Common App Essay Ideas

Applying to College
1

Hello, everyone!

I am applying to some of the American universities for the Class of 2021 (mostly liberal arts colleges).
I am from Siberia, but I go a boarding school in the US for the last two years.
So I was thinking about a Common App essay and came up with two decent (I hope) ideas for it.

-The first one is about my natural curiosity, and how I first embarked on an educational journey when my parents could not answer my questions. It also brings up my identity as Siberian.
This essay would be well connected with my extracurriculars (scientific research and clubs).

-The second one is about me exploring the Ukrainian conflict for a research project, and how I have changed my perspective on it being in America and seeing the situation from multiple sides (most of the Russians do not think that Russia had anything to do with this conflict).

These are very brief summaries of my ideas, I have drafts of both of them and I can DM them to you if you want to see a full version. Thanks in advance for your response! :slight_smile:

2

First one’s much better for the Common App Personal Statement. The second one sounds like its content would suit some supplements much better. In general, it’s easy in supplements to show your intellectual/educated side, so the PS is better suited for “personal journey” type essays.

3

Agree that at first read topic one sounds better. But it really will depend on how the essays evolve – I’d start writing both and see where they take you.