<p>This may be a really dumb question... but do you answer all the prompts (so you write several essays for each college) or do you choose one?</p>
<p>I'm not sure what you mean...are you talking about the Common App, or one for a college that doesn't use the Common App?</p>
<p>In my D's experience, there were usually are 2 or 3 short answer questions on an app and 1 longer essay. The Common App lets you choose your topic for the long essay, or you can choose "a topic of your own choice."</p>