Creative Responses/Formats in College Essays?

Hi! I’m a prospective English/Psychology double major working on my applications, and one thing I’ve noticed for some of my schools is that they offer the option to submit a creative response instead of an essay or they allow the essay to be done in a creative format.

I’d just like to know what exactly constitutes a creative format or creative response? And how could it potentially affect the opinions of admissions officers reading my essay (with consideration for my preferred majors)? If someone could provide some examples of creative format/response essays as well that’d be really helpful.

Examples of a creative response might be include such things as submitting your narrative in something other than direct prose (e.g., a poem, a video, a work of art, a script for a play). If you have a creative bent and feel that you can best express yourself in a creative way while still presenting a clear picture of who you are to an admissions committee, that could be an option for you. It is, however, a riskier proposition to do something like that than it is to write a well constructed essay and it’s easy to fall into the trap of being too “gimmicky.”

One thing to keep in mind - the format you see on your screen or printout might not be what the Admissions Officer sees, depending on the method/system they use to read the application.

I would only say to use a creative prompt if that’s what you specialize in (i.e. have done it extensively in high school, might have won awards, etc). Otherwise, it might come off as fake/inauthentic. Write in the way that comes naturally to you. Since you sound unsure of what a creative prompt is, I would suggest you take the traditional route.