College Application Essays

Try these exercises to get some ideas flowing:

• Create a timeline of significant events in your life. Try to think broadly- shoot for at least 20  items on your list. Include “major” events like births, deaths, travel, coming of age rituals, of course, but also the more mundane moments you remember that have shaped your life in some way — a car ride, a dinner, a chance meeting, etc. (Adapted from "Going Beyond Cliché: How to Write a Great College Essay")

• Ask a few friends or family members to pick five adjectives or personality traits that characterize you. 

• List five accomplishments you have made over the last five years- do not limit yourself to accomplishments for which you have been formally recognized since the most interesting essays are often based on accomplishments that may have seemed insignificant at the time but become crucial when placed in the context of your life. (Adapted from English Club)

• General brainstorming techniques