The Common Application is the single application form for more than 500 US colleges including most of the highly selective colleges. The Common Application has one essay that goes to all of the colleges called the personal statement. They have just released the list of the essay prompts for the personal statement for the next admissions season, 2015-2016. Here are the prompts:
- 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.
- The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
- Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
- 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.
- Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
If you are interested in the thought process behind these prompts you can go to the blog post for the Common Application.
Now that the prompts are out for the personal statement, students can start working on their essays as soon as they finish junior year. If you want help making sure that your common app essay is as strong as it can be let us know and we can talk about how we can help you with this and all other aspects of the college admissions process.
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