college essay

1.”BE SOCIAL”

 Admission officers look at accepting students as building a class. They want the class they are building to “get along” and build lifelong friendships with each other. Accordingly, sharing stories about your friendships and social life can be very good topics in a common app essay. This certainly doesn’t mean you need to talk about how many friends you have or convince anyone you are “popular”; however, sharing stories about meaningful relationships in your life can show a reader mountains about who you are.

2.TELL A STORY

 

College admissions readers are looking to build a diverse and interesting class of students. The common app essay serves as a critical opportunity for the admissions readers to understand who you are as a real person. One of the best ways to show the “real you” is simply to share a story of your high school experience.

3. DON’T BE SCARED

 

Don’t be scared to talk about hardship, adversity, or challenges you have overcome. No one is perfect, and the college admissions readers know that. Reflecting maturely on something in your life that didn’t go perfectly can result in an incredible essay!

 

4. BREAK ALL TRADITIONS

 

The common app essay isn’t like all the 5 paragraph essays you wrote in high school. It doesn’t need to have a thesis statement, topic sentences and three body paragraphs. It is a personal statement, designed to tell the admissions readers more about you. As long as the essay is captivating and tells the reader about who you are, you can use as many paragraphs and any structure you like.

 

5.LESSON LEARNED

 

Sharing a lesson you’ve learned in the last 4 years can be a very successful essay topic; it shows humility, an ability to learn and maturity. Be careful, however, not to write an essay about how you are now “enlightened” or have “figured it all out”. Many students attempt to write essays about knowing nothing as freshman and now knowing everything. These stark contrasts just sound cheesy.

 

If you still feel like you need some tips for your Common App essay feel free to leave a question below or reach out at contact@granitetestprep.com