How to start writing your college essay

By Stephen Friedfeld, PhD

The Common Application does not go live until August 1, but students should begin working on their admissions essays now. If students are applying to colleges or universities accepting the Common Application the essays will remain the same as last year. Those questions include:

●      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 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.

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

●      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?

●      Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

●      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?

●      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.

Students only need to answer one of these prompts – and the essay should be approximately 500 words, or one page single-spaced. Admissions officers will not count words! If it is 520 or 463 words, terrific. Only those essays typed into an application text box have a strict word or character limit; uploaded essays will not have any restrictions. With that said, admissions officers might not be likely to turn to the second page if the writing is not compelling – so it’s best to keep the word count to near 500 words.

To get started, students should brainstorm topics – no topic is too big or too small, and any topic (if written well) can make for an excellent essay. Students should remember that admissions officers want to know more about them – they want to know the people they are bringing to their campus community for four years.

It’s important that students answer the question asked. Students should be honest, forthcoming and use vocabulary that they would normally use – so that it sounds like their voice, as though they were speaking to the admissions officer. The essay can show any of the following: creativity, thoughtfulness, character, analytical thinking or insight.

Starting now is smart – as they will be busy students when senior year begins, not to mention the most competitive universities will typically have one or two additional essays.

Open up a new Word document, start putting ideas on paper and click Save! Summer is just about here and the college admissions season has officially begun.

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Stephen Friedfeld is the co-founder and COO of AcceptU. He received a BA from Cornell University, an MA from Columbia University Teachers College, and a Ph.D. from Rice University. Prior to founding AcceptU, Stephen was an Assistant Dean of admissions at Cornell for four years and an Associate Dean of graduate admissions at Princeton University for six years. Stephen is an IECA Associate Member.

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