The College Essay

The Personal Statement, The Common App Essay, The Supplemental Essays & Writing Pieces

End of Session KAHOOT

Below is the 2021 essay workshop which was live with a College Essay Guy workshop person:

LINK TO College Essay Guy WEBINAR

Video is downloadable and great!!

Documents from the webinar:

Workbook

Essay Resources from the CollegeEssay Guy

Common App Prompts

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don't feel obligated to do so. (The application won't accept a response shorter than 250 words.)

Prompts are not topics. They are simply questions designed to spark thinking. Common App's Telling Your Story resource shows students just how much flexibility they have in what they write.

Below is the full set of essay prompts, they might be slightly different this year.

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.

The Supplemental Essay Georgia Tech Blog on Writing

More about the Why This College? Essay in Link Below.

Looking at the Supplemental Writing Pieces:

How to Write a “Why Us?” Essay - This is the most commonly asked supplemental essay question and, if you’re applying to college, you’ll probably need to write it. This three-part guide will put you on the right path.

How to Decide Which Activity to Write About - You’re in five clubs, you’ve taken six service trips, and you volunteer for nine different organizations. How do you decide what extracurricular activity to write about? This post will help you decide.

Six Techniques for Writing Your 150-word Extracurricular Essay - This essay used to be a Common App requirement, now it’s required by only some schools (Harvard, Stanford, etc.). But get this: the techniques I describe in this post can also apply to longer extracurricular essays. 

How to Write the Stanford Roommate Essay - It’s Stanford’s most popular and (arguably) most difficult to write essay. Read this post for an analysis of a great example, plus an exercise for you to brainstorm for your own essay.