The Prompt: Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
Question: From what I’ve read, it seems that Common App is looking for something you did or something that happened in high school that marked a transition from childhood to adulthood. However, I’m thinking of writing about my bedtime which happened in middle school. Do you think I’m too old to write about something in middle school?
If it had an impact on who you are and who you want the colleges to see, it could be different. Remember that the point of the essay is to allow the adcoms to meet you as a person rather than a list of stats. If the night world you entered changed your perception of the world, try it. I’d suggest taking a stab at several of the prompts and then looking at what you have.
Bedtime in middle school may simply not be relevant to a review for college admissions. It may not even convey any of the attributes they’ll be looking for.
@lookingforward I wouldn’t be so quick to shoot that down. It sounds to me like an idea with a lot of potential.
@Philipspsych, these essays aren’t regular self-focused stories one may write in hs. I didn’t declare it a bad idea, but OP needs to be cautious. You want adcoms to see college-ready attributes (and usually those grounded in high school experiences.) Right now we don’t know how the middle school bedtime is relevant. I can imagine some turns on it- but OP needs to tell us.
I was basically going to discuss how me not having a bed time anymore showed that my parents trusted me enough to get enough sleep on my own and that part of growing up was making your own decisions and learning from you mistakes.
The more I thought about it though, the less appealing it seemed to me. I think I might instead do an essay on when I first received a debit card cause that was the second thing that popped out to me. It’s also more relevant since it happened recently. For that topic, I would talk about how when I had my own money I was less willing to spend it than when I used my parents money, something along those lines
Maybe you could write about the job that allowed you to get the money?
Mmm… keep brainstorming. That is an experience every teen has at some point (realizing that spending your own money is harder than spending mom & dad’s!). Stop thinking about the prompt. Think of something you want to tell admissions. Something not fully explored in the rest of your app, and ideally that makes them want you on campus. Think of specific incidents or stories. Once you know what you want to tell them, then figure out which prompt to fit it into (fitting loosely is okay).
@halcyonheather Er, it wasn’t really a job that got me the money, it was kinda like a collection of things that I did, and then I would add it to my bank account and over time it became a large sum.
Yeah, keep thinking. How you manage your bedtime or your money are just not what’s going to show adcoms how you will add to their community, how you venture forth, take on challenges, are open. In fact, those topics may leave them wondering how you think. Never leave an adcom scratching hs or her head. Never forget the purpose of all the app and supp writing is to show why they should choose you for their college. (Show, not just tell.)
Isn’t there something you did where you took on a challenge or did some good somewhere, learned and grew? Take a breath, take a walk, and think about it. Repeat as needed.
@intparent Summarizing what I have so far, I said that they always only gave me enough money for what I needed to do, they never gave me extra. But when they gave me the debit card, they trusted that I wouldn’t waste money on pointless things.
But I guess it’s not a good idea? And neither is the bed time one?
Oh! I actually had another idea! My first time going on an airplane by myself maybe? I know I felt very accomplished.
I guess I should address another question: What exactly is the prompt asking?? I know it wants to know how you became an “adult” but what else are colleges looking for?
NO.
It doesn’t matter what the prompt asks. In high school you get graded on answering the prompt. Or, “Johnny, good writing but you didn’t answer the question.”
This is to show how you think and choose. How you understand what that college is looking for and wants to see. Not some little ditty about flying by yourself.
Hint: one of the negatives you want to avoid is showing how you are sheltered or have led a sheltered life. And/or how narrow your perspective is. A little wit is fine. Some kids can take a nothing event and roll it into a major realization.
That’s not getting through an airport on your own. The higher you are aiming for college, the more they already expect kids are mature, can get enough sleep, etc.
Yes, @lookingforward has it right. Think of it this way. The admissions officers did NOT write these prompts, they were provided by the Common Application. The admissions officers want to know what is unique and interesting about you. A secret – they don’t really care about the answer to the prompt!! They care that you write an essay that interests them. Colleges hope to find interested and interesting people. Something unique about you, even something small, is good. No more bedtime, spending your own money, riding on an airplane – those are things that happen to almost every single person at some time and it is hard to make them interesting. I happen to think the current set of prompts is insipid, and doesn’t promote interesting essays at all. Remember that college admissions officers read hundreds of essay per day! That is why you should put away the prompts for a while and brainstorm about what you want to tell them – what is your story, your quirk, your thing that isn’t revealed elsewhere. Why do you do what you do? What is something that you didn’t put in your ECs, but is meaningful to you (or is in there, but is not fully revealed)? Can you think of specific examples or incidents that reveal those things? Then figure out how to relate it to a prompt. Loose association is okay, remember that you really aren’t being graded on how well you answered the prompt (for once in your life). 
@intparent Oh ok, that helps a lot. This whole time I’ve just been trying to answer the prompt exactly!
Ha… silly you. To think that they actually want what they asked for! Just kidding, it isn’t at all obvious.
Listen to above posts. You will not be judged on how well you answered a prompt. You will be judged on the quality of your thinking, your writing and your reflections. My advice is just think of Prompt #1, which covers anything you want to write.
That said, I disagree with many of the other posts. I think that the process of this thread has revealed the makings of an excellent essay. The theme of that essay would be trust. You would then write a story about the development/evolution of trust in the context of your family and how you felt at each stage. The sequence of bedtime to debit card to plane ride is wonderful. It shows learning, personal progress, and higher and higher stakes. This is the stuff of a classic story.
Plus I think that bedtime is really charming. And not used much – or at all – by others. I say go for it.
Just be sure to establish the core theme of trust – how much you value trust – so that readers understand the context of the moments.
Hope this is helpful.
@intparent Yeah, I’ve always been told to answer the prompt, I didn’t think college essays were any different
Sometimes the prompt triggers an interesting story. But often it doesn’t.