Why You Should Pick the Last Common App Essay Prompt

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For anyone starting the essay process, reading the 7 prompts of the Common App essay brings about dread, indecision, and maybe even nausea.

Before you freak out, remember that admissions officers don’t care which prompt you pick. That’s right - there’s no secret “hardest” prompt that gets you the most points if you answer it.

During this daunting essay writing process, students fixate on the wrong things. They start by obsessing over the question prompts instead of thinking more strategically about what they want admissions officers to know about them.

I always advise my students to start the essay writing process by ignoring the prompts altogether for that reason. Otherwise, they end up stuck with a forced essay that may not reveal the most important parts of their story. I recommend you first try journaling about yourself to get at the heart of what you want people to know about you. (Here are some journaling questions to get started.)

I also always recommend choosing the last open-ended prompt if you’re stuck.

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.

This blank canvas of a question allows you to think first about what story you want to tell — what makes you who you are? — rather than some random narrative that answers a random question. I also find many of the “lessons learned” prompts to end up being too generic.

Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to the University of Chicago

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Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to the University of Chicago

Maddie reached out to let me know that she got a full ride to UChicago after applying early action. I’m so proud to share her process and testimonial!

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5 Key Takeaways From the 2021 UC Admissions Results

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5 Key Takeaways From the 2021 UC Admissions Results

UC applications skyrocketed this year, leading to an even more competitive admissions season than ever before. The LA Times took a deep dive into the reasons why and how you can prep for the next cycle.

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Admissions News You Might Have Missed: The COVID Edition (& a Shot at 20K!)

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Admissions News You Might Have Missed: The COVID Edition (& a Shot at 20K!)

Lucky for you, there’s data on this sort of stuff. And even luckier— I’ve sorted through it all so you don’t have to! Colleges are recognizing the extraordinary stress you’re under, and are doing nearly everything they can to make the 2020-2021 admissions cycle as rewarding and memorable as it could be. From higher admissions rates to making the SAT/ACT optional, you gotta give them credit.

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5 Ways to Get to Know a College Through Social Media

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5 Ways to Get to Know a College Through Social Media

A college feels very different in person than it does on paper. Ask anyone, they all have stories about how they just knew when they stepped foot on their campus. But what are things you can do to get to know a college if you’re stuck at home? Here are five things I did to get to know a school from the comfort of my iPhone.

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Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to Stanford University

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Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to Stanford University

After five revisions, Rod let me know that his admissions essay granted him acceptance to the Stanford Class of 2025. I'm so excited to share his process and testimonial!

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“Why I’m Grateful I Got Rejected Early Decision From My Dream School”

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“Why I’m Grateful I Got Rejected Early Decision From My Dream School”

Three years ago in December I got rejected by the school I applied to Early Decision and I cried in the back of my friend’s car. But here I am, a junior at her third-choice University, who is SO grateful I took that big fat L. Here’s what I needed to hear after getting rejected from my dream school: it’s not the college that’s going to have an impact on your future, that’s all you.

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The Admissions Essay Opportunity You’re Missing in the Additional Info Section of the Common App

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The Admissions Essay Opportunity You’re Missing in the Additional Info Section of the Common App

The additional information section of the common app is an extra opportunity to help stand out to the college admissions officers. This section is great for explaining any discrepancies between your grades & disciplinary behavior that don’t align with your character but still might be on your record, and that hasn’t been mentioned elsewhere in your application. Even if you feel like you have nothing else to say, do not submit your application without utilizing this extra space.

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3 Reasons You Might Get Rejected — And How To Avoid Them

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3 Reasons You Might Get Rejected — And How To Avoid Them

While rejection is inevitable during the college application process, it never feels good. Here are 3 of the most common mistakes that could cost you that acceptance letter to the college of your dreams and ways around them.

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Should You Write About Coronavirus in Your Personal Statement?

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Should You Write About Coronavirus in Your Personal Statement?

My general answer to this is no for multiple reasons. First, the essay should reflect who you are separate from this short period of time in your life (unless it greatly impacted your life in an indelible way). We should get a snapshot of your personality and character separate from the past 6 months. Second, there is a risk of trend saturation as many students will feel tempted to write about this.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. To find out if you should write about Coronavirus in your personal essay, see how you’d answer the questions below.

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Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to Yale University

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Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to Yale University

After a month and four revisions, SR let me know that her admissions essay granted her acceptance to Yale Class of 2024. I'm so excited to share her Ivy League worthy process and testimonial!

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Woah, Now Harvard’s Ditched the SAT/ACT

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Woah, Now Harvard’s Ditched the SAT/ACT

For the first time ever, most Ivies are waiving their standardized testing admissions requirement. Ivy leagues set an example for other colleges in America, and right now Princeton is the only one still asking for standardized test scores according to CNN. In fact, according to The New York Times, all schools in the University of California system are planning on being entirely test-free in the next four years. Even super-selective schools like Amherst and Tufts are foregoing standardized testing.

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6 Ways Coronavirus is Impacting College Admissions

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6 Ways Coronavirus is Impacting College Admissions

Your Admissions Chances Just Went Up

Students considering offers or awaiting decisions later this week from colleges across the selectivity spectrum can expect higher acceptance rates, as colleges take measures to ensure they will still have enough students enrolled come fall.

Reed College, a liberal arts school in Oregon, moved about 60 more students from the wait list to the acceptance pile last week, boosting its admit rate by 3 percentage points, to 40%. That should help insulate the school from a slide in yield, or the share of admitted students who accept their offers, said admissions dean Milyon Truelove.

[WSJ]

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Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to Pomona, Columbia, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley & More (Transfer)

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Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to Pomona, Columbia, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley & More (Transfer)

“I wanted to share my gratitude for the guidance and support you gave me those months ago. Your feedback was immeasurably valuable, and I truly appreciated your accommodation of my various constraints. Most of all, I was moved by your words of encouragement during an application process riddled with worry. Thank you again!”

-Nick, accepted to Pomona, Columbia, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara

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4 Amazing College Prep Resources Every Student Needs

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4 Amazing College Prep Resources Every Student Needs

1) If you need help proofreading your admissions essay

I just discovered Grammarly recently, and love it! It’s a new (free) tool that can catch typos, which is so important when proofreading your Common App before submission. I already discussed the secrets to proofreading your admissions essay, but this is a great secondary tool to use in addition to reading the draft out loud and showing it to someone who’s never seen it. Of course, no online tool can compare to an experienced editor, but this a wonderful supplement if your eyes are losing focus. Just download the Chrome extension and boom! Good to go.

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How to Revise Your Admissions Essay

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How to Revise Your Admissions Essay

Aha, you’ve written your first draft. Congratulations! This is the hard part. Now, give it a breather and put it away for a few days at least so your words will seem fresh for the revision process.

First, look for repetitions.

Are you using the same word over and over? (Everyone has their own personal crutch). If you're a vocab savant, check for other repetitions like, are your sentences all periodic and using the same construction? Like life, good writing needs variety.

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10 Questions to Ask Yourself to Master the "Why This College" Essay

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10 Questions to Ask Yourself to Master the "Why This College" Essay

The “Why this college?” supplement is actually one of the hardest essays to answer.

If you’ve already tried my 5 “why this college” essay tips and are still feeling stuck, here are a few journaling and research questions I give my students to discover the deeper reasons for wanting to attend each school without descending into generic cliches.

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3 Ways to Create a Compelling Ending in Your Personal Statement

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3 Ways to Create a Compelling Ending in Your Personal Statement

1) Go back to your opening anecdote
If you used the creative writing technique of an opening anecdote, one fun way to close your essay can be returning to that same story in your concluding paragraph. For example, if your opening narrative was about the first economics class you took and how it was love at first equation, you can try describing the thrill of the class in the same creative ways that you did the opening. Try writing vivid examples and really get us to feel like we are in your place. What was it like on the first day of class? What did it feel like doing your homework? Interacting with other Econ students? Was it like an aha moment where you finally felt something click, like this is what I was meant to do? Try revisiting that opening anecdote with a new perspective at the end.

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Exclusive: 5 College Interview Mistakes to Avoid, According to an Ivy League Interviewer

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Exclusive: 5 College Interview Mistakes to Avoid, According to an Ivy League Interviewer

Mistake #1: Not Knowing Where The School is Located

“One of my interview students asked me how often I went into the city, which to be fair is a question you would get a lot, even on tours on campus. Unfortunately, the college *was* in the city. This is a problem. If you are interviewing and you don't even know where the school is located, then you have a much bigger problem than telling me why the curriculum interests you. It's like you don't really know about the school at all.”

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Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to Purdue Engineering, Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley & more

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Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to Purdue Engineering, Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley & more

“The Common App and Supplemental essays I crafted with Yelena's help helped me achieve my dream of getting into UC Berkeley! When I contacted her last summer, my essay had several bumps. Yelena suggested starting from scratch with a completely different prompt, and while the task seemed daunting to me, I'm thankful that she was with me every step of the way. We had many phone calls and brainstorming sessions, and her advice was incredibly thoughtful, detailed, and personalized for my needs. One thing I loved, in particular, was the Thought Starters activity she gave me to brainstorm which I continue to use today.

During the essay-writing process, I found it impressive how, after I literally dumped my disorganized thoughts onto paper, she was able to connect them into a cohesive and compelling essay. My final products were a lot more polished than I could have ever accomplished on my own. I was forced to think and reflect every step of the way, and I admire how she pushed me to write everything in my own words. Whenever I go back and read my essays, I find myself consistently proud of them, and that's all thanks to Yelena's help.”
-Saumya, accepted to Georgia Tech, UCLA, and Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley, and Purdue Engineering

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