Essay Prompts for Your College Admissions Essay
Applying to colleges can be stressful──whether you’re deciding where you’re going to apply, filling out applications, or writing that “about me” college admissions essay. You need an interesting and unique topic to help you stand out from the common crowd so you’re not writing just another boring, mundane, cookie-cutter essay. Sometimes finding the right thing to talk about can be the most difficult part. With that said, I have complied some essay prompts that will help you stray from the generic and make your college admissions essay one of a kind.
What is something you’ve failed at, and how did that affect you?
Tune in to the deep side of yourself. Share something personal. We are all afraid of failing, but we’re not good at everything either. Whether it was losing a job, failing a class, losing a friendship/relationship, all those things have an impact on us. When was a time you just couldn’t meet your own expectations and how did that shape you into the person you are today? What did you learn from the experience? This will make for a more interesting college admissions essay.
What is something you’ve failed at, and how did that affect you?
Tune in to the deep side of yourself. Share something personal. We are all afraid of failing, but we’re not good at everything either. Whether it was losing a job, failing a class, losing a friendship/relationship, all those things have an impact on us. When was a time you just couldn’t meet your own expectations and how did that shape you into the person you are today? What did you learn from the experience? This will make for a more interesting college admissions essay.
When was a moment you knew you were changing from a child to an adult?
We all have those milestone moments in our lives that we look back on and say, “hmm that really was an important moment in my life.” More importantly, we usually have a moment we look back on and know that was the moment we were making that transition from child to adult. Try to recall the moment in which you knew the decision you were making or situation you were in was setting you up for adulthood. This college admissions essay will help flaunt your self-awareness.
What does YOLO mean to you?
The popular movement started by rapper-singer-songwriter Drake sparked a worldwide movement: “YOLO,” or “you only live once.” What do you do to live life to the fullest? In what ways do you make sure to partake in adventures? How do you find a healthy balance between taking risks and staying inside your comfort zone? What kinds of activities do you engage in to find the fullness of life? What does only living once mean to you, and how do you plan to make sure you live with no regrets? Dive deep on this essay and remember: “YOLO” isn’t an excuse to live life recklessly!
What are some accomplishments you’ve made over the past few years that have nothing to do with academics?
Colleges aren’t just interested in your academic career. They want to know how you have contributed to your community, family, and the environment. What kinds of things have you brought to the world outside of academics? How can you contribute to your college outside of your classes? What kinds of activities will you engage in while at college? How will you contribute to your college’s community? These are all things to consider touching on when writing a college admissions essay about life outside of academics.
What has been your most embarrassing moment and how have you learned from it?
This question will show how you have grown as a person. It shows you have the ability to make an inference from something that happened to you and use it to make changes in your life accordingly. It can be hard to share an embarrassing moment, but being able to do so shows you have learned from the experience and it no longer bothers you as much as it used to. Let’s be honest, we all have embarrassing moments and moments we wish we could forget. But, working and learning to move past those experiences is what helps us move on with our lives.
What advice would you offer to a high school student just starting high school?
Again, this shows your growth as a person as well as your ability to share what you have learned to help others grow and mature. Students going into high school are often scared and nervous. All they really know about high school is what they’ve seen on TV or movies, or what an older sibling has told them (and let’s be honest, they often exaggerate the stories. A nervous incoming high-schooler once told me her older brother told her freshmen get trash-canned every day–not true). You mentoring a student and telling them what high school is really all about can help ease those nerves and get them through some difficult times. We all know high school can be both a cruel and an enjoyable experience.
A major life event that impacted you.
What is something that happened in your life that really impacted you? How did it help shape you into the person you are today? What did you learn from the experience? Although this prompt may be similar to telling an embarrassing moment, it will allow you to go even deeper. Some of these things can be a death in the family, a birth in the family, a marriage, or an accident to name a few. This would arguably be the most emotionally taxing and longest essay you would write─major life events are the easiest to write about in detail because we often remember them so deeply and intimately.
College applications can be stressful, but writing a great and unique college admissions essay is the first step to getting into the college of your dreams. Try and avoid those topics that everyone writes about (the simple “all about me” essays) and come up with something unique that really gets to the root of who you are as a person. You have a lot to bring to the college life and you need to show that to the college admissions board. Using one of these topics will help show the deeper and more emotional side of yourself. Good luck with your college admissions essay!
Do you have any tips for writing a college admissions essay? If so, what are they? Let us know in the comments!
