture. 

Colleges typically require one to three recommendation letters from high school teachers or counselors so choose wisely! 🧑‍🏫

Pick people who know you well and ensure they can attest to your strengths. Share your achievements, goals, and interests with them to help them write a personalized and compelling letter.

A killer personal essay is your ticket to grabbing college admissions officers’ attention , allowing you to showcase your unique personality and stand out from the crowd. ✍️

What do colleges look for in essays? Select a topic that emphasizes your strengths and reveals your character . They want to see the real you shine through. So, begin with an engaging introduction that grabs the reader’s interest right away. 

Connect this experience to your intended field of study or future aspirations. Remember to stay true to your authentic voice to captivate the readers — illustrate how you can make a valuable contribution to your desired college community . ✉️

Volunteer opportunities go beyond impressing colleges — they offer college students skill development and career exploration.

When you detail the responsibilities and accomplishments you’ve handled, these can provide insight into your personal growth, work ethic, and leadership abilities . 🙋

Whether you worked for local mom-and-pop shops, community centers, or big businesses as interns , collect soft skills and practical experience (and a few connections along the way) to set the stage for future success. 🤝

Let your personality shine through and let admissions officers see the awesome person you’ve become through these experiences.

If you excel in music, sports, or writing, highlight your accomplishments when applying to college. Mention any outside achievements, like winning local contests or performing at community events — this can illustrate your commitment and skills beyond academics. 🎶

Take, for instance, James Austin , who earned a full scholarship to the University of Arizona because of his musical talent. 

Remember, expressing your genuine enthusiasm for your hobbies and talents can make a strong impression and demonstrate your dedication to personal growth beyond the classroom. 👏

TIP : You’ll stand out even more if you go that extra mile and add a portfolio or a self-tape video that exhibits your abilities when submitting your application. 

Passion goes hand in hand with motivation and drive, and it’s exactly what colleges look for besides grades. Students who are passionate about an activity or skill are more likely to go the extra mile , pushing themselves to excel and make a positive impact.

That’s why colleges want students who are excited to be there, so make it clear why you’re drawn to the particular school while applying. ✨

Let’s say you’re an aspiring literature student, talk about how the college’s literature program is top-notch or how a particular professor’s published work impressed you. 📚 

You can also prove your interest by scheduling a campus visit early on , actively reaching out to the admissions officers, and applying for early action or early decision enrollment.

READ MORE: How to Apply to College: 9 Steps to Application Success  

Having a diverse student body is incredibly important for college authorities because it creates a vibrant and inclusive community where people from different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives can come together to learn and grow. 

Maybe you’re a first-generation college student or an international candidate pursuing higher education in the country? Or perhaps you are not a legal US resident and are considering applying as an undocumented student ?

If you have a unique background or an unconventional story to tell, don’t be afraid to let your diversity shine through in your application . In fact, that’s exactly what colleges look for in high school students.

Who knows? It could be the very thing that catches the eye of admissions officers! 🤩

Want to follow in the footsteps of legendary athletes like Michael Phelps and Serena Williams? Imagine honing your extracurricular skills in the state-of-the-art athletics facilities of your dream college. 🏫

When you’re writing your application, don’t just list generic reasons for why you want to attend that school . It’s essential to understand what do colleges look for in prospective students so you can be specific and talk about what sets that college apart from the rest . 

Remember, colleges want students who are genuinely interested in their programs . So, if you want to impress admissions officers, let your commitment shine through in your application. 

First, figure out what type of education is the best fit for you . Are you aiming for a trade school , a community college, or a public or private college ? Then determine how many colleges you’re applying to before figuring out a plan on how you’ll pay for college . 

Sure, you can apply for federal student aid and scholarships to reduce the cost of attendance. But did you know that affordable four-year universities and free community colleges exist? Some schools even forgo application fees for low-income families. 🆓

Next, take a good look at your college resume and think about areas that could use a little sprucing up. Does it address what colleges look for in applicants?

You might wanna think about boosting your volunteer gig or getting more involved in fun stuff outside class. And hey, don’t sweat it — you can totally start rounding up those recommendation letters and tossing around essay ideas whenever you’re up for it .

Finally, before you start sending out applications left and right, proofread your materials for any typos , grammatical errors, or inconsistencies. It’s crucial to present a polished and professional application to make a strong impression on admissions officers. 🔍

College admissions committees read through thousands of applications. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle if you don’t showcase what they want to see. 📋

You don’t have to be the next Einstein or Picasso to impress admissions committees. By pairing hard work, determination with these insider tips, you can stand out from the crowd and increase your chances of getting into your dream school . 💡

What do colleges care about most?

Getting good grades consistently is an obvious answer, but your chances will improve if you prove that you can excel in challenging classes.  

College admissions officers also evaluate your curriculum, standardized test scores, and personal essay. 

What makes you stand out to colleges?

Concentrate on doing well in school and enrolling in challenging classes if you want to stand out in college. 

Display a variety of character traits, take part in meaningful activities outside of school, and gain unique work experience.

What classes do colleges look for?

While individual institutions may have varying standards and preferences for high school coursework, generally speaking, they are looking for applicants who have completed an extensive and well-rounded course load . 

English, math, science, and social studies are all required subjects. Colleges also check for students who have completed honors, AP, or IB courses since these courses show academic potential and aptitude for college-level work.  

What do colleges look for besides grades? 

Colleges evaluate extracurricular activities, essays, test scores, and recommendations to ensure candidates have pursued their passions even outside the classroom.  

What do colleges look for in essays? 

Colleges look for an applicant’s distinct perspective, competitive writing skills, and an authentic voice.  

Your unique perspective allows you to stand out from the crowd, show off your ability to articulate your thoughts clearly, concisely, and effectively, and and let your true personality shine through in your writing.

What do colleges look for in recommendation letters? 

Colleges look for sincere letters of recommendation that reflect the applicant’s accomplishments and abilities. It’s a chance for them to showcase their character, abilities, and potential for college success. 

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The 5 Things Colleges Want You To Include in Your Admissions Essay

Your college application essays – and you’ll probably write more than a few of them – may be as short as 150 words or up to a few pages. It can be one of the most stressful parts of the application process because it’s the most open-ended.

And those words can mean the difference between a “yes” and a “no” from the college you’ve been dreaming of.

Admissions essays are designed to tell an admissions committee – the folks responsible for deciding who gets in to a particular college or university – how students are different from each other. These people read hundreds of essays from students with similar experiences, so when it comes to your essay…

You need to stand out.

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We challenged tutor  Nick S, The College Guy  to tell us the five things top-tier colleges want to see in your admissions application essay. Watch it below, and check out all the other videos in Wyzant<5.

The One Thing ALL Colleges Want to See in Your Application Essay is Good Writing

You can write conversationally, but your grammar, spelling, and word count still need to be correct .

Remember: good writing is invisible. It’s about what you’re saying , not how impressively you say it. 

When you’re in the middle of something truly great, you don’t sit there saying “Gee, this sure is well-written.” You just read it. 

Be clear, be focused, and be honest . Don’t worry about saying “the right thing”; worry about saying “the you thing”. Schools read enough of these to recognize when someone is just saying what they think they’re supposed to say. 

Be creative and push the boundaries, not just for the sake of being different but because you don’t fit into any one box.

Colleges Want to Understand Your Motivations

They want to see that you have a plan and the drive to bring it to life.

The more specific you can be about your plan, the better. Colleges know that people with a plan tend to be the most motivated, the most effective, and the most resilient. Don’t just say you want to study psychology or computer science. Say that you want to “learn about the psychological effects of ingroup bias so you can apply them to marketing”, or that you want to “study software analytic methods for optimizing peer-to-peer lending”.

The beautiful part of plans is that they can change. And, in reality, they nearly always do. Colleges know this as well.

You’re not binding yourself to any one trajectory for your future by being specific in what you would like to explore.

You’re simply demonstrating that you have a course, and that you can adjust over time.

Be sure to stay on message

Your essays should all contribute in some way to show how you plan to pursue your stated goals. For your personal statement, be sure your essay reflects the way that your chosen topic has propelled you towards your chosen path. Think of your essay like a string connecting your past and your future.

Go Ahead and Brag

Your drive and motivation will likely be reflected in your past accomplishments. Don’t be afraid to talk about those experiences and show that you have the chops to make your plan a reality. 

Ideally, your past accomplishments relate to your future goals, but, even if they don’t exactly, showing enthusiasm, experience, and commitment goes a long way.

Most Schools Want to See that You Contribute to Your Community

As much as you’ll take away from your college experience, you’ll also give a great deal.

This doesn’t only mean volunteering and formal extracurriculars at school. You probably contribute to your community in a lot more ways than you realize. Do you help friends and classmates to study? Do you make people laugh?

After you finally get your acceptance letters and head to campus next fall, you’re going to be part of a huge community that will expect a lot from you academically and personally. No school wants a student who hides in their dorm waiting to collect a degree. Schools want students who will put themselves out there and make the university a better place.  

Remember: those with the most to offer are the ones who offer the most to other people. And, if you need a selfish reason for doing it, the more you give, the more you get. Show colleges that you’re one of the people with the most to offer.

Colleges Also Want to See Diversity of Experiences

As important as it is to stay on message, it’s also important to balance it out with other aspects of your experience, so colleges don’t see you as one-dimensional.

Thinkers, leaders, and doers take ideas from anywhere they can get them. Show schools that you’re willing to explore far-ranging and surprising places in order to learn and improve.

Sharing quirks or a sense of humor is a great way to show that you’re not a robot, but sharing information about your background that makes you who you are can also help bring your personality to life for an admissions committee.

You’re Different Than Every Other Applicant

Whether you realize it or not, you are unique in important ways from every single other applicant applying to the school of your dreams. It’s your job to discover and express what makes your background unique.

Try to think beyond ethnicity, religion, and geography. These are certainly important parts of who you are, but what combination of influences meet in you and you alone?

Observe your friends, family, and other people in your community. How are you alike? How are you different? This can help to get you started thinking about what makes some of the people close to you who they are and, in turn, what that means about you.

And Lastly…Remember to Be Succinct

Admissions officers are human. If you send them a Tolstoy novel of information about every gold star you’ve gotten since 2 nd grade and excuses for why each and every tiny thing didn’t go perfectly, they’re going to feel overwhelmed and unmotivated to read your application when they still have 200 to get through that night. 

Don’t worry about saying “the right thing”; worry about saying “the you thing”.

Keep it concise. Keep it focused .

This is as much for your own sake as it is for theirs! By choosing your words and application materials carefully, you will stay focused on your message better and present an overall more cohesive picture of you as an applicant.

Both your personal statements and school-specific essays should have one, single, cohesive point. It’s often best to express this thesis statement directly right at the beginning of your essay. If you don’t know what your thesis is, you’re not done with your essay.

Sometimes it takes a few tries and a few drafts before you narrow in on what you really want to say. But, when you find it, make sure you can express it in a single sentence.

Get More College Admissions Help

Five important things you should consider in your own college admissions essays will get you started, but for the rest of your college admissions journey, connect with a tutor on Wyzant, and check out all the other videos in Wyzant<5 .

For 10 years, Nick has been a leading test prep expert and essay specialist in sunny Southern California. He’s the author of the legendary “College Guy” curriculum and the tutor of choice for students who are committed to getting into the college of their dreams. Year in and year out, his students earn admission to Stanford, MIT, Georgetown (his alma mater), Duke, Northwestern, and other top-ranked institutions. Request Tutoring from Nick

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What Do College Admissions Look For in an Essay?

Sarah farbman.

• August 23, 2023

A college essay isn’t just an abstract writing assignment. It’s a piece of writing that you undertake for a very specific purpose: to give college admissions officers the evidence they need in order to admit you to their school. In order to write the most compelling essay that you can, it is crucial to ask:   what do college admissions look for in an essay. And what are they not looking for?  

In order to tackle these very important questions, it will help to first understand why college admissions look for an essay in the first place!

What do college admissions look for in an essay?  

Four things: growth, critical thinking, engagement, and self-direction. But first, why is the essay required?

Why do college admissions require an essay?

The truth is, essays aren’t important for all colleges. Even if the college uses the Common Application , colleges may make the essay optional, or they may not give you space for an essay at all. Those colleges will be looking more seriously at other factors, such as your transcript and GPA. 

However, many colleges ask for an essay because they are trying to create a diverse, interesting, intelligent college class full of students who are, well, diverse, interesting, and intelligent. Colleges want to understand what it is that you would be bringing to the campus community if you were accepted. They already know about your academic achievements, since they have your transcript, academic awards/honors, and test scores (if they are required and if you choose to submit them). They know the bare bones of your community involvement, since you have to tell them your extracurricular activities, and they have some idea of the role you play in the classroom and school community, thanks to your letters of recommendation. 

But what’s missing from all of that is, well, you. Your voice, your values, your perspective. Your college essay is your opportunity to advertise to colleges, in your own words, what qualities, values, and perspectives you would be bringing with you to college. What niche will you fill in the campus community? What role will you play? 

Your essay is only 650 words, so you don’t have room to tell your whole life story or try to hit upon every possible attribute that you would bring to a college. As you look through this list of what college admissions look for in an essay , consider which of these points you would best be able to showcase or you feel most proud of in yourself.

The best essays show growth

Many people think that, since this is an application, it is important to only show their strengths and to hide any weaknesses they may have or mistakes they may have made. That is not a good strategy. College admissions look for essays that show that you are capable of reflection and growth. Colleges aren’t looking for people who are perfect, and they certainly aren’t looking for people who stubbornly think they are perfect. Colleges are looking for students who can grapple with challenging new ideas. They are looking for people who are aware and humble when they make mistakes and are not afraid to take ownership of those mistakes and learn from them. If you are afraid to be vulnerable on the page, it will be quite difficult to show that awareness, humility, bravery, and growth. 

Don’t be afraid to be critical!

College is school, after all. Colleges are looking for people who will engage with challenging ideas and offer new perspectives, both in the classroom and outside of it. One way to show that you have an analytical mind is by offering some sort of critique of society. Instead of just writing a story about how you ran for prom king, for example, try weaving that story together with a critique of the very notion of prom and prom royalty. 

Your essay will be even stronger if you can tie your story and critique back to some sort of book/article you’ve read, podcast you’ve heard, or show you’ve seen. Remember: the ultimate goal of education is to train your brain to think critically about the world around you. You can show that you have the potential to be a strong critical thinker by applying  your analytical skills to your own life, your own values, and your own experiences, in order to draw interesting (but perhaps imperfect—see point above) conclusions from those experiences.

Use your essay to show engagement with your community

Colleges want scholars, yes, but they are also trying to cultivate a thriving community. Every community needs people of different sorts who bring different skills, abilities, perspectives, and backgrounds to the party. Communities need contributors: people who will jump in to solve problems, to expand opportunity, and to generally be helpful citizens. Education is about training you to be a change-maker in the context of some sort of broader community. Your essay is an opportunity to demonstrate what kind community member and citizen you are and will continue to be on campus and in the world. If you are someone who genuinely values being engaged with your community, whether that community consists of your classmates, your neighbors, your teammates, or another sort of group all together, use your essay to explore that side of yourself.

What college admissions look for in an essay is self-direction

There is certainly nothing wrong with showing up to school, work, practice, or a volunteer position and following the instructions given to you in order to achieve some sort of goal. People tell you want to do, and you do it. A teacher gives you an assignment, and you complete it to the best of your ability. You learn the rules, and you follow them.

However, as you shift from high school to college, your notion of success will (hopefully!) begin to shift as well. Instead of receiving some sort of external reward for faithfully following directions, you should begin to craft your own vision and plan for what you want to achieve and how you’ll know when you’ve been successful and work toward achieving it on your own terms. 

What do college admissions look for in an essay?  It’s the wrong question

Many students wonder what college admissions look for in an essay. The better question to ask is what do college admissions look for in an applicant . Colleges want students who will be successful on their campus both academically and socially. They want students who are hungry to learn and who will bring a unique perspective to the institution, students who will care about their classmates and invest their time, energy, and emotions into making the campus community stronger. If your college essay can show that you are that type of student, you are off to a very good start.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, what do college essays look for.

Need a bit of help here folks. I'm starting to outline my college essays and I'm wondering if there's a checklist or set of qualities that colleges are especially keen on seeing in essays. Are there certain attributes or experiences I should highlight or focus on in my writing to have a better chance?

Hey there! No worries, a lot of students have similar concerns when they start tackling their college essays. The essence of a good college essay is that it should provide a window into who you are, your personality, your values, and your potential contributions to the campus community. Admissions officers are looking for a compelling narrative that showcases your unique voice and perspective.

Focus on authenticity and self-reflection over trying to impress with achievements. They want to read about your genuine experiences and thoughts. You might consider highlighting moments of growth, resilience, creativity, or leadership. How have your experiences shaped you into the person you are today, and how will they influence who you might become in the future?

Remember to be specific rather than generic; for example, instead of saying 'I love helping people,' describe a particular instance when you helped someone and what it meant to you and the other person. It's these details that can really help your essay stand out. Last but not least, ensure that your writing is clear, coherent, and free of grammatical errors. Get feedback from mentors or teachers, and revise it until it feels right. Best of luck with your essays!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

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What Admissions Officers Look for in Your College Essay?

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Anna Smist, a Yale Admissions Officer, i n a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

Writing about specific moments.

• Appealing to Admissions Officers

When it comes time to submit these essays, you will either be applying through QuestBridge , the coalition application , or the common application . Essays are one of the most important portions of a student’s college application. They present an irreplaceable opportunity to paint a picture for the admissions officers of who you are. College essays do pose their unique set of challenges, but there are tricks to help students with this process. 

To get started, think about the purpose behind these essays. A student has about 500 words or less to convey their story to admissions officers. When you’re writing, your topic doesn’t have to be about anything specific; it can be more general. Some of the best essays students have submitted were not about detailed descriptions of their interests but an experience.

You can start with a general topic, such as your interests or extracurricular activities, and then dive deeper into a specific experience you had in one of those topics. An example could be writing about a relationship that you have with someone, but, instead of talking about the relationship, you can reflect on a conversation you had with them. This will bring a personal aspect to the essay and make the reader feel more connected to you as the writer. Similar things can be done with places. If you want to write about a place that has meaning to you, you can dive into a particular event that happened at that location and why it has meaning to you. Your essays are all about bringing the reader into your life, and the best way to accomplish that is by writing about specific events.

Appealing To Admissions Officers

Making your story unique.

Students shouldn’t write about anything too general, and there are no cookie-cutter expectations for students’ essay topics. When you approach your essays, try to write about something only you can talk about. There are thousands of students writing about the same topic as you are, so you have to find a way to differentiate yourself from the others. This is what admissions officers are looking for in your essays. They want to read about a unique story or memory that no other student could have written about except for you. 

Let Your Voice Shine Through

Ultimately, when it comes from your voice or your view, it’s going to sound unique and different. Think about books and movies. Many are over the same topic, but the way the story is told matters a lot. When you read a novel from the first-person perspective, you get inside that person’s head for a moment and get to see how they think. Reading essays is something admissions officers really like because they get to know the student. When you are writing your essay, make sure your voice comes through . Admissions officers want to know what kind of student you are and how you will fit into their campus community. The best way for them to understand this is through your essays. 

Students often share topics or stories that the admissions officers might not be familiar with. For example, when writing about your diverse experience in terms of sexuality, gender, or race, the admissions officer reading it might not be familiar with your exact experience. No matter your topic, make sure you provide some context to your essays so that no matter who the admissions officer is, your story will come across.

If you’re looking for some examples of college essays to help get you started, check out this post: 19 Stellar Common App Essay Examples .

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What Are Colleges Looking for in Application Essays?

Jackson Schroeder

After four years of classes and multiple Saturdays spent taking the SAT or ACT , the college application essay may seem like a big drag. But don’t give up now. Essays are a very important factor in the college admissions process, as they are your opportunity to set yourself apart from the crowd and show college admissions committees what you are truly passionate about.

Grades, strength of curriculum, and admissions test scores still take the cake as the most important factors in college admissions , but application essays are not to be dismissed or downplayed.

If you’re a middle-of-the-road applicant, your college essay can make or break you.

But we at The University Network (TUN) understand how stressful and difficult it can be to put together a powerful, unique essay. So, to help you out, we spoke with an admissions expert and conducted extensive research.

Here is what we gathered:

#1 — There are 4 different types of essays

Throughout the application process, you will likely come across many different essay questions. But, typically, they can be boiled down into four categories: the “ who are you? ” essay, the “ personal growth ” essay, the “ what inspires you? ” essay, and the “ why this school? ” essay.

1. The “ who are you? ” essay

With good reason, the “ who are you? ” essay is one of the most common. Grades and test scores can only tell so much about an applicant. The “ who are you? ” essay gives admissions officers the opportunity to learn something unique and personal about the students applying. Generally, these types of essays encourage students to spotlight their academic or personal interests.  

Here are some past example essay questions from the Common App and Brown University :

The Common App essay prompt

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?

Brown University essay prompt

Tell us about the place, or places, you call home. These can be physical places where you have lived, or a community or group that is important to you.

What you should consider when writing “ who are you? ” essays

It’s important to remember that you shouldn’t explain your life story in these types of essays, for that could cause you to ramble and fail to ever get to the meat of your essay. It is better to take a deep dive into one specific event, idea or thing and explain how that has shaped or influenced you.

2. The “ personal growth ” essay

Colleges and universities use the “ personal growth ” essay to gauge how resilient and driven applicants are. Generally, by way of these questions, applicants will have to recall a time where they overcame adversity or faced a fear. College isn’t easy, and schools want to guarantee that the students they admit have the mental strength to graduate.

Here are some past example essay questions from the Common App and Stony Brook University :

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?

Stony Brook University essay prompt

Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?

What you should consider when writing “ personal growth ” essays

Students who choose to write a “ personal growth ” essay should remember to be honest and modest. Don’t spend your entire essay giving background information or boasting. The meat of your “ personal growth ” should come from explaining what effect a specific event or challenge had on you.

3. The “ what inspires you? ” essay

The “ what inspires you? ” essay is a college admission department’s attempt at seeing the intellectual and creative aspirations of applicants. Generally, these questions are best fit for students who already have an idea of what they want to study in college and pursue after graduation.

Here are some past example essay questions from the Common App and Yale University :

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.

Yale University essay prompt

What inspires you?

What you should consider when writing “ what inspires you? ” essays

When answering “ what inspires you? ” it is easy to get sidetracked and bounce around to moments throughout your life. But, again, the best essays are stories about one specific event, person, place, or thing that had a deep, lasting impact on your life.

4. The “why this school?” essay

Many colleges and universities want to know why each applicant wants to attend their school. Each school has a unique culture and focus, so they want to make sure applicants will fit in and excel once admitted. Additionally, many prestigious schools want to guarantee that they only admit students who are deeply committed and eager to attend.  

Here are some past example essay questions from Columbia University and Yale University :

Columbia University essay prompt

Please tell us what you value most about Columbia and why.

What is it about Yale that has led you to apply?

What to consider when writing “ why this school? ” essays

When writing “ why this school? ” essays, it’s important to be sincere. Don’t just ramble on about how great a school is. Instead, tell an honest story about what motivated you to apply. And if you are just applying for the sake of applying, maybe think again. College is expensive, and can be difficult. Don’t waste four years of your life at a school you aren’t passionate about attending.

#2 — Past essays can shed some light on what works

Sometimes the best way for applicants to gauge what makes a good college application essay is to take a look at what worked in the past.

Students don’t always have to follow a set path, but the essays below, which were written by students in the past, can give today’s applicants a good idea of what a successful essay looks like.

Johns Hopkins essay examples

• Essays written by the Johns Hopkins Class of 2021
• Essays written by the Johns Hopkins Class of 2020
• Essays written by the Johns Hopkins Class of 2019
• Essays written by the Johns Hopkins Class of 2018

Connecticut College essay examples

• Essays written by the Connecticut College Classes of 2017–2020

Hamilton College essay examples

• Essays written by the Hamilton College Class of 2018

#3 — Some universal tips to apply when drafting any type of application essay

Schools differ in the questions they ask applicants to answer. But, generally, they all look for similar aspects in responses. Here are some universal tips that you should apply, so you can draft the perfect essay.

1. Write about yourself

Application essay questions may vary in wording and topics, but nearly every question you encounter is centered around the theme of individual interest, passion and drive.

“Schools are really trying to gain insights into what the passions and interests of a student are,” said Rodney Morrison , the Associate Provost for Enrollment and Retention Management at Stony Brook University.

So, before drafting an application essay, it’s very important to self-reflect and consider who you are, what you care about, and what separates you from your peers.

You don’t need to have gone through a life-shattering experience or have a burning desire for change in order to write a compelling essay. Even those who consider themselves a “typical high school student” likely have an intriguing story to tell.

Passion — no matter how deep it may be buried — exists in everyone. Take an honest look into yourself and find out what you care about the most.

2. Write about what is important to you

Students will commonly make the mistake of catering their writing to admissions officers, instead of writing from the heart. Disingenuous writing is easy for admissions officers to see through. After all, they read thousands of essays.  

“Don’t write about what you think the admissions office wants to hear. Really write about the things that are important to you,” said Morrison. “That’s really what (admissions officers) want to get out of it . . . the things that are important to the students, not what the student thinks the admissions officers want to hear.”

3. Don’t use humor if you aren’t funny

Students shouldn’t stray from their stylistic comfort zone when writing their application essays. Just because you heard somewhere that admissions officers like humor in the essays they read doesn’t mean you should squeeze an awkward joke in your writing.

Plus, you never know how an admissions officer will receive a joke. It could be perceived as confusing or even offensive.

“If you’re not a humorous writer . . . now is probably not the best time to try it,” said Morrison.

Forced writing is easy to recognize. Don’t make someone wince while reviewing your entry.

4. Don’t fake a sophisticated vocabulary

“Don’t try to use really big SAT words if you don’t typically use them,” Morrison said. “You really want it to sound like it’s coming from you.”

Even more so than failed humor, a forced vocabulary can kill an application essay. Synonyms aren’t interchangeable; every word has a distinct nuance to its meaning — and there is a time and place for every word.

Application officers have read enough essays to know when writing is organic and when it isn’t. Big words don’t impress admissions officers, but deep thoughts do.

5. Answer the question

Although this may seem obvious, according to Morrison, one of the biggest mistakes students can make while writing their application essay is failing to answer the question.

Commonly, students will receive an essay question, dive into it, and submit it without answering it fully. Incomplete answers are detrimental to a student’s response, because essay questions are carefully worded and intended to encourage students to explore and explain a specific thought or belief.

Answering only part of the question is essentially like missing the boat, and good writing will likely not be able to save you.

Take this Common App question for example: “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?”

The meat of this question lies in the second half. If you spend the entire time giving background, you may get sidetracked and miss out on explaining what you learned — the most important part of the question.

6. Be unique, not generic

You should view your application essay as your opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

“Most schools — particularly competitive schools — they are really trying to pick and choose between a lot of qualified applicants,” Morrison said. “If you’re generic and (admissions officers) can’t tell the difference between you, someone else, and the other thousands of applicants, it doesn’t do you a good service.”

Again, you don’t need to have endured a traumatic or life-altering experience to draft a unique essay. You should consider your application essay as a time to explain what makes you special and worthy of being accepted — something that the numbers in your transcript can’t describe.

7. Use your space wisely

Typically, application essays shouldn’t exceed 650 words. And some schools, including Yale , ask applicants to answer questions in as few as 35 words.

Application officers are busy people with mountains of essays to read through, so it is important you are concise in your writing. Your application essay isn’t the time to explain your life story. Instead, maybe explain one specific moment that had a huge impact on you.

Additionally, it is pivotal that you use your space wisely. Don’t use up too many words on background or wait too long to get to the meat of your essay. This can be done by acknowledging your most compelling point during the brainstorming period prior to writing.  

8. Don’t let proofreaders change your tone or theme

Proofreaders are great. And, in fact, Morrison even encourages them. However, peers, teachers — whoever it may be proofreading —  should not alter or suggest any changes other than punctuation and grammar.

“In other words, the parents shouldn’t be writing it, the friends shouldn’t be writing it, it should really come from that person,” Morrison said.

In conclusion

There is a lot to consider before writing your application essay(s), so don’t wait until the last minute. To the procrastinators out there, don’t ignore this advice. Application essays are not like a nightly homework assignment, and they shouldn’t be treated as one. You need time to brainstorm, write, make edits, and have a peer or teacher review. Plus, the more time you allot yourself to draft your essay(s), the more relaxed you will be when it’s time to write.  

For more college application advice, check here .

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The #1 college essay myth (and what college admissions officers really look for), brainstorm what to write.

Brad Schiller

College essays are not the place to "just tell your story."

It's not that “tell us your story” is wrong for college essays. It’s just severely misleading. 

Yes, college admission offices give this advice all the time. But if you look at how they actually evaluate essays, you’ll see that what they look for goes well beyond “your story.”

This article will walk you through: 

• why colleges (and sometimes even guidance counselors!) give this misleading advice; 
• what admissions officers actually look for; and 
• how to deliver it for them. 

As college essay coaches who’ve helped thousands of applicants get into great colleges each year, we’ve examined the question of why the “tell your story” advice is so ubiquitous, and you need to know what’s really going on. 

Read the Table of Contents to see what we'll cover in this article:

Colleges say they want applicants to tell their story

Let’s go on a journey of discovery through the internet. What advice do colleges give about writing the essays they require?

We found one striking pattern (emphasis added): 

• [The essay] is an important part of your application because it gives you the chance to tell us your story as an applicant. — BU
• Tell a good story. Most people prefer reading a good story over anything else. So... tell a great story in your essay. — Tulane Apps 101: Ten Tips for an Epic College Essay .
• Your transcript and standardized test scores tell your academic story, your extracurricular activities, recommendations, essay(s) and background, tell your personal story . — William & Mary
• In [successful] essays, students were able to share stories from their everyday lives to reveal something about their character, values, and life that aligned with the culture and values at Hopkins. — Johns Hopkins  
• Tell your story. Some of my most memorable offers of admission have gone to students who like to color outside the lines. — Canisius College
• The college application process is a wonderful opportunity for self-discovery. You will find out things about yourself, what motivates you and what excites you. This is a passage to an exciting new chapter in your life. We want to get to know you and your story. — Muhlenberg College

Here are some videos that popped up as we researched this question:

And here’s an article from the Washington Post that ranked high in our search:

True, not every admissions department used the word “story.” 

We also found (emphasis added) —

• The point of the personal statement is for you to have the chance to share whatever you would like with us . — Harvard
• Be honest, be open, be authentic—this is your opportunity to connect with us . — MIT
• These essays are an opportunity to tell us about yourself in your unique voice . — CalTech
• Essay writing is an excellent opportunity for personal expression and original thought. — Northwestern
• The authenticity of the writing is what makes it effective. — Johns Hopkins - WaPo article
• “Imagine UC was a person. If we met face-to-face, what would you want us to know about you? These personal insight questions allow you to tell us. — University of California — see also their video on the topic:

In this category of advice, while the admissions offices don’t use the term “tell your story,” they’re still suggesting that you simply share something interesting about who you are, and connect with them in the way that you would with a friend.

However, when you look at how colleges actually evaluate essays, it turns out that this advice is wrong at worst and incomplete at best . So let’s do that now.

What college admissions officers really look for

Let’s hop back into the internet for another journey of discovery. This time, let’s search for clues about what college admissions officers do when they’re in the process of actually reading your essays.

As some readers know, at Prompt, we’re pretty excited about a lawsuit that made much of Harvard’s admission process public. 

The lawsuit revealed that “share whatever you would like with us,” as the college claims (see above) isn’t necessarily helpful advice. 

Instead, admissions officers review “ humor, sensitivity, grit, leadership, integrity, helpfulness, courage, kindness and many other qualities” in determining a personal rating for each applicant, according to coverage (emphasis added). 

Yes, this means that Harvard admissions officers give applicants cold, hard numbers based on whether their essays reveal things like grit and courage. So what if, based on their advice, you simply shared an interesting story about your passion for the theater or for playing sports? So that they could get to know you?

You’d be out of luck. Because without specifically focusing on an interesting, authentic story that also reveals something about your character, you’re unlikely to write an essay that they rate highly.

There are also clues that other colleges are looking for more than just a nice story or the “true you.” 

Here are some approaches we found to the process of assessing admission essays:

• Emory University specifically takes into account “ intellectual curiosity and the potential to contribute to community life on campus.” 
• According to the dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania, “We expect [applicants] to have high test scores and grades. That’s a given. So another way for us to think about merit for those applicants is, what did they do with that opportunity they were given? How far did they travel in their high school journey?”  ‍
• “It's quick and easy for candidates to share, and for admissions readers to assess a candidate's 'what,’” says the dean of admissions at Lafayette College, “However, the hope is to find the 'how' and the 'why' behind an applicant's 'what'. If a candidate is a chemistry loving, slam poet who pole vaults, cool, that's 'what' they are. But, 'HOW' and 'WHY' have they become a chemistry-loving, slam poet who pole vaults? Too many candidates stop at the 'what' and do not give the 'how' and the 'why.'”
• "As an admissions officer, I analyzed students' personalities ,” says the former admissions head at Dartmouth. “If … the student came off as arrogant, entitled, mean, selfish, or, on the flip side, funny, charming, generous, witty , I wrote that exact trait in my notes. It's not enough just to be smart at top schools. Students must also show that they'll be good classmates and community builders ."
• “We want to enroll students who will contribute to the life of the campus , so we are eager to see how you have contributed to your high-school community or the community in which you live,” says an officer at Dickinson College.
• “Applicants who are able to convey that they have spent their high school years exploring different classes, activities and opportunities immediately grab my attention,” says an officer at Drake. ‍
• According to an officer at DePauw University, “a successful applicant should highlight an ability to overcome obstacles and garner results . It’s about proving you can produce outcomes .” 
• During the pandemic, 315 admission leaders (including all the heavy-hitters, such as the Ivys), signed a “ Care Counts in Crisis ” statement, assuring applicants that they most value 5 attributes: self-care ; academic work; service and contributions to others; family contributions ; and extracurricular and summer activities.

Some supplemental essays also show what colleges value. For example, these are all about intellectual curiosity:

• Stanford — The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning.
• University of Washington — [T]ell us about something that really sparks your intellectual interest and curiosity , and compels you to explore more in the program/area of study that you indicated.

Once you start looking more closely at how colleges actually make their decision, you see that colleges really care about a number of specific characteristics .

5 traits admissions officers look for in your college essay

The point of a college essay is to prove you’ll be successful on campus and beyond. As Emory admissions dean John Latting says, “The whole [admissions] process is about finding potential .”

The way you prove your potential is by showing that you have 5 special characteristics. They go by various names, but at Prompt we’ve boiled them down to:

• Drive — going above and beyond what’s expected
• Intellectual Curiosity — manifesting your love of learning
• Initiative — Changing the status quo
• Contribution — Giving back to the community
• Diversity of Experiences — Having a unique background or experiences that give you a new perspective.

Go back to the last section and see how often these words (or similar ones) come up — you’ll see that it’s extremely often. 

To take a specific example, here how these characteristics align with the categories unearthed from the Harvard admissions litigation:

• Grit — that’s Drive
• Leadership — that’s a combo of Drive, Initiative and Contribution
• Helpfulness — that’s Contribution
• Courage — that’s adjacent to Drive and Initiative
• Kindness — well, that’s Contribution again

Now if you’re carefully comparing this list to the quote above, you’ll notice that we’re missing:

• sensitivity, and 
• Integrity. 

That’s because it’s true that they don’t match up to our 5 Traits. Humor is wonderful if you’ve got it, but “your college essay might not be the best place to try on that funny writer voice for the first time,” to quote the dean of admissions at Lawrence. (Diversity of experiences is similar, in a way, in that it’s a wonderful-to-have, but not something you can force if you just don’t have it.)

Integrity is a must-have — but most good essays around the 5 Traits should demonstrate integrity. Needless to say, any essay that implies a lack of it is a bad essay. As to sensitivity, well, if you’ve got it great. Not sure that one’s really make-or-break.

The point is that your essays aren’t a friendly “get to know you” space. They’re a vital component of your application; the colleges are grading your essays. And to score high you need to write about an experience in which you showed one or more of the qualities that they’re looking for — one or more of the 5 Traits. (If the experience also happens to showcase integrity and a sense of humor, all the better!)

Why colleges don't share what they're really looking for

At Prompt, we study the pronouncements of college admissions officials obsessively . We’ve gotten to know them , we read books about them, we follow them on Twitter. 

We don’t think that college officials are “lying” when they present this advice. Rather, there are many reasons why their advice isn’t as helpful as they probably think it is. Here are a few:

First , as we noted above, the advice to “tell your story” or “get to know us” or “be authentic” isn’t wrong. It’s just misleading because it isn’t clear about what actually gets evaluated. Most admissions officers probably think they’re giving helpful advice.

Second , offices are intentionally vague because it gives them more room to maneuver. If they say they’re looking for X in essays, everyone will write X . They want wiggle room for kids who write Y. 

Third , they may be thinking in different modes when they think about “writing an essay” compared to when they settle down to “evaluate” an essay. In Originals , Adam Grant describes how different these two modes can be. His book describes an experiment that randomly assigned some participants to think like managers and others like creatives. Those in the “manager” mode evaluated novel products correctly only 51% of the time; those in “creative” mode were correct far more often, at 77% of the time.

This is kind of the opposite. Admissions officers likely think broadly when giving advice for writing essays — they might be thinking about how they’d like to read essays, or how great essays are original, or focus on small, everyday topics. But that likely goes out the window when it comes to getting through a stack of essays on their desk and using them to assign “personal scores” that can be used to advance or reject applications. 

Bear in mind how overworked admissions readers are. According to an evaluator at Brown, “[W]e keep up a rigorous reading pace with the regular decision applicant pool. We were expected to read five applications per hour, which equates to 12 minutes per application. In those 12 minutes, I reviewed the application, standardized test scores, the transcript, the personal statement, and multiple supplemental essays — all while taking notes and making a decision on the admissibility of the applicant."

Make sure you write your essay to appeal to that “boring, bureaucratic” admissions officer. The one getting through a pile of essays, on a hungry prowl for qualities that will show success. We’ve got some stats to prove it can make up to a 10x difference in your chances of admission. 

Our team of expert writing coaches have helped 50,000+ student write 90,000+ essays that have boosted their chances of admission. Create an account to use free college essay resources , or explore college essay coaching options today .

Related posts:

• The Purpose of College Essays
• The Qualities Admissions Officers Look For
• Great Academics Aren't Enough
• What Harvard Admissions Data Reveals

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What Do Admissions Officers Really Want in a College Essay?

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• Post date August 5, 2024
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From June through December each year, students come to us agonizing over their college essays. Unfortunately, many fall prey to common misconceptions that can diminish the impact of their personal statements. Let’s bust some of these myths and set the record straight.

5 COLLEGE ESSAY MYTHS DEBUNKED

Myth #1: You need a unique, life-changing experience to write about

Reality: Everyday experiences can make for compelling essays. What matters most is your perspective and what you learned from the experience; not how extraordinary it was. A thoughtful reflection on a simple interaction or a personal challenge can be just as powerful as an essay about climbing Mount Everest.

Myth #2: The essay should recap your accomplishments

Reality: Your transcript and Common App already list your achievements. The essay is your chance to show who you are beyond your grades and extracurriculars. Focus on revealing your character, values, and personal growth. Admissions officers want to get to know you as a person, not just as a list of accomplishments.

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Myth #3: Big words impress admissions officers

Reality: Using a thesaurus to sprinkle in “impressive” vocabulary often backfires. It can make your writing feel forced and inauthentic. Instead, aim for clear, concise language that genuinely reflects your voice. Remember, admissions officers read thousands of essays – authenticity stands out more than SAT words.

Myth #4: You should write what you think colleges want to hear

Reality: Trying to guess what admissions officers want often leads to generic, forgettable essays. Be true to yourself. Colleges are looking for diverse perspectives and authentic voices. Your genuine thoughts and experiences are far more interesting than what you think they want to hear.

Myth #5: The essay isn’t that important compared to grades and test scores

Reality: In an era of holistic admissions, essays carry significant weight and can be the deciding factor between two similarly qualified candidates. A standout essay can compensate for slightly lower grades or test scores, while a poor essay can hurt an otherwise strong application.

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WHAT ADMISSIONS OFFICERS REALLY WANT IN A COLLEGE ESSAY

• Authenticity: Write with your true voice to convey a sense of who you really are.
• Self-reflection: Show that you can think critically about your experiences and learn from them.
• Writing skills: Demonstrate that you can communicate clearly and effectively.
• Character: Reveal the qualities that make you unique and would make you a valuable addition to their campus community.
• Fit: Illustrate why you and the college would be a good match for each other.

A THREE-DIMENSIONAL YOU

Remember, the college essay is your opportunity to step off the page and become a three-dimensional person to the admissions committee. It’s not about impressing them with grand tales or big words – it’s about letting them get to know the real you.

Dr. Tina Brooks , Top Tier Senior Private Counselor and former Associate Dean of Admissions at Pomona College notes:

“Applicants’ essays are often the reward, the “dessert” part of the application, for those reading them. Think of the poor souls analyzing thousands of transcripts and scrolling through screen after screen of dry information. Essays are where admissions officers are truly introduced to the 3D applicant, so be your 3D self!”

What’s your experience with college essays? Have you encountered any of these myths? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Need personalized guidance on your college essays? Contact us for expert advice tailored to your unique story and goals.

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How to Write the Common App Essays 2024–2025

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Most universities require applicants to write one of the Common App essays, so if you’re planning on applying to college soon, you’ll probably need to write one of these. These prompts are set by the College Board , and students who use the Common App to apply to colleges will need to respond to one of the prompts broken down in this article.

Although Common App essays are only expected to be 250-650 words long (around 1-2.5 double-spaced pages), they can be very difficult to write. If you’re looking for more guidance on how to tackle this year’s prompts, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s dive in.

Common App’s 2024-2025 Prompts

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., 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, reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. what prompted your thinking what was the outcome, 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, discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others., 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, 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..

General Tips

Because the Common App prompts are so different from each other, there are not many universal problems or challenges students face in the writing process. But there are a few that we’ll discuss here.

Write about one topic.

So many students begin their Common App essays thinking that these 650 words must contain their entire selves. But this isn’t possible, and it’s fruitless to try. Instead of going broad, try going deep. Focus on one topic, and explore all of its angles. You’ll quickly realize that 650 words still isn’t much, and you may need to get even more specific.

Notice the way the prompts are written: every single topic is singular, not plural. If you’re answering the first prompt, you don’t need to discuss every identity you hold, just one (maybe more if they intersect, but keep things as tight as possible). Regardless, all of the prompts ask you to discuss one topic. Given the word limit on this essay, it’s in your best interest to keep your narrative focused and deep.

You need a “hook” (actually, you don’t).

Many students working on their college essays wonder how crucial it is to begin their personal essay with a “hook,” or a striking opening line. The truth is that a hook can be useful in drawing the reader in, but it’s not necessary. Although you want to write a compelling essay, if your essay topic is sufficiently interesting, a “hook” won’t be necessary.

If you come up with a “hook” that fits the topic of your essay really, then that’s great. Still, consider deleting your hook if it’s a line of dialogue, philosophical statement, or onomatopoeia. These techniques tend to be overdone in Common App essays. In many cases, if the “hook” is deleted, the essay remains largely unchanged. Thus, you may stand out if you avoid them and get the point a little more efficiently. To reiterate, a “hook” is a useful tool, but not a requirement, and you should ensure that your “hook” is unique and essential to the essay’s message.

Know how to use quotation marks.

Think you know how to use quotation marks? Think again. Having read countless college essays, I can safely say that most of them misused quotation marks. This issue may seem insignificant in the scheme of your college application, but submitting an error-free essay will demonstrate to the admissions team that you are a thorough, thoughtful student ready to write at the college level.

So, how do you use quotation marks? Firstly, commas and periods should always be placed inside the quotation marks when they occur immediately after the quote. For all other punctuation types, they should be placed outside the quotation marks unless they are part of the meaning of the quote. For example: “She used the comma correctly,” he said. Note how the comma is inside the quotation marks. Another example: “Does she hate exclamation points?” he asked. Because he is asking a question, the exclamation point is part of the quote. A third example is when you are using a quote “in your exposition”! In this case, the exclamation point is not part of the quote itself, so it goes outside the quotation marks. If you still have questions, use online resources or ask your English teacher for further guidance.

Common App Personal Essay Questions

This essay prompt is for students who look back at their application and see something missing. Among the test scores, activity descriptions, and grades, a part of who they are is unrepresented. This unrepresented part of you doesn’t need to be directly relevant to the college admissions process, but might instead reflect your journey to become who you are today. Furthermore, whatever you choose to focus on in this essay could shed light on who you will be once you start college. That is, what kind of personality, background, perspective, and so on will you bring to your collegiate community?

The admissions officers reading your essay look for a student who will thrive in their college community. Thus, if you have a part of yourself that you’d like to share in this essay, it can be helpful if you show growth, maturity, openness to diverse ideas, or another quality that would benefit the college community you hope to join.

Crucially, the topic of this essay should be adding meaningfully to your college application. In other words, note the wording of this prompt: “so meaningful… their application would be incomplete without it.” If your personal essay topic doesn’t provide new information, new perspectives, or significant elaboration on the rest of your application, then you may need to come up with a different topic. In contrast, if your essay topic seems like it will really change your application reader’s perspective on who you are, then you’re probably on the right track.

When the college admissions officers see you have selected this prompt, they expect to see a tale of growth, adaptation, and lessons learned. If you describe a challenging situation you have experienced, but leave out the lessons you learned from it, then you risk giving the impression that you won’t be able to elastically respond to challenges you might face in college. In other words, your story needs a beginning, middle, and end. Who were you before you faced this challenge/setback/failure, what was the obstacle itself, and who are you after this experience? Answering all these questions clearly in your essay will give it the coherent, cohesive structure great Common App essays tend to display.

Consider the first sentence of the prompt. We all face struggle in our lives, but how we respond to that struggle is what defines us. Additionally, learning from challenges allows one to become more resilient and capable of facing challenges in the future. What’s implied by this question is that you have the self-awareness and maturity to recognize those occasions in your own life. Consider the most formative challenging experiences in your life, no matter how embarrassing or low they might have been. Then, see if you’re comfortable writing about one of those experiences in this essay.

College provides students with the opportunity to learn about new ideas, perspectives, belief systems, and histories. In addition, when in college, you will likely be surrounded by more diversity of thought and life experience than you have ever encountered before. Changing your mind and being receptive to new ideas can be challenging, though. Thus, admissions officers often look to see if those abilities are displayed in applicants’ Common App essays. This essay is your opportunity to show your ability to be open-minded, think critically, and keep growing through that process.

Notice how the prompt itself provides a kind of outline for the essay. First, reflect on that transformative time. Then, show the conflict—what changed you, or led you to question your preconceived notions? Lastly, show the outcome of this experience. This can be a lesson you learned, a change in thinking, or the start of a new project/pursuit.

This essay prompt can be taken in many different directions, so it’s key that you keep its purpose in mind. Ultimately, the goal of Common App essays is to show admissions officers who their applicants are as people. Write about an event, experience, or change of heart that was genuinely important to you. Think about the stakes of this experience: how is your life meaningfully different as a result of this time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea? Focusing on a topic that is unique to your personal experience will make this essay stand out from the crowd.

This is one of the less popular Common App essay prompts, but it has a lot of potential. Many students skip over this prompt, as writing about joy often less valuable or incisive than writing about struggle or conflict. That said, not only can struggle and conflict fit into this prompt, but joy can be a fruitful personal essay topic. Sharing what has made you happy, thankful, motivated, and so on can really show the reader who you are.

If you’re having trouble coming up with an essay topic, consider the second half of the prompt. What motivates you? For many people, their source of motivation is positive. Maybe you have witnessed the power of medicine in saving lives, and you are motivated to become a doctor. Or maybe a classmate’s kind words about a story you wrote gave you the confidence to start composing a novel. For instance, you could structure this essay as a thank-you note to someone important in your life, before expressing how their gift to you—literal or figurative—motivates you to this day.

In terms of structuring this essay, you can look to the prompt itself for inspiration. Start by explaining what someone did for you that surprised you in a positive way. You may need to provide background for this act of kindness to make sense to the reader. For instance, were you in a time of great need? Or did this act of kindness help you reach potential you didn’t know you had? Then, move on to describe how that act of kindness impacts you to this day. This essay may be reflective and abstract in concept, but be sure to include specific, concrete details to make the story feel vivid to the reader.

Growth is a key quality admissions officers look for. But everyone grows up and matures—what will make your story of growth stand out? There are two things to focus on in this essay that can help it stand out: specificity and self-awareness. The ability to reflect on yourself and how you have changed demonstrates your capacity for further growth and self-improvement, which will serve you well in college. Specificity is an important part of telling your story, because the story needs to feel unique to you. In other words, if you are able to describe how you grew in a certain way with specificity and thoughtful, mature self-reflection, you’ll be able to nail this essay.

In terms of structuring this essay, look to the prompt. Start by discussing the event that changed you. This change should be meaningful. Even if it was a small moment in your life, or occurred over just a couple seconds, it should have a lasting impact. Then, explain how this event changed you. Lastly, reflect on this event and how it continues to impact you to this day. You could do this by explaining the lessons you learned or the new ideas you have developed.

This essay is a great opportunity to sell yourself to the admissions team of your dream school. By describing who you were both before and after this event, you will not only illustrate your growth to the reader, but you will provide them with a vivid picture of who you are today, have been in the past, and are becoming in the future. Because college tends to be a period of growth in one’s life, the admissions team may be able to extrapolate how you may develop during your education based on the growth you display in your essay.

This essay prompt gives you the opportunity to discuss an intellectual or personal interest of yours. This interest should be specific, and, if needed, explained. Your reader might understand what you mean when you say you have an interest in film-making, but an interest in “the human body” may not give them much to work with. Do you want to be a doctor healing bodies? A painter of the human figure? It’s important to clarify exactly what your interest is before you get into the details of how and why it captivates you.

This essay should also show the reader how you learn. The resources and methods of your independent learning may provide a glimpse into the kind of student and community member you will be in college. For instance, you can demonstrate your resourcefulness and motivation in this essay by narrating a time when you tracked down the answer to a tricky question.

Alternatively, you could describe the relationships you’ve been able to build, compelled by your curiosity. Perhaps you’ve joined online forums, attended summer programs, or worked jobs related to this interest, and through those experiences, you’ve not only learned more, but also found community. Remember, this essay need not exclusively discuss your interest. Instead, you can branch out to show how this interest has shaped who you are and how you navigate the world.

This prompt is one of the hardest and easiest of the Common App essays to choose. It’s easy because the options are endless and unrestricted. It’s difficult because sometimes structure and idea generation are the most difficult parts of writing an essay. That said, if you already have an idea for a topic, and there’s just no way you can fit that topic into any of the other prompts, then this might be the prompt for you. If that’s the case, you’ll need to make sure you organize the essay tightly.

Consider a guiding idea, quote, or concept that can bookend your essay. Yes, it’s a cliché way of structuring an essay, but you can often delete that quote or other helper after the essay is written. The key is that each paragraph relates to the prior paragraph, and to the overall idea of the essay. You can try writing a thesis statement, like you would for an academic essay, and/or outlining your essay before you begin.

If you need help polishing up your Common App essays, check out our College Essay Review service. You can receive detailed feedback from Ivy League consultants in as little as 24 hours.

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Students Also Read

The Common App Opens Today—Here’s How To Answer Every Prompt

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Writing the Personal Statement for the Common Application

Today, the Common Application opens for the 2024–25 application cycle. As the platform opens, officially signaling the start of the college admissions season, many students are starting the daunting process of crafting their personal statements. The personal statement is a crucial opportunity to showcase individuality, character, and intellectual depth. In only 650 words, students should seek to encapsulate their authentic voice and perspective through a compelling and creative narrative. The process requires thorough brainstorming, strategy, and editing in order to produce an essay that is distinct from those of thousands of other applicants vying for seats at top colleges.

As students choose a prompt and begin brainstorming essays, here are the key points to consider in order to create a stellar essay for each prompt:

1. The Meaningful Background Prompt

Prompt: 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.

This prompt invites you to share an aspect of your identity or experience that is central to who you are. Start by thoughtfully considering aspects of your identity that are unique to you; then, try to think of a specific anecdote or experience that provides a portrait of those qualities. While detail and specificity are critical for all engaging essays, they are particularly important in this one, as you should show (rather than tell ) admissions committees the things that are quintessential to who you are.

Your essay should also have a takeaway—aside from just telling admissions officers what the background, identity, interest, or talent is, you should also focus on what you’ve learned from this piece of your identity, how it has developed over time, and how you will apply it in college and beyond.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, 2. the overcoming obstacles prompt.

Prompt: 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?

This prompt is an opportunity to demonstrate resilience and the capacity to learn from adversity—qualities that elite universities value highly. Begin by choosing a specific incident where you faced a significant challenge or failure—this could be an academic setback, a personal loss, or a time when you were out of your comfort zone. Students often fall into one of two common mistakes when tackling this question. First, many students rely on cliches and overused tropes. Keep in mind that admissions officers will likely read hundreds of essays recounting stories of students missing the game-winning goal or flunking a test in sophomore English. Try to select a story that only you can tell, and if you choose a topic you worry might be popular among other students, consider how you might recount it in a unique and unexpected way. On the other hand, some students fall into the opposite problem, sharing about a particularly personal, traumatic, or triggering experience that impacted them. Though it should convey personal insights, the personal statement is still a professional document, and you should not make your reader uncomfortable or unsettled by the information you share.

Finally, note that admissions officers are not primarily interested in the challenge itself, but in how you responded to the challenge. Focus on the steps you took to overcome the obstacle, what you learned about yourself in the process, and how this experience has shaped your future actions and mindset. Highlight any new skills, perspectives, or motivations that emerged from this experience, demonstrating your ability to grow and adapt in the face of adversity.

3. The Changed Perspective Prompt

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

Top colleges seek to admit students who are willing to engage in critical thinking and who possess the intellectual courage to question norms or ideas. For this essay, consider beginning with an anecdote—starting the essay in media res can be an engaging way to catch the reader’s attention and quickly establish the stakes of your narrative. As you share your story, remember that the essay’s focus is to demonstrate your open-mindedness, your commitment to seeking the truth, and your willingness to engage deeply with complex issues. It also shows your ability to respect differing viewpoints while developing your own reasoned stance. As such, you should take the admissions committee through your process of growth and change step-by-step, clearly articulating how the experience impacted you and how your changed perspective will enhance their campus community should you enroll.

4. The Gratitude Prompt

Prompt: 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?

Like the two prior prompts, this prompt requires students to share a particular anecdote, and students should consider beginning with their narrative before zooming out to explore the broader theme of gratitude. Start by recounting a specific instance where someone did something for you that made you feel unexpectedly grateful. This could be a small act of kindness, a significant gesture, or a moment of support that made a lasting impression on you. Then, explore how this experience of gratitude has affected your actions or attitude. As you do so, be sure to avoid platitudes or vapid buzzwords—rather than expressing that the experience made you feel “good” or “appreciated” or the equivalent, share how it has affected your perspective or actions going forward. The best responses are those that illustrate actionable change rather than fuzzy feelings.

5. The Personal Growth Prompt

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

A student’s college years are all about growth and transformation, and this prompt invites students to demonstrate their capacity for self-reflection and teachability. Thus, while this prompt might invite you to describe a major event or accomplishment, what you really want to show is a transformative period and the resulting reflection. Don’t feel as though the accomplishment, event, or realization needs to be especially earth-shattering or ground-breaking—sometimes the small things can make an impression in a big way. Finally, if you do choose to write about an accomplishment, be sure that you are not bragging. The prompt is an opportunity to show self-awareness, rather than to tout your achievements.

6. The Captivating Concept Prompt

Prompt: 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?

Intellectual curiosity and authentic passion are distinguishing characteristics in the landscape of top college admissions. For this prompt, zoom in on a particular topic that genuinely fascinates you, whether it’s a specific academic subject, a philosophical idea, or a creative pursuit. Many students manufacture a response to this prompt based on what they assume will impress admissions officers—but if you aren’t truly interested in Kantian ethics, an admissions officer will be able to tell. However silly, mundane, quirky, or bizarre your “captivating concept” may be, if it’s true to you—write about it!

While your response should describe how a specific aspect of this topic captivates your interest and why it resonates with you on a deeper level, it should also demonstrate how you have taken the initiative to explore this topic in unique ways. Have you sought out books on the topic? Taken an online course to elevate your knowledge? Started a club to connect with others who share your interest? Developed a passion project that mobilized your interest in service of your community?

7. 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.

If none of the above prompts allow you to effectively express yourself, remember that the Common App includes an open prompt, wherein you can write on a topic of your choice! This is an excellent opportunity to share a story that doesn’t fit neatly into the other prompts but is crucial to understanding who you are. If you choose to pursue this prompt, make sure your essay is well-structured and cohesive, with a clear theme or message that ties everything together.

The Common App essay is more than just a component of your application; it’s a chance to speak directly to admissions officers and present your authentic self. Taking the time to brainstorm and edit will allow you to submit an essay that showcases your unique voice and original perspective to admissions officers at top colleges.

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Why You Should Go to College

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Published: Aug 1, 2024

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Expanding knowledge and critical thinking skills, enhancing career opportunities, earning potential, personal growth and development.

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FACT FOCUS: A look at false claims around Kamala Harris and her campaign for the White House

Democrats are quickly rallying around Vice President Kamala Harris as their likely presidential nominee after President Joe Biden’s ground-shaking decision to bow out of the 2024 race.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 22, 2024, during an event with NCAA college athletes. This is her first public appearance since President Joe Biden endorsed her to be the next presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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The announcement that Vice President Kamala Harris will seek the Democratic nomination for president is inspiring a wave of false claims about her eligibility and her background. Some first emerged years ago, while others only surfaced after President Joe Biden’s decision to end his bid for a second term.

Here’s a look at the facts.

CLAIM: Harris is not an American citizen and therefore cannot serve as commander in chief.

THE FACTS: Completely false . Harris is a natural born U.S. citizen. She was born on Oct. 20, 1964, in Oakland, California, according to a copy of her birth certificate, obtained by The Associated Press.

Her mother, a cancer researcher from India, and her father, an economist from Jamaica, met as graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley.

Under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, anyone born on U.S. soil is considered a natural born U.S. citizen and eligible to serve as either the vice president or president.

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” reads the amendment.

There is no question or legitimate debate about whether a citizen like Harris is eligible to serve as president or vice president, said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School.

“So many legal questions are really nuanced — this isn’t one of those situations,” Levinson told the AP on Monday.

Still, social media posts making the debunked assertion that Harris cannot serve as president went viral soon after Biden announced Sunday that he was dropping out of the race and would back Harris for president.

“Kamala Harris is not eligible to run for President,” read one post on X that was liked more than 34,000 times. “Neither of her parents were natural born American citizens when she was born.”

False assertions about Harris’ eligibility began circulating in 2019 when she launched her bid for the presidency. They got a boost, thanks in part to then-President Donald Trump, when Biden selected her as his running mate.

“I heard today that she doesn’t meet the requirements,” the Republican said of Harris in 2019.

CLAIM: Harris is not Black.

THE FACTS: This is false. Harris is Black and Indian . Her father, Donald Harris, is a Black man who was born in Jamaica. Shyamala Gopalan, her mother, was born in southern India. Harris has spoken publicly for many years, including in her 2019 autobiography , about how she identifies with the heritage of both her parents.

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Despite ample evidence to the contrary, social media users are making erroneous claims about Harris’ race.

“Just a reminder that Kamala Harris @KamalaHarris isn’t black,” reads one X post that had received approximately 42,000 likes and 20,400 shares as of Monday. “She Indian American. She pretends to be black as part of the delusional, Democrat DEI quota.”

But Harris is both Black and Indian. Indeed, she is the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. This fact is highlighted in her biography on WhiteHouse.gov and she has spoken about her ethnicity on many occasions.

Harris wrote in her autobiography, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,” that she identifies with the heritage of both her mother and father.

“My mother, grandparents, aunts, and uncle instilled us with pride in our South Asian roots,” she wrote. “Our classical Indian names harked back to our heritage, and we were raised with a strong awareness and appreciation for Indian culture.”

In the next paragraph, she adds, “My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters.” Harris again refers to herself as a “black woman” in the book’s next chapter.

CLAIM: Harris got her start by having an affair with a married man, California politician Willie Brown.

THE FACTS: This is missing some important context. Brown was separated from his wife during the relationship, which was not a secret.

Brown, 90, is a former mayor of San Francisco who was serving as speaker of the California State Assembly in the 1990s when he and Harris were in a relationship. Brown had separated from his wife in 1982.

“Yes, we dated. It was more than 20 years ago,” Brown wrote in 2020 in the San Francisco Chronicle under the article title, “Sure, I dated Kamala Harris. So what?”

He wrote that he supported Harris’ first race to be San Francisco district attorney — just as he has supported a long list of other California politicians, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Harris, 59, was state attorney general from 2011-2017 and served in the Senate from 2017 until 2021, when she became vice president. She has been married to Doug Emhoff since 2014.

Harris’ critics have used the past relationship to question her qualifications, as Fox News personality Tomi Lahren did when she wrote on social media in 2019: “Kamala did you fight for ideals or did you sleep your way to the top with Willie Brown.” Lahren later apologized for the comment.

Trump and some of his supporters have also highlighted the nearly three-decade old relationship in recent attacks on Harris .

CLAIM: An Inside Edition clip of television host Montel Williams holding hands with Harris and another woman is proof that Harris was his “side piece.”

THE FACTS: The clip shows Montel with Harris and his daughter, Ashley Williams. Harris and Williams, a former marine who hosted “The Montel Williams Show” for more than a decade, dated briefly in the early 2000s.

In the clip, taken from a 2019 Inside Edition segment , Williams can be seen posing for photographs and holding hands with both women as they arrive at the 2001 Eighth Annual Race to Erase MS in Los Angeles.

But social media users are misrepresenting the clip, using it as alleged evidence that Harris was Montel’s “side piece” — a term used to describe a person, typically a woman, who has a sexual relationship with a man in a monogamous relationship.

Williams addressed the false claims in an X post on Monday, writing in reference to the Inside Edition clip, “as most of you know, that is my daughter to my right.” Getty Images photos from the Los Angeles gala identify the women as Harris and Ashley Williams.

In 2019, Williams described his relationship with Harris in a post on X, then known as Twitter.

“@KamalaHarris and I briefly dated about 20 years ago when we were both single,” he wrote in an X post at the time. “So what? I have great respect for Sen. Harris. I have to wonder if the same stories about her dating history would have been written if she were a male candidate?”

CLAIM: Harris promised to inflict the “vengeance of a nation” on Trump supporters.

THE FACTS: A fabricated quote attributed to Harris is spreading online five years after it first surfaced.

In the quote, Harris supposedly promises that if Trump is defeated in 2020, Trump supporters will be targeted by the federal government: “Once Trump’s gone and we have regained our rightful place in the White House, look out if you supported him and endorsed his actions, because we’ll be coming for you next. You will feel the vengeance of a nation.”

The quote was shared again on social media this week. One post on X containing an image of the quote was shared more than 22,000 times as of Monday afternoon.

The remarks didn’t come from Harris , but from a satirical article published online in August 2019. Shortly after, Trump supporters like musician Ted Nugent reposted the comments without noting they were fake.

CLAIM: A video shows Harris saying in a speech: “Today is today. And yesterday was today yesterday. Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. So live today, so the future today will be as the past today as it is tomorrow.”

THE FACTS: Harris never said this. Footage from a 2023 rally on reproductive rights at Howard University, her alma mater, was altered to make it seem as though she did.

In the days after Harris headlined the Washington rally, Republicans mocked a real clip of her speech, with one critic dubbing her remarks a “word salad,” the AP reported at the time .

Harris says in the clip: “So I think it’s very important — as you have heard from so many incredible leaders — for us, at every moment in time, and certainly this one, to see the moment in time in which we exist and are present, and to be able to contextualize it, to understand where we exist in the history and in the moment as it relates not only to the past, but the future.”

NARAL Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights nonprofit whose president also spoke at the rally, livestreamed the original footage. It shows Harris making the “moment in time” remark, but not the “today is today” comment.

The White House’s transcript of Harris’ remarks also does not include the statement from the altered video. Harris’ appearance at the event came the same day that Biden announced their reelection bid .

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck .

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Why students should consider early decision applications | College Connection

High school students with their hearts set on a particular college would do well to employ a time-honored strategy: apply early decision. By promising a college that they will attend, if accepted, students typically increase the odds that they will get a “You’re accepted!” email or letter.

At some colleges, the early decision admission advantage is enormous. At The College of New Jersey, one of the highest-ranked colleges in the Garden State, the early decision acceptance rate was 97% compared to the regular decision acceptance rate of 64%.

At Villanova University, a Pennsylvania school popular with New Jersey students, the early decision rate was 55% compared to 23% for regular applicants.

At American University in Washington, D.C., the acceptance ratio was 86% to 41%, while at the College of the Holy Cross, located about an hour from Boston, the acceptance ratio was 81% to 36%.

More: Here's why in-state students should go to college in NJ | College Connection

These statistics are from U.S. News & World Report, which publishes the annual, highly acclaimed, “Best Colleges” guide.

Admissions officers know that high school students typically apply to 8 to 12 different colleges and universities, with some applying to even more as the “Common App” accommodates 20 applications. Since these institutions may have multi-billion-dollar budgets (Harvard’s was $5.9 billion last year), it benefits them to identify and favor those students who will definitely enroll – and pay tuition – if accepted.

Students not ready to commit to one college can still get an advantage over regular applicants by applying to colleges “early action,” which is non-binding. Students can apply early action to as many schools as they like, as long as they meet the school’s early action deadline, which is typically Nov. 1. While the advantage is often not as great as that for early decision applicants, it can still be substantial. First of all, both early decision and early action applicants tend to hear back from their colleges well before their peers who applied regular decision.

More: Follow this high school timeline for successful college prospects | College Connection

Also, there is an early action acceptance boost at many schools – even the most competitive. For the Class of 2026, the regular admission rate at Harvard was 2.34%, while the early action admission rate was 7.87%. Similarly, Yale’s acceptance ratio of regular to early action was 3.17% to 12.09%. These two universities, along with Georgetown and Notre Dame, actually offer “restrictive early action,” banning their early action applicants from applying early decision to any school.

As numbers don’t lie, students should enter their senior year of high school ready to start filing college applications.

Susan Alaimo is the founder & director of Collegebound Review, offering PSAT/SAT® preparation & private college advising by Ivy League educated instructors. Visit CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362 .