More than 800 member institutions. Common Application essay prompts are often released as early as January of the student's junior year of high school. Word limit of 650 words.

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? (21.1%*)

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

4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. 

5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. (23.7%*)

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. (24.1%*)

More than 140 member institutions. Includes University of Washington and overlaps with many Common App Schools.

Per Coalition: “recommend that you aim for 500 to 550 words

1. Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.

2. Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution.

3. Has there been a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?

4. What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What’s the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?

5. Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.

Diversity is a buzz word on many college campuses and often a topic to be covered in a college application. Students should be prepared for this.

University of Washington: Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co‐workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the University of Washington.

DO write an Essay that no one else can write!

• What did YOU see, touch, hear, smell, and taste?

• How did YOU feel?

• What did YOU think?

• Every school is looking for something a little different based on its culture

• A Strong, cohesive theme

• Deeply introspective and personal

• Engaging and compelling (anecdotes, great hook, use of a little humor depending, individual voice)

• The more selective the college, the more important the essay

Essays are where virtually all qualified-but-rejected students fall short!

Narrative

• The student faced a significant challenge

• Format “Hero’s Journey”: 

Lead/Topic, back-story/incident, what happened/climax of the story, reflection/“Aha moment”, outcome/circle back to intro/yet link to the future

Montage

• The student has NOT identified a challenge

• Format:

Use multiple moments/images to frame story, use a ‘focusing lens’/metaphor to highlight key points (e.g. a sport, place, hobby, art form)

• Focus on the SMALL moments

• Show your personality (your VOICE!)

• Keep the focus on YOU

• SHOW, don’t tell

• Make the reader FEEL something

• Read it OUTLOUD

• Write an awesome HOOK and ENDING (it might be all they read!)

• Show that you are MORE than a GPA and a test score!

• Answer the QUESTION

• Demonstrate GROWTH over time

• Don’t have TOO MANY people edit

• Don’t OVERUSE the thesaurus

• Don’t forget the ‘SO WHAT?’

• Don’t mention the wrong SCHOOL

• Don’t stray off topic. Stay FOCUSED!

• Don’t REHASH your activities/resume

• Don’t be afraid to start at the MIDDLE of your story

• Don’t use OFFENSIVE language

• Don’t forget to EDIT for typos 

• Don’t be a CLICHÉ – use care on these topics! (sports injuries, volunteerism, winning state, moving to US, summer camp, covid-19)

A strong personal statement is reflective; that is, it demonstrates that you have thought about and gained a clear perspective on your experiences and what you want in your future. It does not simply tell a reader what you think he/she wants to know. Instead, it gives the reader a vivid and compelling picture of you--in essence, telling the reader what he or she should know about you. Remember that the focus of the essay is YOU--your achievements, your obstacles, your goals, your values.

A good essay is not a list of your accomplishments. Remember when your mom told you that it's quality, not quantity that counts? Well, the same adage applies for your college essay. A reader will be much more interested in how your experience demonstrates the theme of your essay, not the number of accomplishments you can list. What is NOT interesting: an essay that devotes one paragraph each to a variety of different topics. This type of approach denies you the ability to give depth to your essay.

A good essay is the result of a writer who has examined the essay question and written an essay that explicitly addresses that question. For example, if you are asked to describe your greatest accomplishment or any unusual circumstances or challenges you have faced, then your reader will expect you to use vivid language that will enable the reader to visualize your accomplishment and share your sense of success. 

It's okay to have flaws! The essay is your chance to show how you have transformed blemishes. For example, if your essay theme is "overcoming obstacles" and you earned a poor grade in a class, but went to a community college at night to repeat the course, it is important for your reader to know this because it is an example of your perseverance. The reader does not want to hear complaints about poor grades or circumstances, but rather wants to know how you have overcome them. 

Demonstrate your knowledge of the college or major -  No one expects you to know everything about the college or university to which you are applying. However, readers will want to know that you have done your homework. For example, if you write an essay that states your interest in becoming an engineer, but the college does not have an engineering program, then you haven't done your homework. 

Exude Confidence ...You will be successful no matter what! - A good essay doesn't beg or brag. Colleges and universities want to admit the best students, and the best students are those who can demonstrate their ability to pursue their goals regardless of where they are admitted. Think of this as quiet confidence--the kind that reveals itself through your description of lifelong interests, sustained commitment, and/or perseverance in the face of adversity.