<p>Hi, so I'm a rising senior in High School and I need some help.
My school counselor has been imploring all students to get a head start on college essays, whether that be for the common app or an individual college. However, she has also said that the essays for common app change and we need to wait, but then tha we need to start them right now. I'm getting pretty confused.
She also said for schools not on commonapp we can type in the schools name and essay and it should come up, and that this essay prompt wont change.</p>
<p>I agree with your counselor that you should work on your essays this summer while you presumably have more time on your hands. What she might be saying is that the new essay prompts have not yet been posted on the common app site. Have you started your common app account? Do that, then select the colleges you plan on applying to (doing this doesn’t commit you to anything–you can always not submit the applications). In addition to the general questions for the common app, and the essay that all your schools will receive, each college will have its own supplemental questions. They range from super-simple (such as what you plan on majoring in) to more complicated essay questions. Of course, this assumes that the site is open for class of 2013 applicants. I’m guessing it is by now.</p>
<p>For schools not on the common app, you need to go to each individual website and look at their admission requirements.</p>
<p>She said that all accounts get wiped August 1st</p>
<p>In general, the common app essay prompts remain pretty much the same. So do a lot of schools. You can do your common app essay and research which schools will probably have the same prompts as last year.</p>
<p>Well, she might be right. You can go on the common app site and see for yourself. But I think Lagging is right that the topics don’t change much, and I believe there is always one that is so generic that you could make it work pretty much any year (something like, “describe an experience that changed you or made an impression on you”).</p>
<p>You can definitely make a list of your schools in Excel and look up the admissions info on each one’s website so you will know whether to plan on using the common app for them or not. You can also make a detailed list of your ECs starting freshman year–adding hours/dates of participation–because you will have to put that in there too.</p>
<p>The essay topics aren’t changing this year, the 2013 common app PREVIEW was released. You can make an account starting August 1st</p>