Going to college is quite a challenging process, or so they say. However, getting into college may sometimes be just as challenging. Aside from passing the school exams properly and recalling all the knowledge you’ve got in the previous years, you also need to pass some tests and, in some cases, even write an essay. Quite a task indeed. And if the exact questions for tests usually remain hidden from the enrollees, the Common App essay prompts are usually announced not long before the enrollment starts. Let’s look at some of the most anticipated ones for 2021.
H2: Getting Ready
To get more detailed about the Common App essay prompts for the 2021 enrollment, it’s important to understand what a Common App essay in the first place is. To keep the long story short, the Common App essay is a personal statement essay required by colleges and universities as a part of the enrollment process. These essays are usually written during the enrollment exams. The requirements of the essay are pretty simple, you must write a personal statement about yourself in up to 650 words. While it doesn’t seem that hard, many students can be afraid of it, and for a reason.
Although writing about yourself should obviously be one of the easiest things you can think of, it can become really hard, especially under the stress and pressure of the exam. The essence of the Common App essay is in 650 words or fewer to respond to the question “who are you?” Believe it or not, however, many people opt to pay for essay like that. The thing is that under the pressure of the enrollment exam it becomes almost impossible to recall anything about oneself that could answer that question. That’s why the official Common App website offers the students the following prompts to keep track of their ideas. The enrollees are not obliged to follow any of them on the real exam, but they can be very helpful in order not to get lost.
- 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 lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
- Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
- Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful surprisingly. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
- Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
- Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
- Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
As you can see, all prompts are very specific, thus, allowing you to focus on one trait of your character or an event from your life. By responding to all the prompts beforehand, you’ll be able to provide a very clear and specific response to the Common App essay question with no issues at all. To ensure an even greater result, the experts from LetsGradeIt suggest writing an essay following each prompt a few times, each time recounting a different event or character trait. That allows you to respond to the main prompt without even thinking about it and still producing an original result that doesn’t resemble any other essay.
Another reasonable tip for the Common App essay preparation is to keep it as simple as possible during the actual exam. You can pick any trait of your character or life event, no matter how complex it is, as long as you practice your writing. The real exam, however, rather checks how well you can express your thoughts and introduce yourself in English than inquires the degree of your creativity. There’s no point to go too complex about things as you might get lost in your own stream of ideas. On the other hand, a complex and overly self-exploratory essay can confuse the reader and negatively affect your admission.
H2: Getting Prepared
You might think that you’re ready for the test, however, this depends on the degree of your preparedness. Being ready means being able to perform something without even thinking about it. Being prepared means being able to adapt to any conditions and environment, no matter how stressful and extreme it gets. Only through a thorough and devoted preparation one can become first prepared, and then ready afterward.
BIO:
Elizabeth’s enthusiasm has made her a career. Without being keen to explore new things, go to great lengths for it, and share those experiences with others, she would never become such a prolific author. Follow Elizabeth Baldridge on her journeys and learn one new thing every day.
