Common App Essay Prompt

Applying to College
1

Hi, I just wrote a common app essay today. I wrote about how I overcame a language difficulty because I came from a different country. I was planning to make this essay to fit into prompt #4, which is to solve a problem. But I think the prompt #2, which is about the failure also fit, because I talked about I could not pick up the pace with other students, I felt depressed and it helped me to success. What do you guys think?

PROMPT #2: The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

PROMPT #4: Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

2

I think prompt 2 fits much better.

3

Either of those could work. I personally would slot this essay under prompt #1.

The experience you describe is certainly a background/identity that’s a large part of who you are, and I wrote an essay on a similar topic using that prompt.

You could take this as an opportunity to talk about how your country of origin, but also the way you left it behind, and the efforts you made to overcome this language difficulty, are an integral aspect of you as a person.

4

I agree with @curlypie99!