This summer, I’m drafting college essays. I’m done with the UC essays but Common App got me confused. Here are the colleges in my list that accept Common App;
- Stanford
- USC
I would like to know how many essays do you have to write? I looked at the My Colleges tab in CommonApp.org under Stanford University and I saw that you have to do ALL QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMON APP? I was a bit shocked so I looked at their website and it said that you should pick an essay prompt that you want and said that the essay prompts have word limit of 250 and 650 but it didn’t specify which one is which.
Thank you for your responses
@akirakun - There is one essay that is used by all schools on the Common App (this essay should answer to ONE of the several prompts on the Common Application and should be between 250 and 650 words). For many schools, this will be all that you will have to write. For some schools, however – and certainly for the two that you mentioned – there are school-specific supplemental essays – that ask you to write short answers and/or shorter essays to specific prompts.
Stanford, for example, has three short essays (100-250 words in answer to prompts on 1) intellectual vitality; 2) write a letter to your roommate; and 3) What matters to you and why. There is also a series of prompts requiring shorter answers (e.g., five words to describe yourself; favorite books/authors/websites/events; how did you spend your last 2 summers).
USC asks you to write a 250 word essay selecting one of several prompts and also has a series of short questions (e.g., three words to describe yourself; best movie, dream job).
Exactly what @LoveTheBard said. Plus, When it comes to the college app, there is no such thing as “optional”. If the application says you can answer up to 3 questions in supplemental essays, answer 3 questions.
An additional thing to think of is to create a zeemee 2 minute video and profile. Many colleges now have a place to attach your link.
@Materof2 woah wait what. A 2 minute video and profile? How does this work? This is news to me
To the best of my knowledge, colleges like Stanford and USC will accept an arts portfolio and/or offer an audition for a musicians, dancers, performing artists, actors, etc.
I wouldn’t worry about creating a 2 minute video. I hate to sound cynical, but I seriously doubt that Adcoms are going to bother watching it.
(“Zoomee” is something that the Common Application has set up to provide similar functionality to the “Storage Locker” that she Coalition App offers). Given that Adcoms probably spend about 5 minutes reviewing your application, they probably aren’t going to waste it on watching a video). My daughter got into HYPS and got full tuition merit scholarships at a number of universities – including USC – without creating a video).
Just put your best effort into writing strong and thoughtful essays.
woah, props for your daughter.
@akirakun yes, and zeemee accounts are actually gaining more traction. It wasn’t on the actual Common App, however in our personal experience, one Common App college had a field to attach a zeemee link, and two top state schools who use their own App, had a specific field as well for an optional zeemee link. The video can’t be more than 1:59 seconds. Anything goes on that video. It’s supposed to show who you are. Be creative. I’ve heard of a short 30 seconds of a tennis player making a clever quip, to a full 1:59 second semi scripted piece.
https://youtu.be/uQixNV71Fi4
And yes, I agree with @LoveTheBard in that a college may not even look at your video. And for those HYPS folks, it won’t make a difference. Seriously, that’s a different universe.
Fairly, the colleges where you are applying may not even have a zeemee field.
A Zeemee profile is “optional” on many college apps, and since my rule is “there’s no such thing as optional”, it’s worth a shot.