Below, we cover four tips for writing your Common App essay, as well as some do’s and don’ts to consider as you’re writing your essays. If you’re writing an essay for the Coalition App, these four steps will work for that essay as well.
What is the Common App Essay?
The Common Application, a college application tool used by nearly 900 colleges, contains an optional Writing section. You may need to complete one of the personal essay prompts in this section depending on the application requirements of the schools you’re applying to.
The basic idea behind this essay is to reveal an aspect of yourself that the admissions counselors won’t know from the paper-version of you. You want to select a prompt that allows you to share a personal perspective, talk about something that is important to you, tell a bit of your story.
You have a few varied prompts to choose from, and we promise that colleges don’t care which one you pick. These are your chance to do any–or all!–of the following:
- Offer background or a story from your life
- Discuss cherished or challenged beliefs & the effects of standing up for them
- Share an accomplishment and/or contribution and recount the challenges and rewards
- Demonstrate your key characteristics and values
- Chronicle various obstacles and/or failures in your life and their effects
- Describe yourself in a way that gives insight into you beyond your grades and scores.
View the 2024 Common App essay prompts here: https://www.commonapp.org/apply/essay-prompts
You may also find that you use other application platforms: The Coalition App is another application tool that is used by more than 150 colleges and has a similar structure and function as the Common App, including an application essay. Note that colleges are mostly moving away from using the Coalition App, so we don’t particularly recommend it.
Some schools, especially state schools (notably the UC and Cal State systems) will have their own separate applications; some also use the Common App, but for others, you’ll need to use their individual platforms.
4 Steps to Write Your Common App Essay
#1: Write Without Prompts
Colleges really don’t care which prompt you pick–in fact, nearly two thirds of students pick the last prompt on the list, which allows you to write on a topic of your choice. You’ll have much more unique, authentic results (and probably a lot more fun writing!) if you start by considering your values, stories you might want to tell, or your personality traits. The same story can say different things about you, depending on how you frame it, so go in with the mindset that it’s less about the story and much more about what that story demonstrates about you.
For example, almost all of us have an experience of disappointment: being cut from the team, not getting the big part, or even losing out on an academic opportunity you were excited about. In and of itself, that won’t be a story nobody else tells, but what makes it uniquely yours is what it shows us about you. Perhaps that disappointment led you to find new passions, and you grew as a result, or maybe you learned to handle defeat with humor and embrace imperfection. Perhaps this experience made you a better leader (or a better team player!) Think about what you want to say about yourself, and tell a story that does that.
For help cultivating your ideas and generating original essay topics, read this post.
#2: Details, Details, Details
As you’re taking your initial idea, push yourself to add as much detail as you can. What did you hear, feel, see, or even smell in the moment you’re describing? What related stories can you tell? For example, if you’re writing about how your job as a camp counselor helped you develop more empathy, don’t just say that: show your reader specific moments that demonstrate your growing compassion. Here’s an example to show you what we mean:
Your sentence: “I helped a homesick kid to have more fun and she eventually felt better.”
New version: “When I saw the tears running down Ella’s face, smearing her facepaint I knew exactly how she was feeling. We talked about my own experiences being homesick at camp when I was younger, and I made sure to remind her that I was always around to talk if she needed it. Before I knew it, she was running off to make s’mores with her friends with a smile.”
The same thing happened in both those examples, but which one could you visualize better? As you’re reading them, which student comes across as more empathetic and as someone you’d want to have on your campus if you were an admissions counselor? Which of the two will you remember?
At this point, don’t worry about length–you can cut later. Right now, more is more!
#3: Write and Rewrite
Once all your ideas are on the page, try to get down to something close to the word limit, which is 650 words for the Common App (although it can vary for other application platforms, so be sure you check!) This is the perfect time to match it with a prompt, because that may help you figure out what to cut and what to keep as you shape your draft into something that matches one of the prompts. Then, ask for and implement edits from a few trusted people. Take care to find a balance between listening to the comments and suggestions of others and finishing with an essay that is still in your voice – albeit a polished, thoughtful, personal version of your voice!
And you guessed it, all this writing and rewriting takes time. The summer can provide you an opportunity to write drafts that no one will ever see.
#4: Save Your Drafts
Fourth, save your drafts. Many schools will set time aside in the fall to work on essays in English class, so be sure to save your drafts as separate documents, creating new documents that incorporate edits.
This will help if you need to show your English teacher come fall that you really did do plenty of writing and editing over the summer. Additionally, once school starts you may have access to readers/editors of your essay that you did not have over the summer.
Besides showing your English teacher all the work you have done, saving the occasional draft or essay version can also be extremely helpful if your essay gets a little too over-edited by a parent or teacher. A previous draft can help you find your way back to your voice.
Common App Essay Dos and Don’ts
Do write a complete essay that has well-fleshed out ideas, but
Don’t feel you have to stick to a traditional essay structure: this is more like creative writing than a traditional five paragraph essay!
Do write about something personal to you, but
Don’t try to turn something small into something bigger. Not everyone has a big story to share, and that’s ok. Focus on what’s important for your reader to know about you. Keep it real because, believe me, the reader can tell when you are stretching a story.
Do write about something that makes you stand out from other applicants, but
Don’t limit this idea to circumstances or experiences. Perhaps you stand out because you are interested in something unusual or have an unusual way of thinking about problems or looking at the world.
Do get specific, but
Don’t lose sight of the big picture. You don’t want an essay that is full of cliches or truisms, but you also do not want to get so into the nitty-gritty that you have no clear theme or purpose. Do be funny, but
Don’t try to be funny if you are not funny! The essay needs to have your voice. If you are serious, then be serious in your essay. If you have a good sense of humor, then let that show. The key is that you do want to take this seriously. Don’t confuse humor with indifference or disrespect to the process.
Do write, edit, and rewrite. You want to get feedback from others so share your writing with people who know you, but
Don’t lose yourself along the way. Yes, you must edit your essay to ensure that it does not contain any grammatical errors and the ideas are clear. However, you want your essay to be about you: reflect your perspective, retain your voice, and give admission counselors a window into who you are beyond the paper or quantitative version of yourself.
While it may seem daunting, writing your essay is as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4:
#1 write without prompts; #2 get specific and detailed; #3 share your drafts with others and get to editing, but remember to #4 keep track of the different versions of your essays in case you need to revert to or use part of an older version.
Want more tips for filling out your Common Application? Be sure to check out this post: Your Guide to the Common App
