For those who have been with us from the beginning (and what the heck, newcomers too!!), feel free to take a big breath of relief. We’ve done it! Over the last month, we’ve been breaking down the Common App essay prompt by prompt, which means we’re ready to bring it all together for the big finale: a comprehensive guide to writing the Common App essay.
We’ve spent the past few weeks breaking down each Common App essay prompt one by one, and now it’s time for the grand finale: our ultimate guide to writing the Common App essay. Sure, there are seven different prompts, but at the end of the day, every school is looking for the same thing: a story.
Getting waitlisted or deferred from your dream school is hard. We know it’s hard! You feel rejected, but it’s this weird non-rejection rejection that can leave you feeling lost and confused. And while a lot of things in college admissions are totally out of your control, there is something you can do if you’ve been waitlisted or deferred to give yourself another chance. A letter of continued interest, sometimes known as a waitlist letter or deferral letter, is one of the few, actionable things you can control when admissions decisions seem so out of your control. It’s your only chance to make a good second impression, and we help students write them every single year.
Getting waitlisted is the ultimate limbo – it’s not not a rejection, but it’s not a full-on denial, either. And depending on your circumstances, you could be feeling everything from mild disappointment to full-on panic. Don’t get yourself into a tizzy just yet, because there are things you can do to give yourself a shot at getting off the waitlist and make sure that you have a plan in place for the next year.
A large number of college courses are available for high school students to take both online and in-person. Some students take them just to challenge themselves further or learn about one topic that isn’t offered at their high school.
College courses alone won’t get you into college. Taking 20 college courses won’t reverse your mediocre GPA or average ACT scores. That’s just not how it works. It can, however, add depth to a specific part of your application.
Dickinson College is a liberal arts school of about 2,400 students in Carlisle, PA. The campus itself encourages students to take a seat and observe the world around them—there are literally red Adirondack chairs scattered all around campus for students to take advantage of and do work in, sit with friends, or meditate. Students live on campus all four years and swear by their mascots: a red and a green devil. The green devil is regarded as the red devil’s environmentally conscious cousin. We break down this college’s supplement below:
Now that essay season is upon us (yes, indeed it is), it’s thinking about your . Junior year is coming to a close, your summer is beginning, and now it’s time to brainstorm and ideate. You might have some idea of a topic, experience, or incident that you want to write about. Or, you might not. That’s okay, too.
Bowdoin College is a small liberal arts school in Brunswick, ME of about 1,800 undergraduate students. In addition to its location (truly in the middle of nowhere of gorgeous [albeit cold] Maine), Bowdoin has a number of unique offerings including the main pillars of the college, which are addressed in question 2. Their supplement contains three parts, all of which we break down for you below.
Barnard College is an all-women’s college in uptown New York City. 2,500 undergraduates attend Barnard, which has a unique relationship with Columbia University, just across the street. Barnard students are able to take advantage of the resources that Columbia has to offer paired with the smaller, more intimate community culture that is cultivated at Barnard. As such, Barnard is one of our favorite colleges. Its supplement has 4 questions, all of which are incredibly different. Our breakdown of the supplement follows:
We get a lot of questions about applying early vs. regular decision and the merits of applying to schools for each round. One point that we always drive home is that applying somewhere early is not a small decision, and it should be intentional. This is not the time to throw all caution to the wind and apply to your dream school despite the fact that your test scores are well below their average and you sat around by the beach this past summer with nothing to show for it. That’s just silly, and that’s not how we operate. You need to know the why behind applying somewhere early, and you should have the profile as well as demonstrated interest to back it up. Sometimes applying early can help your chances of getting in and sometimes it can hurt them. Read on to find out the why and how.
Carleton College is a great liberal arts school of 1,995 undergraduates in Northfield, Minnesota. It’s been steadily climbing in the rankings over the last few years and a lot of people are starting to take notice. Fortunate for them, unfortunate for us. It used to be one of our favorite to suggest to students. We’re happy for them though. Really.
This is a great question that many students and parents have. Every life and path is completely different, and everyone has a different story to tell. A lot can happen in 1 month, much less 4 years, and we completely understand that sometimes life happens in an unexpected way and as such, affects your ability to perform to the best of your ability in school. Not only do we understand this, but colleges understand this as well. As with every other part of your application, it’s important to be mindful of how you present the facts and that you do so in such a way that explains rather than excuses. It’s a fine line to tow, and here’s what we suggest.
Your GPA is arguably the most important part of your application, so it’s crucial to take this aspect of your profile seriously when you’re putting together your school list.
Here’s a bit of a secret for you: there is no such thing as a minimum GPA. There are suggestions, averages, and certainly test score ranges to take note of, but there is no such thing as a GPA cut-off for students to look out for that rules out certain schools or that guarantees acceptance to others.
Before you dive into a college supplement, there are a few things to look for and review that will guide how you approach each and every application. The majority of the work for any application comes before you start actually writing. We’ve discussed in past blog posts how you can tell a lot about a college just by reading through its supplement. This point also reflects the biggest part of your applications, which is reading. While colleges are looking for responses that answer their questions, they are also looking for answers that indicate that you have read through and thought about their supplement thoroughly.
If you’re like us and you read through dozens of college supplements every week , you begin to realize that they have a lot in common. But you’re probably not like us, which is why we’re here. You’re welcome. There are a few supplements that are particularly unique, but most supplements all aim to understand the same thing: 1) why are you applying to their school and 2) what will you bring to the community both inside and out of the classroom? These questions come in different words and formats. Though you should feel free to explore a wide range of reasons, activities, academic topics, as well as reveal aspects of your personality, there are a few things you just shouldn’t touch. Here are 10 things to steer clear of in your college supplement—this goes for any and all supplements.
Pitzer College is located in Claremont, CA and is one of the Claremont Colleges. The other colleges in the consortium include Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Claremont College, and Scripps. Pitzer has about 1,000 students and emphasizes student participation and mindfulness (their motto is “Mindful of the Future”). As such, their supplement is outward-facing and asks you to write about your contributions to and observations about the world. Our advice on how to ace this supplement below.
Claremont McKenna is a small liberal arts college with around 1200 undergraduate students. The curriculum has an emphasis on economics, government, and public affairs, though it’s a liberal arts college, so it offers classes in a large number of disciplines. The college is located in Claremont, CA, close to Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, Pomona College, and Pitzer College. All of these schools are part of a consortium called the Claremont Colleges. They share a lot of information and resources, and have different focuses though they are all wonderful schools in their own right. Claremont McKenna’s supplement is pretty straight to the point--read on:
As you might know, we have a lot of about community service and the college process. We even wrote about why you . We’re certainly not going back on our word, but we wanted to delve into a caveat of that opinion. We want to share our advice for the benefit of students who truly believe that they have a worth sharing. It’s not unheard of, but there are a few factors to consider before you decide. First, make sure that you’re well-versed in . Namely, most community service essays make you come off as privileged and unaware, as well as basic and cliché. We don’t want that. More often than not, we would strongly advise against writing about community service. Before you take this advice, please contact us so we can tell you if it’s a good idea.
Haverford College is a small liberal arts school of about 1,290 undergraduate students. Campus calls Haverford, MA home, and it’s definitely homey. The majority of classes on campus are taught seminar-style. The college has a 9:1 teacher to student ratio, which speaks to its focus on not only student to teacher but student to student interaction. Classes are for the most part discussion-based, with an emphasis on debate and open dialogue. Haverford believes that every student has more autonomy than the normal college student, given their academic structure and their Honor Code. The Honor Code plays a big role in the college’s supplement, so it’s important that you read through it and really understand it before you dive into the supplement. We break it all down below.
USC’s supplement is not the easiest to tackle, but it’s also not hard if you look at the prompts from an objective perspective. That said, if you are applying to USC you’re going to have to do some work. Like most other top-tier colleges, they have a few supplemental questions for you to answer. We happen to love the USC long-answer supplements because they make you interrogate your reasons for applying more so than other universities. USC has two longer supplements to tackle. The first is:
We get these questions a lot from parents and students alike: should I be doing community service? If so, how much? How does it look on my application? Unfortunately, there’s not just one answer because it depends on a lot of things, but our inclination without having more information is to say: “no.” Here’s why:
Given today’s political climate, every person and institution is becoming more vocal about their stances and opinions. In a way this is great because your choice of essay topics has expanded to include politically-focused narratives. It is tricky, though, for a couple of reasons: 1) many people will be writing with this in mind and 2) your essay still has to be about you. It has to be your own and tell a story that reflects who you are and what you have experienced, not just a statement about something you believe.
Let’s continue our journey investigating the ins and outs of the Additional Information section of The Common App. To review: the Additional Information section is a section that every applicant can find a use for. Its purpose is to give you a space to elaborate upon parts of yourself that you think an admissions reader should know that you did not have room for elsewhere in the application.