Imagine you are an application reviewer. You are tired. The room is either too hot or too cold. You have already read 8,000 essays and need to read 400 more today and every single one feels like it starts with something like “3 summers ago, I….” or “My grandfather was the strongest person I knew.” How would you feel? If it were us, we would be some combination of bored, tired, and antsy. You turn over the next essay and it’s written as a screenplay and is titled Act 2 Scene 3. You are immediately thrown out of your routine and, more importantly, you’re grateful to this student for livening up your day.

“Hey, can you write a new post for the blog?”

“Sure any idea of what we should write about?”

“I think we need to do one on form and the common app essay.”

“On form?”

“Yeah about how good common app essays break form.”

“Of course! I will work on one about how breaking form can make a really memorable reading experience.”

Even the most prepared students are usually surprised by some part of the college application process. Maybe it’s a supplement that really makes them think or how short some essays have to be, but there’s one thing that everyone knows about before starting the process: they are going to have to write a killer common app essay.

We made it! We broke down the first six prompts and we’re concluding this series by diving into our favorite prompt #7. Let’s get right to it:

Hooray, a good prompt is lurking below! Prompt #6 is a little different than the rest and we’re here for it. Below you’ll find our tips and tricks:

In continuation of our common app essay series, we’re diving into the fifth prompt. Most prompts fall firmly into one of two camps: absolutely not or maybe. This prompt started as a hard maybe for us, and then ended in the “Thank U, Next” camp after we did some internal brainstorming. Keep reading for our thoughts:

This year, a new prompt replaced an old (and highly unpopular) prompt. Let’s take a look:

Let’s start with some hard facts! This may be disheartening to hear, but college admissions officers spend just a few minutes reading your application. We know, we know. You work on it for weeks, months even. It feels unfair, but it’s true. Let’s say they spend five minutes reading your application in its entirety. What this really means is that you have five minutes, and just a few opportunities, to add depth to your application and to show them that you’re a dynamic high school student who has a lot to offer to any given college.

Yesterday we published this blog post detailing 10 bad opening lines for college essays. After much thought, we’ve decided to go through the examples individually and explain exactly why they don’t work. Keep reading for our breakdown:

The best college essays tell stories. Small, zoomed-in stories about you and your personality. Some of the best essays we’ve read are about what happened on a random Tuesday, how much you love making dinner for your family, or that time you tried to build a computer. This blog post isn’t about what to write your common app essay about, but if you’re looking for help with that-- check here, and here.

If you’re familiar with our blog, you know that we’ve written tons of guides about writing your college essay. You should also know that the best college essays of all time are about the person who wrote them. They’re about you, and they shed light on an aspect of your personality that can’t be discerned from the rest of your application. Everyone has grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities. We even like to pretend that you’re applying alongside of a very large group of students who have the same exact academic profiles as you do. So, what’s left? Everyone also has different personality traits, and colleges are looking to admit students with all different kinds of soft skills, traits, and quirks. The best college essays explain those traits in the form of a story with a beginning, middle, and end.