Common essay topics for college applications

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A List of Common Essay Topics for College Applications

Common essay topics don't vary much, year to year, but you need to check your target schools to see what questions they ask, if any. Keep track throughout the summer and early fall as the applications go on line.

A person, event or circumstance that has influenced you, and how it impacted your life. (This may be the most used common essay topic.)

The greatest challenge you have ever faced.

Have you taken advantage of the educational opportunities offered to you? How?

A work of fiction, your favorite character in it, and why.

Your favorite volunteering/extracurricular activity and what you learned from it. (Read: How you grew)

Why are you interested in the college you are applying to? Why do you want to come here?

Questions to do with moral issues such as right vs. wrong. For instance a conflict between two sets of values, both important to you, and how you resolved the issue.

A historical incident that has affected your life.

Some common essay topic questions stem from quotes such as a Loyola Marymount quote, which repeats the words of a famous Jesuit about the role of education in teaching us to help others. These questions frequently draw on depth and maturity of thinking.

Where do you see yourself in the world or in your community?

Topic of your own.

Topic submitted previously to another school.

Local, national or international issue, and why it is important to you.

Favorite teacher, or class, and why.

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The Common Application

The Common Application is used by close to 300 colleges and universities in the U.S. For participating schools you can write one essay, and send it to any colleges accepting the Common Application.

Many times, the common essay topics on the Common Application can be recycled to fit the requirements of other colleges and universities.

Common Application Web Site.

Please note that your search results page will have ads ABOVE the actual search results. Those are not from the site, but may be of interest, since Google targets the ads to your particular search.

Essay Topics for the Common Application Supplements

Common Application Essay topics.>
Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
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.
A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational 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.
Topic of your choice.
Remember, your common essay topic can be an ordinary event, but you must write about it in an extraordinary way.
Above the required essay topic is space for a 150 word, short essay about an extracurricular activity.
Below the required essay topic is space for a second, optional, essay on a topic of your choice. ALWAYS WRITE 'optional" essays.
You will find a list of colleges who support the Common Application process, listed on the Common App Website.
Originally, the purpose of the common application was to make it easier to apply to private colleges. It still does that, but in the past few years, the colleges have made the process more complicated.
As you enter your prospective colleges into your CommonApp, account, you need to look at the Supplements required by each college, and the additional essays each may require. These supplemental questions must be answered with as much care as you put into the required essays from the Common App.
Most, but not all, of the time, the supplemental topics will be short answer questions, with a word limit of around 150 words.
Some questions will be longer, and some will have no word limit.
Always regard these supplemental essays as an opportunity for you to tell them more about yourself.

Writing College Application Essays

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