I’m wondering what to write in my commonapp essay, if i have no brilliant curriculum in sport nor in academics, nothing special to tell about,
just failures and struggling to get out of.
What would make a college accept me ?
Thanks,
Well, there is a prompt that asks about a time that you experienced failure and what you learned from it. The essay has nothing to do with achievements, and it by itself will not make colleges accept you. It’s just a chance to tell admissions officers something unique about your life or character, or to show them what is important to you. You want to show them that you would be a great addition to their college campus.
The best essays I’ve written about are those written by regular kids. They take one small memory and derive meaning from it.
And, as @OnMyWay2013 pointed out, this does NOT “make them accept you.” The point is to show them a little of you, to leave them thinking “Now THIS is a kid I would like to meet”— to give them a reason to say yes.
OK, I’m a teacher, so here’s your homework for this weekend.
Today: Take the list of common app prompts. Set a timer for 5 minutes per prompt. Sit down, set the timer, and make a list of any idea that occurs to you. No idea is too crazy to consider-- in fact, actively try to come up with some off the wall ideas. Take a break, and go on to the next prompt. Then go do something–take a shower, clean your room, walk the dog.
Tonight, or tomorrow, take a look at what’s there, and come up with some bullets of what you could include for each essay. You can omit one or two of the obviously unworkable ones, but really work with what you have.
Then Monday decide on which is your keeper. But don’t throw away your list-- keep it in case your first choice turns out to be not as productive as you hoped.
You mention failures and struggles. I would probably suggest that you avoid them as topics. The point here is to show yourself as a positive addition to the student body. You want to talk about overcoming those struggles and failures-- it sounds as though you’re still struggling with them.