Pitfalls or Traps in the new Common Application essay

College Essays
1

<p>Google: "Pitfalls in the new Common Application essay" or "Traps in the new Common Application essay." </p>

<p>There are many wonderful sites that have useful information that will answer a lot of questions being posed on this thread about the new essay prompts. (Warning: some of the sites want you to pay money for tutoring or essay help -- just ignore those pitches and listen to the free advice.) For example, here's one: Inside</a> Track to College</p>

<p>
[Quote]
Decoding the Common App’s Essay Prompts
Written by Tal Aviezer, Associate of ITTC and Writer/Editor</p>

<p>The Common Application Board of Directors recently announced the 2013-2014 college application essay prompts. Remember that all five of the essay options below are designed to offer you, the college applicant, a chance to tell your own unique story. The five prompts offer five different paths, but all are intended to inspire reflection on your part – to “prompt” you to tell a detailed, specific, and thoughtful story that will reveal something to the reader about whom YOU are, beyond what can be communicated by your grades, your test scores, and your high school transcript.</p>

<p>Each prompt presents its own opportunities and pitfalls. Let’s look at each in turn. </p>

<ol>
<li>Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.</li>
</ol>

<p>Choose this prompt if…</p>

<p>…you have a unique story in your past that strongly defines your present. Were you born in a different country? Did you move often throughout your childhood? Were you adopted? Was your life touched by serious illness or an injury? Did you learn English as a second language?</p>

<p>Watch out for…</p>

<p>…Self-pity, or recounting tragedy for the sake of tragedy. It’s fine to talk about adversity or sadness or challenges you have faced, but it’s vital to discuss how past difficulties resulted in change and growth, and what you learned from them. Alternatively, if you’re sharing a positive story from the past, be sure to stress how the lessons learned can be applied to your present and future life.</p>

<ol>
<li> Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?</li>
</ol>

<p>Choose this prompt if…</p>

<p>…You have experienced an instructive failure. And who hasn’t? There’s nothing very unique about not succeeding in every endeavor; what matters is what you took away from a situation where the outcome did not meet your expectations. Did your team lose the championship game? Were you defeated in a debate? Were you defeated in a school election? Miss out on a job or a part in a play? Great! What did you learn from that?</p>

<p>Watch out for…</p>

<p>…A lack of perspective. This essay can be a dangerous one for some students. If losing that playoff soccer game was “the worst pain” you’ve “ever felt in your life”, then you’ve had a pretty painless life so far. Similarly, if the lesson you learned from losing was to “make sure” you “never lose at anything ever again”, then you really haven’t learned anything from the experience of defeat and are not prepared to deal with similar situations in the future. It’s important to demonstrate maturity and a sense of perspective here. Some setbacks and failures are inevitable and unavoidable in life; we want to know what you learned from this one in particular that can be applied to future experiences.</p>

<ol>
<li> Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?</li>
</ol>

<p>Choose this prompt if…</p>

<p>…You had a memorable experience when challenging the views of a parent, teacher, sibling, or other authority figure, or if you made an important statement opposing a political, religious, or cultural belief. Note: It’s okay if in the end you decided that you were in the wrong! This prompt is a great opportunity to tell a story about a time you expressed yourself at some risk of punishment, opposition, or embarrassment because you felt it was important to do so.</p>

<p>Watch out for…</p>

<p>…Being disrespectful. This essay may prompt you to write about a time you strongly disagreed with someone or questioned a belief system that you saw as flawed but which others may highly value. Be sure that in your essay you treat the people with whom you disagree as human beings; demonstrate the ability to view the situation from their perspective, even if ultimately you conclude that that perspective is one that you oppose. The essay reader will appreciate your wisdom, maturity, and ability to examine multiple sides of an important issue on which you took a stand.</p>

<ol>
<li> Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there and why is it meaningful to you?</li>
</ol>

<p>Choose this prompt if…</p>

<p>…You have a place or environment that inspires and supports you. Think of active and engaging places – are you an athlete who is happiest on the field, court, track, or in the pool? Are you an actor, at your best on the stage? In the classroom? Study hall? In the garage with your band? On the computer building websites or designing graphics? Shooting video? In a religious space, or a dance studio? On a boat? This prompt is really asking about an environment or an activity that brings out your best self in terms of generosity, or drive to succeed, or team spirit, or creativity, etc.</p>

<p>Watch out for…</p>

<p>…Writing too passively. With a 650 word limit, there is a danger here of spending a little too much time following the letter but not the spirit of this prompt by doing things like describing the physical space you’ve chosen for this essay. A line or two is plenty for that; what’s most interesting is what you do in the space, and how it makes you feel and think.</p>

<ol>
<li> Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.</li>
</ol>

<p>Choose this prompt if…</p>

<p>…You experienced an important milestone on the road to adulthood. This could take many forms – did you transition from camper to counselor? Get your first job? Act as a parent to a younger sibling? Were you called upon due to circumstances to accept adult responsibilities at a young age?</p>

<p>Watch out for…</p>

<p>…Transitioning before you transition. The truth is that many college applicants really haven’t fully transitioned from childhood to adulthood, and you can fall into a trap here by prematurely proclaiming yourself to be an adult. Before tackling this question, ask yourself honestly, “Is my childhood over?” If the answer is really “yes”, you probably have a very good essay for this prompt. If the answer is “I don’t know”, “sort of”, or “ask me that again in two years”, then you may want to select a different prompt.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Bottom Line: The Common Application did away with "Topic of Your Choice" because they want students to thoughtfully write on a specific prompt. If you try to fit "Topic Of Your Choice" into one of the 5 new essay prompts, then you run the risk of not answering the question. And for some colleges, that might sink your application. Good luck!</p>

2

<p>Thanks! This helped soo much! I think I’m going to answer the first prompt and write about my heritage (my parents are from Hungary) and how growing up in an immigrant family has effected my experiences and views on certain things in life.</p>

3

<p>Here’s another one: [Advice</a> for Students on Topics for the New Common App Essays | College Admission](<a href=“College Admission”>Advice for Students on Topics for the New Common App Essays | College Admission)</p>

<p>

</p>

4

<p>I think these ideas are generally done badly (though you can write a good essay about anything):</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>

</p>

5

<p>agreed. there were some cliches above but it’s always nice to brainstorm</p>

6

<p>^^ Yes, I can imagine thousands of essays about the library/bookstore or someone’s "pink or “blue” or “postered sports/music” bedroom. IMHO, those topics are so pedestrian that you should probably avoid them entirely.</p>

7

<p>These are excellent resources. Thank you very much for sharing!</p>

8

<p>Can this thread be pinned to the top of the college essay forum? Excellent advice by Gibby!</p>

9

<p>^^ I agree!</p>

10

<p>Thank you oldmom and mythreesons!</p>

<p>I once heard Peter Johnson, a Senior Admissions Director at Columbia University, give this tip on essays: “Your essay should be so personal and specific that if it fell out of your backpack at school and it didn’t have your name on it, and a classmate who you knew you well found it in the hallways of your school, that classmate should be able to read it, immediately know that it was your essay, and return it to you.”</p>

<p>Without the “topic of your choice” option this year, many students will end up writing about the same thing – and that’s NOT going to help make you or your essay stand out. The way to avoid that is to follow Peter Johnson’s advice!</p>

<p>When approaching a topic, think about what other students might write about . . . and then come up with something completely unique and different that is specific only to you. For example, this year many students will probably write about their favorite place being their bedroom. First, think about what other students might write about – sports or music posters decorating their walls, the blue, pink or black colors of their walls, the coziness of their bed etc. If you can’t think of something specific that pertains only to you – that not many other students will write about – your essay is not going to stand out in the crowd, so move on to another idea. I once knew two teenagers who shared the same room. One of them lived in a tent inside the room because they wanted privacy. Now THAT student could write a unique and interesting essay about their bedroom that’s going to make them stand out in the applications process. Most everyone has some quirky story that they are embarrassed to tell someone about themselves because it’s too personal – and that’s what students need to write about – something so specific that only you could write it. Good luck!</p>

11

<p>Thank you so much for posting this! This is going to be crucial.</p>

12

<p>I think it is terrible that they did away with “topic of your choice”. I attended an event where the admissions folks from three of the top liberal arts colleges in the country spoke (last year) and all three said , “ALWAYS choose the topic of your choice”. Turns out they get so tired of reading the same things in every essay and that the topic of your own choice was almost always more interesting and gave them more info on the candidates.</p>

13

<p>^^ Agreed. My personal feeling is that after receiving so many essays on the same 5 topics this year, the Common Application will include a “topic of your choice” for the 2015 admissions cycle. But that doesn’t help the kids who are struggling this year with those 5 essay topics!</p>

14

<p>thank you so much for this, gibby! This is so helpful.</p>