Stand out. Be unique, but don’t trauma dump. Share your life story, but keep it under 650 words. College application season is daunting, with all the essays, test scores, application fees and other factors hovering in the backs of students’ minds. The Common App essay, an important part of a student’s college application, seems increasingly difficult to write each year.
The Common App prompts are not difficult to comprehend at all. In fact, the questions they ask are quite simple: for example, “Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.” It seems pretty straight-foward. All a student would have to do is describe something that prompted personal growth or newfound understanding. Yet the simplicity of the question doesn’t seem to offer any comfort to students.
The stakes of the essay would be considered more of a reason that students might be staring at a blank screen while deciding what to write about. To think about how 650 words or less could be the determining factor of what sets you apart from other applicants is stressful. Let’s say you and another student share academic and extracurricular similarities. You have similar transcripts, activities outside of schools and test scores. Is the one essay (and possibly supplemental essays depending on the school) what determines which student is getting admitted into the school? It is an intimidating thing to consider, and could potentially set back the writing process.
Another thing that tends to circulate through topics of the Common App essay is “trauma dumping.” Writing about a traumatic event has to be carefully navigated. While it is something that can make you stand out, it can be seen as “overly negative.” Students writing about these experiences is acceptable, but it has to be done in a way that helps colleges see their growth afterwards. It’s a balancing act, and it can be hard to do.
Some students also struggle with finding a topic to write about that helps them stand out. While students may have an endless list of experiences that they could write about, they might be considered as “basic” and overused. After all, college admissions officers have to read a great amount of essays, and they probably don’t want to read about someone’s story about why they’ve known they were going to pursue medicine from a young age for the millionth time.
