Common App Essay Prompts: Tips and Tricks

Why the Common App Essay Matters

Crafting the college application essay often feels like the most daunting part of the admissions process. After all, this essay is your one opportunity to step into the spotlight and let your individuality shine. This is where you can highlight the experiences and perspectives that set you apart from other applicants, giving admissions officers a deeper look into your true self outside of grades and test scores.

Yet navigating the array of Common App essay prompts often leads to that all-too-familiar writer’s block. These prompts, intentionally designed to be broad in scope, can prove quite challenging when it comes to brainstorming effectively. With so much riding on your essay’s ability to showcase your uniqueness, it’s no wonder many students find themselves in need of a little guidance and inspiration.

To help you overcome this hurdle, we’ve compiled a set of guiding questions and strategies to stimulate your essay ideas. Additionally, consider checking out our complimentary webinar, Jumpstart Your College Essay, where you can gain valuable insights into what admissions officers are looking for and a step-by-step guide to brainstorming your personal statement.

What are the Common App Essay Prompts?

Let’s begin by examining the Common App Essay Prompts. These prompts are designed to fit any topic you want to share with your potential college and provide you with an opportunity to provide insight into your character, values, and unique qualities.The recurring themes in the Common App essay prompts revolve around personal growth and introspection.

Below are the Common App Essay prompts for 2023-2024:

• 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.

How to Answer The Common App Essay 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.

Think about 3-5 experiences that you feel have shaped who you are as a person. As you narrow it down to one, ask yourself: which played the biggest role in my life? What made this experience so powerful? Was the impact immediate, or did it take time to root into your life? Perhaps you didn’t realize its impact until much later. Once you have a sense of a significant experience and how it changed you, consider how it relates to your background, identity, interest, or talent. 

1. 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?

What are the main obstacles you have faced in your life? Choose one that feels most significant and ask yourself why. What about this experience defined it as an obstacle? Was it a feeling that originated within you or was it incited by someone else? Consider what you did in the aftermath of this experience and the impact it had on you and your life. Did it change the way you view yourself or the world around you? Does this continue to shape who you are today?

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

A belief or idea can mean many different things: religion, cultural traditions, stereotypes, and more. Think back on 2-3 times you may have questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What made you question it? What did you do as a result? Did you speak up? Write a letter? Get in an argument? Or perhaps the impact resulted in an internal shift—a change in the way you view the world. However you decided to question things, think about how you felt afterward and whether you would do it again. 

• 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?

When you think of being happy or feeling thankful, what comes to mind? Out of all these experiences, consider which one might have an element of surprise. When have you unexpectedly felt happy or thankful? And what made this feeling of gratitude unexpected? Once you have pinpointed a specific moment, step back and examine how this moment has changed you, what you’ve learned about yourself as a result, and how it has motivated you.

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

When you think about your life, can you think of any periods of personal growth? Out of those periods of growth, which felt the most dramatic or significant? Once you have narrowed it down to one period, try to identify what sparked the growth–be it an event, accomplishment, a realization, or an experience. Think about what you learned and how you grew as a response. Do you feel like this personal growth changed your role in your family or your community? Did it change your perspective about the world?

• 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?

List anything in which you find yourself most happily immersed–this could include anything from retro gaming to birdwatching to rock-climbing. What is it about this topic, idea, or concept that most captivates you? Why do you find it interesting or important or worthy of attention? Think about the larger impact it has had on how you understand yourself or the world around you. Through your engagement with this topic, idea, or concept, what have you learned about yourself as a learner?

• 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.

While this question is open-ended, it’s important to include the aforementioned themes of growth and reflection present in the other prompts. Admissions folks want to get to know YOU through your topic choice. They want to know why this particular experience matters, and how it has shaped you. Out of all the possible topics to share with an admissions board, why are you choosing this one? How have your beliefs, priorities, or values been changed by this experience? 

Embrace the Challenge

As you embark on this essay-writing journey, remember that your unique voice and story are invaluable. Whether you’re delving into a significant life experience or exploring a captivating concept, let your passion and growth shine through in your words. Your Common App essay has the power to make you stand out and tell your remarkable tale. Seize the opportunity, share your story, and make your application unforgettable. Good luck!