The 2024-2025 college application season is about to start, so we’re starting our series on our favorite thing: the Common App essay. For those of you just now learning about and exploring the Common App, it’s a unified college application portal that allows you to work on and apply to up to 20 colleges, but not all colleges exist in their system (cough UCs cough Georgetown cough MIT). One of the great so-called perks of the Common App is the Common App essay – one essay that gets sent to all the schools on your list. While most schools also require supplements, the Common App essay is something almost every school on your list will require, which means it needs to be perfect.
We’re going to explore each Common App essay prompt in depth (there are 7, btw) and tell you which ones we like, which ones we don’t like, and guide you on how to brainstorm, write, and edit your Common App essay to perfection. One word of warning: we don’t adhere to a lot of the traditional college essay-writing ideology, so what you read here will probably be the opposite of what you read on other blogs. All we can say is, we know our methods work. With that, let’s dive into prompt #1 on the Common App:
Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
This is not our favorite Common App prompt because this is a question you will get asked many times within your school-specific supplements. And if you’re already answering it here, you’ll have a harder time answering it 10 more times. If you’re ~doing the Common App correctly,~ some of these things should be represented within your activities section or within school-specific supplements instead. Many schools ask about your background, community, or identity in their supplements, so we don’t recommend burning through material you might need for future essays.
This question also might make some of you really uncomfortable! Not to harp on disliking this prompt forever, but it is a prompt that kinda asks you to ‘other’ yourself, which you do not have to do to get into a great school. This question also tends to lead students down a path of not writing about themselves. We know your grandma is super cool, but your college essay should be about you, not your family tree. When you read the right prompt, ideas about you and your story should jump to the front of your mind. If they don’t, skip this one.
However, all this being said, you can still write a really good Common App essay with this prompt. We know that some structure and guidance can be really helpful when thinking about your college essays, we just recommend that you turn the prompt on its head a little and think outside the box when brainstorming this essay.
Common App Essay Prompt 1 Example Topics
If you’re immediately jumping to write about the big things, like race, religion, or traumas (more on this here), or things that should be covered elsewhere in your application, like sports, music, or your prospective major, PUT THE PEN DOWN! College admissions officers have read all of these essays hundreds (if not thousands) of times before.
This is not to say that these aspects of who you are are bad, we just want you to write something that truly stands out among a sea of essays about very, very similar things. For the big things, especially trauma, those may be better suited for additional information. Frankly, you do not need to discuss the worst things that have happened to you just to get into college (which we know is against conventional advice!). For anything related to extracurriculars or school, full stop do not write those. We want each part of your Common App to reveal something new and insightful about who you are as a person, so we do not recommend using your Common App essay to talk about how being a Lax Bro is essential to your identity.
When you brainstorm this topic, try to think outside the standard bounds of identity. What about who you are is truly unique? Maybe you’re extremely tall or have a really wacky party trick you’ve wowed family and friends with for years. On the flip side of that, what about you might be common but extremely sincere? Are you a huge foodie, whipping up meals like a mini Gordon Ramsey? This is where the actual topic you’d write about for this question will come from.
We recommend zeroing in on the small stuff. It can be very easy with this prompt to sort of ramble on and on and not center on a true narrative. We like small stuff because it’s much easier to write a story about the time you made a Michelin-star-level meal for your friends than it is to speak broadly about your ethnicity. Now that we’ve covered a little bit about how to brainstorm this essay, let’s talk about writing it.
Common App Essay Prompt 1 Example Guide
Now, it’s time to put those ideas on paper (or screen). This part is much easier said than done, we know. We strongly advise using your Common App essay to tell a story, because if you spend 650 words waxing poetic, you probably won’t have a super cohesive document to submit. Stories, thankfully, have some key pieces that need to be included and structure that needs to be followed.
First, you want to start at the beginning of your story, by setting the scene and bringing the reader into the moment with you. If you’re struggling with bringing us into the scene with you, think about your story like a scene in a movie. What can you see, hear, touch, or smell? These details will help drop your reader straight into the story, especially if you play upon things that feel universal. Maybe it’s fresh cut grass, or the smells of savory cooking coming from the kitchen. If you’re extra stuck on writing your intro, we’d like to pass along one of our writer’s favorite pieces of advice: if you can’t figure out how to write the first line, just write the second one. You can also, get this, write your introduction last. Crazy, we know, but it’s often easier to ramp someone into your story once you know what the story is.
As you go into the middle of your story, you don’t necessarily need to have a conflict or problem to resolve, although those stories are easier to conceptualize. Think of this story like a movie of your life! What elements bring us through to the next thing that happens. Did you have a conversation with your uncle on your way to the kitchen? Walk through a puddle? Drive too far past your exit? These kinds of little details will help flesh out your story and make it feel more lifelike.
And now, it’s time to end your essay. You might want to tie up any loose threads, circle back to the initial conflict, or think about the future. If you wrote about being a wannabe all-star chef and how you were trying to master a new dish, your ending should probably be about how you, well, mastered that new dish. Our biggest tip for ending the Common App essay? End on a high note. We know not every story is sweet and saccharine, but put yourself in the shoes of an admissions officer. They are reading sooo many essays about people’s worst days, their losses, their tragedies, and their traumas. If you’re at the bottom of their pile that day, be the essay that puts them in a good mood as they head out the door.
Once you’re done with your draft, it’s editing time. We recommend reading your essay out loud to check for awkwardness, and maybe re-typing the whole essay out on another document. After 3-4 rounds of revisions, have a trusted friend, parent, adult, or teacher read through it and give you notes. Word to the wise: too many cooks can spoil the broth, so try not to ask every single person in your life for feedback. Best of luck!
While prompt #1 is certainly not our favorite Common App prompt (spoiler alert: it’s #7), that doesn’t mean you can’t write a standout essay with this prompt. As long as you brainstorm an original and creative answer to this question and put it within a story, we think you should be fine.
We are experts in writing creative and unique college essays. If you need help brainstorming or writing your Common App essay, reach out to us today.