Following up on our recent articles about how to approach the Activities and Short Answer sections in the Common Application, we will conclude this series by dealing with the Personal Essay.
Writing personal narratives is a challenge as many people have never been asked to do this type of writing. Because of this, we encourage you to start the essay writing process early by first organizing your ideas in order to determine what your best essay material might be. There are many ways to generate and organize your ideas, here are some examples:
-What are the most important events/accomplishments in your life?
-What are you are most passionate about?
-What people had the biggest influence on you?
-What places do you have a strong connection to?
-What key skills do you have? (leadership, creativity, communication, etc.)
After you have generated some potential essay material, you will need to choose from one of the six Personal Essay options on the Common Application. Here are some tips on how to approach the Common Application essays:
Option 1 – Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
When approaching essay option 1, focus more on the end of the question: “its impact on you” and less on the experience, achievement, risk of ethical dilemma. The purpose of this question is not to determine which applicant had the most outstanding achievement or took the biggest risk. This essay requires you to give insight into why the event was significant, or how it changed you. When writing this essay provide just enough background information so that the reader can understand the story, but dedicate the majority of your precious 500 words to analyzing the situation and describing how you benefited from the experience.
Option 2 – Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
The key to successfully writing essay option 2 is to show passion for the topic you have chosen. This would be easier to accomplish if you had a close connection to the issue and were able to describe your related experience. Be sure to give clear reasons why this issue is important to you and how it has/might impact your life or society in the future.
Option 3 – Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
Many applicants will make the mistake of using 90% of the words in this essay to describe the person (perhaps a relative, teacher, coach, mentor, friend, etc.). Don’t forget that the person the school really wants to get to know is you – so be sure to emphasize your relationship and interaction with that person, and of course include plenty of reflection about the positive influence that person had on you.
Option 4 – Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
This is a great opportunity for music lovers, avid readers and aspiring writers, artists or scientists to talk about something that inspired their passion in that field. This essay also allows you to make connections to your intended major or future career goals if you like. Avoid the temptation to use too much space describing the character or creative work, and instead focus on the learning process involved and how it affected your thinking or actions going forward.
Option 5 – A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the education mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
As universities become more international and diverse in the United States, schools are looking for students who can fit into a diverse, team-based learning environment and make an impact. If you choose this essay be sure to explain what diversity means to you, why you feel diverse thinking is important in an educational environment, and how you can leverage your unique knowledge, skills, personality or experience to make a positive contribution.
Option 6 – Topic of your choice.
Choose a meaningful topic about a critical issue in your life that you feel the admissions committee must learn about. The admissions committee will approach your application with an open mind, therefore if you choose a topic that you really care about, you cannot go wrong!