The Spark Admissions Guide to Writing the Best Common Application Personal Essay

If you choose to apply to schools using the Common Application, you will be required to submit a Personal Essay. The Personal Essay provides an opportunity (in 650 words or less) to demonstrate who you are to admissions officers. This is your chance to help admissions officers understand something important about you that they cannot learn from grades and scores. It is also a way to differentiate yourself from other applicants.

Each year, the Common Application includes several essay prompts to choose from. While they occasionally change from year-to-year, in general they ask about how your past experiences and identity have shaped you, lessons you have learned, and your interests. Additionally, an open-ended essay prompt that gives you the option to write on a topic of your choosing is always included. As you brainstorm your Personal Essay topic, think about the following questions:

• How do you enjoy spending your time? What have you learned from these activities or pursuits?
• What makes you happy, excited, or proud? Admissions officers truly love to hear about your passions, interests, and what brings you joy.
• Have you ever had a conversation you will never forget? How did you grow as a result of this interaction?
• What sets you apart from your friends or classmates?
• What is an obstacle or setback you have faced and how did you overcome it? What did you learn from the experience?
• Are there any aspects of your personality that are important to you that are not apparent in the rest of your application materials? The Personal Essay could be a good place to share these qualities with admissions officers.

1. Don’t discuss your resume: The personal essay should not be a list of your accomplishments or a summary of your resume. Not only will this bore admissions officers, but it will also not provide readers with additional information about you. Remember, that information will be available to admissions officers in other parts of your college application. The personal statement is your chance to share your voice and your personality with your readers.
2. Don’t tell your life’s story. Additionally, the Common Application essay is not the place to tell your entire life story. Your topic should be narrow in scope. Ideally, your essay will be about a specific event, moment, conversation, encounter, or memory. Delving deeply into a particular topic will allow you to focus on the details, which will make your story more interesting for admissions officers to read and will reveal more about your personality.
3. Don’t talk about your childhood. In addition, your college essay should not be about an event that happened a long time ago. Admissions officers want to hear about how you’ve grown during high school and who you are now. They are looking for students to join their school community, so they are trying to catch a glimpse of who you might become in the next four years.
4. Don’t talk about things that are too personal. Though it might be tempting, please do not write about mental health challenges, romantic relationships or things that fall into the TMI or “too much information” category. While it is called a “personal statement” it is not really meant to be that personal.
5. Don’t write about overcoming a sports injury. There are many common topics that students write about and this is one of them. While we certainly understand that it may have truly been a tremendous learning experience for you, it is just far too common of a topic and we want your essay to be able to stand out.

The range of topics for a strong Common App essay is truly endless. Once you have made sure you are not writing about a bad topic, let the brainstorming begin! Here are some thoughts:

1. What are you most proud of about yourself? Think about this. It could be a quality and not a specific accomplishment. How have you demonstrated that quality in the world and what does it say about you?
2. What event changed the way you think about the world? We know that this is a tough one, but it is true that often particular incidents or learning experiences really can lead us to having an “aha” moment. Colleges love these essays because it shows that you are open to personal growth.
3. What is something that you are super passionate about? This could be the topic of a great essay because there can been things that are important to you that aren’t listed on the very brief Activities List in the Common App. Colleges love to hear about specific interests, what they mean to you, and why they are so important or interesting.
4. What things have you done that are just “so you”? Is there something you have done that is just “so you”? I know this can be hard to envision but most people have hobbies or activities that they do that are unique to them.
5. What is something that taught you something important? Oftentimes, we learn the most in the most unexpected ways. What is something that you never thought would impact you that you learned a great deal from?

These are just some examples, but, really, you can write about almost anything, which is what makes it so hard! If you need help, Spark Admissions can help you brainstorm your college essays.

Once you’ve chosen a topic, you can follow these steps to craft a strong personal statement for college:

Step 1: Start with a hook.
The introduction is your opportunity to grab your reader’s attention. Think about starting in the middle of your story, with a piece of dialogue, or a detailed description. Don’t be afraid to jump right in! You want to get to the heart of your story as soon as you can.

Step 2: Show, don’t tell.
As you tell your story, make sure to be as detailed as possible. Provide sensory descriptions, anecdotes, and dialogue. Help your reader feel like they’re there too!

Step 3: Reflect on the past and look to the future.
The conclusion is a great place to reflect on what you’ve learned from a particular experience or event. It’s also a good place to write about how your past experiences will shape your future, especially your goals for college.

Step 4: Don’t forget to revise.
Once you’ve completed a draft, set it aside to take a break. When you return to your writing, think about your reader and how they will understand and react to your story. Take the time to revise your writing several times paying close attention to make sure the essay is free of grammatical and spelling errors, flows logically as a story, and contains sufficient details to bring it to life for the reader. If you share your application essay with others, please remember that your friends and even teachers usually have no idea what is important to college admissions committees, so you can take their input with a grain of salt!