<p>Does verb tense matter for the essays on the common app?</p>
<p>I mean, it matters in that choice of tense always matters when you're writing something. Why do you ask (what tense are you thinking of using, and in what context?)</p>
<p>For the short answer, I wrote in the past tense, because i wrote about a community program I was part of for last year</p>
<p>It's probably best to stick with simple past tense. There may be exceptions, but whatever tense you use, keep it consistent.</p>