How to Read a College Application Essay Prompt

To write a good application essay, you need to know how to read your college essay prompts so you truly understand them. Here's how.

Many of our students have come to us this summer really excited over unique and crazy ideas they believe will get them some attention inside the admission office. However, while standing out in your application essay is great, going for shock-and-awe is the wrong approach.To write a standout application essay, you need to know how to read your college essay prompts so you truly understand the question your college of your choice is asking. Let's talk about how you can do that.

Follow the prompt carefully

Before you open a blank document and start typing away, you need to know how to read your college essay prompts so you truly understand the question your college of your choice is asking. To answer it right, you need to put your crazy ideas aside for a minute and think about what colleges are hoping to get out of your essay.

In short, read your college application essay prompt(s) and ask yourself:

  • What does the college want to know?
  • Why do they want to know it?

The college essay is just as much a thinking task as it is a writing task. No matter what the prompt or what type of schools you are applying to, all colleges are looking for a piece of reflective writing.

At the end of the day, the topic is never as important as the subject—which is you! Colleges ask you to write personal statements and supplemental essays to:

  • Gain insight into your personality.
  • Get information about you they don’t already have.
  • Find out if you are a good fit for the university.
  • Round out your application package.

This can be challenging. Like most 16- and 17-year-olds, you and your friends are probably thinking about your future, travel plans, jobs, where you want to live, or just what movie you want to see tonight. You’re probably not reflecting on your life and what it’s meant thus far. (Then again, maybe you are, especially if you’re the journal-keeping type!)

Related: Follow the Directions for Great College Applications

Reflection and self-exploration

So how do you learn how to reflect? Start by answering this question:

What do I want the readers of my application to know about me apart from my high school classes, grades, and test scores?”

The way you answer the college essay prompt is key to your success. It’s your opportunity to shine, to offer admission readers some understanding into who you are beyond your grades, test scores, and activities. That’s why you need to figure out exactly what you want admission officers to know about you before you pick an essay topic and before you write that first draft.

Start by thinking about your the traits and qualities essential to who you are. Are you industrious? Funny? Shy? Resourceful? Curious? Hard working? Which of your best traits would you like to share with colleges? Once you know the answer, you can more easily find a topic that answers the prompt and also illustrates those traits.

Example prompt: Common App

Take a look at this Common App prompt that we parsed for our students. Our coaches use the same approach with students completing other Common App, ApplyTexas, California, and supplemental essay prompts.

Common App Prompt 1: 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.

The key word in this prompt is “meaningful,” but even that word can seem big and overwhelming. What makes an experience meaningful?

Again, remember that your college application essay is not about your “background, identity, interest, talent, or experience”; it’s ultimately about you. Why is this aspect of your identity, background, or experience so meaningful? Have you learned something about yourself? What insight have you gained?

Related: How to Write Your Best Common Application Essay

Dig deeper

Admission officers already know your grades. They can see which sports and clubs you’ve joined from your college application. They know what types of courses are offered at your high school, and whether your neighborhood is wealthy, poor, or somewhere in the middle. They can even figure out which types of books you’ve read, depending on your classes. Your transcript provides them with a wealth of information. What they don’t know is how what you did during high school affected you, who you met along the way, or why you cannot get a particular piece of music out of your head. They have no idea how you have changed or why you might be a good fit for their school. Your challenge is to write an essay that illustrates something meaningful about you.

At Wow Writing Workshop, we talk to admission officers all the time, and we know what they want. You can download a free tip sheet here with information from top admission officers from UC-Berkeley, the University of Michigan, Cornell, Vanderbilt, and many more. And for even more advice, explore our Application Essay Clinic!

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Tags:

About Kim Lifton

Kim Lifton

Kim Lifton is President and Co-founder of Wow Writing Workshop, which teaches students and educational professionals a simple, step-by-step process for writing effective college essays so they can stand out and tell their stories. Kim supervises a team of writers and teachers who understand the writing process inside and out. Since 2009, Wow has been leading the college admissions industry with their unique approach to communicating messages effectively through application essays, including personal statements, activity and short-answer essays, and supplements. From Farmington Hills, Michigan, Kim is also a board member of the Michigan Association for College Admission Counseling.

 
 

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress

College Quick Connect

Swipe right to request information.
Swipe left if you're not interested.


Ruth Aguilar

Ruth Aguilar

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress helped me by providing me with many scholarship opportunities and information about universities I want to attend. What I love about CollgeXpress is how it provides a variety of information, and as the first child attending a university next year, it has been very essential and helpful. I’m so grateful for this because the information provided by CollegeXpress has also helped me see that there are so many college opportunities, and it always informs me by email. In other words, CollegeXpress has been like a guide for me as a future college student.

Melanie Kajy

Melanie Kajy

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress has helped me tremendously during my senior year of high school. I started off using the college search to find more information about the universities I was interested in. Just this tool alone gave me so much information about a particular school. It was my one-stop shop to learn about college. I was able to find information about college tuition, school rank, majors, and so much more that I can't list it all. The college search tool has helped me narrow down which college I want to attend, and it made a stressful process surprisingly not so stressful. I then moved to the scholarship search tool to find scholarships to apply for because I can't afford to pay for tuition myself. The search tool helped me find scholarships that I was eligible for. The tool gave me all the information I could ever need about a particular scholarship that was being offered. The CollegeXpress scholarship search tool is so much better than other tools offered, like the Chegg scholarship search. Thanks to CollegeXpress, I was able to apply to tons of scholarships in a relatively easy way!

Anthony Vidal

Anthony Vidal

High School Class of 2023

CollegeXpress has helped me in a series of different ways when it comes to finding scholarships and learning information about different universities. I actually found my dream university through CollegeXpress and am working on getting there.

Sadie Hartmann

Sadie Hartmann

High School Class of 2021

I'm a senior in high school, and CollegeXpress has helped me in so many ways this year in trying to navigate the process of deciding and committing to a university. The COVID-19 Student Resource Center has helped me many times with the most up-to-date and accurate information, along with financial aid and student life [advice]. During these uncertain times, CollegeXpress has been a great recourse to relieve the stress as a senior. Along with the COVID-19 Student Resource Center, I'm constantly using the extremely helpful tools off the site to aid me during this stressful process. Tools like the lists and rankings of universities have been the most beneficial. I've also used the site to receive expert advice on topics like financial aid. Finally, CollegeXpress has helped me easily apply for several scholarships. I'm thankful to be given the chance to win a scholarship to lessen the burden of my college debt.

Rhiannon Teeter

Rhiannon Teeter

$2,000 Community Service Scholarship Winner, 2012

I have spent a lot of time aggressively searching for scholarships. It was a long and frustrating process until I found the CollegeXpress network. This site made my search so much easier. With the simple check of a few boxes, the site sorted out scholarships I was eligible for and led me directly to the correct websites. Winning this scholarship has definitely given me and my family some financial relief, and CollegeXpress has allowed me to improve my chances of winning further financial aid. Thank you so much!