Question 1

How do I choose which extracurriculars to include?

Accepted Answer

It is helpful to have a mixture of dedication to a skill/area (depth) or a mastery of many (breadth). Ideally, your extracurricular activities make evident your passions, your level of dedication to those passions, and what you have done/accomplished in these areas.

Question 2

What should I do if I can’t fill out 10 extracurriculars?

Accepted Answer

You should absolutely try your best to fill out 10 extracurriculars - there are often ways to split activities into two. For example, if you perform in plays at both a professional theater and at your high school, this can be split into two distinct activities. In the description, be sure to focus on what makes each stand out. Perhaps at your high school, you play a handful of prominent roles, while at your local theater, you focus on gaining acting experience in plays across a variety of eras/styles. However, if you go through your list and are still short of 10, it’s not something you should lose sleep over. If you feel that the extracurricular activities you have demonstrate your dedication to crafts/domains you are interested in, then you’ve achieved the goal of this section.

Question 3

How important are extracurriculars to my application?

Accepted Answer

Extracurriculars and honors make up a decent chunk of your application - about 15%. As such, you should make sure to fill these out correctly and with care. The College Apps Clarified podcast explains the best way to go about filling out this section of your application, and the “Extracurricular Example” file in the Downloads section on the website (under Tools & Videos) gives you a flavor for the quality you want to have when you are finished with this section.

Question 4

What do admissions officers say is important for extracurriculars?

Accepted Answer

Typically, admissions officers want to see a few key factors in your extracurriculars: time commitment, relevance to your story/profile, and tangible results/actions. Time commitment is critical - admissions officers want to see that you have activities to which you consistently dedicated a significant amount of time. For example, volunteering with one or two organizations throughout your high school career could be more impressive than bouncing back and forth between random places you volunteer at once or twice. The second factor, relevance to your story/profile, builds off of the first. Admissions officers want to see that your extracurriculars demonstrate activities you are passionate about or skills you are developing. Finally, they want to see tangible results/actions - you should be able to write about something you accomplished to some degree. This doesn’t have to be an award or some difficult-to-achieve milestone, but you should be able to talk about what you did (for example, if you had an internship at a lab, you should be able to explain what kinds of research you conducted).

Question 5

How much time should I spend on filling out extracurricular activities?

Accepted Answer

While you certainly want to nail down this portion of the application, you should not need to spend more than 3-5 hours filling out extracurriculars. If you set aside this chunk of time to work on filling out extracurriculars after listening to the podcast and taking a look at the “Extracurricular Example” file on the website, 3-5 hours should be ample time to come up with your list of activities and refine their descriptions.

Question 6

When should a student begin thinking about doing extracurriculars to improve their college application?

Accepted Answer

The sooner the better. The earlier you begin exploring extracurricular activities, the earlier you will discover what you are most passionate about (if you have not yet figured that out) and the more depth you will be able to gain in a particular area. Freshman year is a great time to begin pursuing extracurricular activities.

Question 7

How much does my SAT/ACT matter in my overall application?

Accepted Answer

Your SAT/ACT score(s) are a big part of your application - they represent about 20% of your overall application. Additionally, your SAT/ACT score is one of the first things that college admissions officers will look at, so it is critical to have a very competitive score for the given school to which you are applying. Even if the rest of your resume is nearly flawless, it is very, very difficult to get over the hump in an admissions officer's eyes if your SAT/ACT score is not strong.

Question 8

How do I determine what score I need to get into a school?

Accepted Answer

You can find the 25-75 percentile SAT/ACT ranges for the vast majority of schools you are interested in applying to online. This should give you an idea of the kind of score you’ll want to have (both overall and in particular sections) in order to get into a given school. Ideally, you want to aim for a score closer to the 75 percentile (or above) in order to make your application more competitive. Our “College Apps Organizer” file in the Downloads section on the website (under Tools & Videos) has these ranges for 350+ schools.

Question 9

How do admissions officers view standardized test scores?

Accepted Answer

Your standardized test scores matter. While grades are weighted more heavily as a whole, since grades have variation across the country, depending on every high school’s rigor, grading system availability of classes, etc., standardized test scores provide admissions officers with an opportunity to compare students with a baseline and to determine whether your grades are an accurate portrayal of your academic success. Because standardized test scores are one of the first parts of your application that admissions officers evaluate, it is often used as a metric to determine whether you are a competitive applicant. Even if the rest of your application is strong, having an SAT/ACT score that is not competitive as compared to other applicants for a given school can be detrimental to your chances of getting in.

Question 10

Does it matter that my test score is slightly lower than my goal?

Accepted Answer

If you have enough time before your score needs to be submitted, you should absolutely retake the test. You have the opportunity to retake the test multiple times (so the earlier you can take the test for the first time, the better) in order to get the score you want, so there is no reason why you should not take advantage of this opportunity.

Question 11

What’s the best way to raise my test scores?

Accepted Answer

There are two critical steps to raising your test scores: ensuring you have the highest possible baseline score, and focusing on improving your ceiling. The key to securing your highest possible baseline score is understanding the test itself - what kinds of questions are asked, what trick questions/trap answers the test will have, and how to most efficiently complete each section in the allotted time. It is helpful to view the test as a system that you can break down into different components. Once you have a strong grasp of the test’s structure, common traps to circumvent, and the best approach for completing each section, you are ready to focus on improving your ceiling. The best way to do this is practice, practice, practice. Do as many practice tests as possible - and don’t cheat yourself! Treat each practice run as if it’s the real deal. The more tests you take, the more kinds of questions you will be exposed to, and the more you will have an opportunity to learn from mistakes/understand how to avoid ones you are commonly making.

Question 12

Do schools care whether I submit my SAT or ACT score?

Accepted Answer

This depends on the particular school you are applying to. Some schools require that you take the SAT or ACT, and it is optional for some schools.

Question 13

How do I determine whether I should submit my SAT or ACT?

Accepted Answer

Determining whether you should submit your SAT or ACT is ultimately up to you - it depends on the goal you set for yourself and how happy you are with your score. This will likely be the score you believe will be sufficient to get into your top college of choice, and will likely be a score you have set as a goal for yourself going into the test. If you do not receive the score you want on your first try, don’t panic - it is very common to retake the test in hopes of improving your score. The great news about taking the SAT and ACT is that some schools actually allow you to superscore, enabling you to submit your best score in each section among all of the tests you have taken. For example, if you take the SAT twice, and you scored higher on Math the first time but higher on Evidence-Based Reading and Writing the second time, you can combine your first Math score and your second Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score into a superscore, and this is what you will be able to submit. However, keep in mind that this does not apply to all schools - you should definitely check if a particular school you want to apply/submit your score to accepts superscoring for the test you are taking. If the school you are interested in does not accept a superscore, you should then submit the best overall test score among the tests you have taken. Regardless, you should submit your SAT/ACT when you feel that you have maximized your ceiling and are satisfied with the result.

Question 14

What are the best resources for doing well on standardized tests?

Accepted Answer

The following links have great lists for resources for performing well on standardized tests: ACT: https://www.thoughtco.com/best-act-prep-books-4158973 SAT: https://www.thoughtco.com/best-sat-prep-books-4159008

Question 15

Are there test score tiers for top schools and Ivy Leagues?

Accepted Answer

The way in which test score are evaluated for Ivy League schools and other top schools, generally, you want to strive for a score north of 1500 in order to be a competitive applicant for highly selective schools.

Question 16

What should I do if I was disrupted during an SAT or ACT while at the testing center?

Accepted Answer

This is honestly a tough situation to deal with, and it is very unlikely to happen to begin with - proctoring these exams is taken seriously. However, in the event that it does, one possible way to deal with it is to report it to College Board as soon as possible after the test. If there is still time for you to retake the test before applying, College Board should let you take the next available exam for free. If not, you should save your correspondence with College Board as evidence and perhaps submit it with your application as proof that your score was not as good as it could have been due to a disturbance.

Question 17

How much does a tutor help for SAT / ACT?

Accepted Answer

Referring to the “What’s the best way to raise my test scores?” FAQ, a tutor can definitely be helpful in increasing your baseline score - tutors understand the intricacies of the test and can help you understand what tricks/traps to anticipate. However, once your baseline score is maximized, using a tutor begins to have diminishing returns, as you can improve your score by practicing on your own. While a tutor can theoretically proctor tests for you, this is something that you can have your parents do or that you can do by yourself. When you grade your practice tests, diligently go through every wrong answer and make sure you understand why you made the mistake you did and how to get to the correct answer so that you are better prepared to answer a similar question the next time. If you do so, you should not need a tutor when you are at the point where you are consistently taking practice tests.

Question 18

What’s the best way to build a school list?

Accepted Answer

As we discuss in the College Apps Clarified podcast, the most efficient way to make a school list is to start off with some general research for about 1-2 hours. Explore colleges through various lists - US News is a great place to start. They have several lists by overall rank, public vs. private, liberal arts vs. engineering, etc. There is a ton of information available through just simple Google searches, so it is a great idea to take 1-2 hours to do this initial research and get a sense of what you’re interested in (location, major, sports culture, etc.). You should aim to come up with a list of 20-25 schools through this process. After you’re done, maybe take a break and come back to it the next day to do a deeper dive into each school so that you know what they have to offer. Again, US News is a great place to start, as the rankings have a pretty strong overall description of each school. You can also go on the school’s website, check out interviews from current/former students, or go on Reddit and see if there are any conversations about the school’s culture. Check out whatever interests you about these schools, and use this information to whittle your list down to 6-15 schools for your finalized school list. A good rule of thumb is to not go overboard here - there are plenty of rabbit holes you can go down as you research, but you want to just get a good enough feel for whether you could see yourself going there, which shouldn’t take up too much time.

Question 19

What are safety, target, and reach schools?"

Accepted Answer

A safety school is a school that you should feel 100% confident in. When you apply for college, you want to make sure that you will at the very least get into a school that you like, and a safety school should ensure that you do. There should be no doubt in your mind when you submit your application that you are getting in - your resume should easily be above that of an average student who is accepted. A target school is one that matches your overall student profile - your test scores and GPA should align with the general population of students that get accepted to the school. You aren’t necessarily guaranteed to get into a target school, but you should feel confident that you have a good chance to get in. A reach school is a school that is highly selective - a good rule of thumb is that if it has an acceptance rate of less than 25%, regardless of how strong your academic/overall resume is, you should treat it as a reach. You might have a chance of getting into a reach school, but you should not bank on it.

Question 20

How many schools should I apply to?

Accepted Answer

A good range to aim for 6-15 schools. However, we recommend that you apply to 11 schools: 3 safety schools, 5 target schools, and 3 reach schools. The reason we recommend this specific range is because this optimizes your chance to have as many options as possible. You don’t want to apply to too many reach schools because it is very difficult to get into any reach school, and you also don’t want to apply to too many safety schools, because then you are limiting your opportunity to get into the best school possible/the school that is the best fit for you. With this 3/5/3 split, you give yourself the opportunity to potentially get into your dream school while still giving yourself very solid options if the reach schools you apply to don’t pan out. While this is what we have seen be successful, please take this with a grain of salt - ultimately, it is completely up to you how many schools you apply to.

Question 21

What schools have application fee waivers?

Accepted Answer

The following is a list of schools (updated in August 2019) that do not have application fees: https://blog.prepscholar.com/colleges-with-no-application-fee

Question 22

How many schools on my list should I visit?

Accepted Answer

This is totally contingent on how you feel and how much time you have. For example, if you think that a visit would help you better understand whether you’d enjoy the school and you have the time to do so, go for it! Generally, it’s not really necessary to go overboard on school visits - you shouldn’t feel obligated to visit all, or even half, of the schools on your list. Visiting 2-5, ideally your top choices and maybe one safety school, should be plenty - but again, do not feel pressure to visit schools if you don’t think you have to do so.

Question 23

How much time should I spend researching my school list?

Accepted Answer

As the first question in this section addresses, you should limit how much time you spend here, as anything more than 3-5 hours will give you diminishing returns and take time away from more important tasks you should be doing, like writing your Common App essay. Getting an initial list of 20-25 schools should take 1-2 hours, and whittling that list down to a finalized list of 6-15 should take maybe 2-3 more.

Question 24

Should I make an excel sheet to organize my school list?

Accepted Answer

Organizing your school list in an excel spreadsheet can be immensely helpful in keeping track of your progress. Feel free to check out our College Apps Organizer excel file in the Downloads section of the website (under Tools & Videos), as well as the accompanying tutorial video on how to use it.

Question 25

How do I know if I should take a school off my list?

Accepted Answer

A good rule of thumb for taking a school off your list is asking yourself the following question: “can I see myself going to this school?” If the answer is no, then the school probably shouldn’t be on your list, because there is no point in taking the time to apply to a school you wouldn’t go to even if you were accepted. That takes away time you should be spending on the applications for the schools you want to attend. And this rule goes for safety schools as well - these schools should still be schools you could see yourself going to if/when accepted.

Question 26

How should I narrow my school list?

Accepted Answer

The rule of thumb above is a great way to narrow your school list from an initial list of 20-25 schools to a final list of 6-15. In order to answer this question about each school, you want to make sure you have an understanding of what you want (e.g., location, major, culture, etc.) and understand how well each school on your list matches the factors you care most about. Additionally, you want to keep in mind the 3/5/3 ratio for safety, target, and reach schools that we discussed above.

Question 27

What’s the best way to find good schools that I don’t know about?

Accepted Answer

The best way to find good schools you don’t know about is to use the US News rankings. They have several lists based on overall ranking, best liberal arts schools, best engineering programs, etc. Perusing through these lists is a great way to find schools that may be a good fit for you that you haven’t heard of. You can find all of those lists here: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges

Question 28

What are good resources to use to build my school list?

Accepted Answer

The following is a list of helpful resources to build your school list: 1. Word of mouth 2. US News rankings/other national rankings 3. School websites 4. YouTube videos about the school (virtual campus tour, interviews with current/former      students, tailgates, etc.) 5. Reddit conversations

Question 29

What criteria should I use to make a school list?

Accepted Answer

The criteria you should use to make a school list is contingent on what you want out of a school. Think about what factors are most important to you - public vs. private, school size, academic programs, location, community/culture, sports, etc. It is helpful to have a good idea of what characteristics you want most in a school so that you can hone in on a list of schools with schools you can envision yourself attending.

Question 30

Should I do a campus tour?

Accepted Answer

The answer to this depends on a few factors: how much time you have, how expensive/inexpensive it would be, and how helpful it would be for you in order to decide whether the school would be a good fit. If you have the time, and are able to afford the trip, it’s never a bad idea to visit your top choices to see whether they would really be a good fit. A campus tour can be helpful in confirming your beliefs or possibly in making you realize a school you initially wanted to attend might not be the best fit. If the school is local, it’s definitely a good idea to go on the tour, especially because it’s an easy way for you to experience a college campus if you haven’t already done so. Generally, it would be a good idea to do at least one campus tour to, if nothing else, get a feel for what a college campus is like.

Question 31

Who should I talk to on a campus visit?

Accepted Answer

Talking to the head admissions officer and the admissions officer in charge of your region of the country/globe can be very helpful. There’s certainly no guarantee they will remember you, given that admissions officers are looking at tens of thousands of applications and meeting thousands of students each year, but at the very least, you can gain useful insights that can help shape your application. For example, if you’re visiting as a sophomore or junior, you can get a good understanding of what a school is looking for in students by speaking to its admissions officers.

Question 32

Does visiting a school help my chances?

Accepted Answer

This typically depends on the school you are visiting. For example, highly selective schools, as well as large, well-known public schools, have such a high degree of interest that you visiting a school will very likely have no impact on your chances of getting into the school. However, smaller schools that are not as well known may have a higher degree of interest in students who show interest and take a campus tour, in which case visiting the school may increase your chances. Regardless, you should not bank on visiting a school to increase your chances as a differentiator in any capacity - your overall resume/profile and your essays are what matter.

Question 33

Do admissions officers track who visits?

Accepted Answer

Several schools do keep track of students who demonstrate interest. This includes keeping track of campus visits, as well as attendance at information sessions, college fairs, and when an admissions officer visits your high school.

Question 34

What if I cannot visit a school?

Accepted Answer

If you cannot visit a school, you should not worry. Colleges and their admissions officers understand that there are various factors that go into being able to visit a school, and if you cannot visit, it will not be held against you. For example, if you live on the east coast, a school in California is not going to expect you to fly across the country for a visit. However, as a result, college admissions representatives will often have information sessions that are near you or perhaps in your region of the country (depending on where you live/how many students the school typically accepts from a certain area) which may be more feasible for you to attend. If you can make one of those, you definitely should. Additionally, admissions officers will sometimes even visit your high school, and if an admissions officer from a school you are interested in is visiting your high school, you should, without question, attend. Not doing so can only hurt your chances.

Question 35

What’s the best way to spend my time while on a school visit?

Accepted Answer

The best way to spend your time while on a school visit, aside from the general sessions (with opportunities to hear from/talk to admissions officers) and guided tours, is to make sure that you get a general understanding of daily student life and how the campus feels as a whole. Ultimately, the biggest benefit to visiting a school is understanding whether the school would be a good fit for you, so ideally, you want to be able to explore as much as possible. Whether that means you sit in on a lecture or two, go to a sporting event, or talk to students in your prospective major, a school visit is a time for you to explore. Most importantly, have fun!

Question 36

What types of notes should I take while I’m on a school visit?

Accepted Answer

There are a couple of key things you should be taking notes on while you’re on a school visit. The first is what admissions officers say they look for when evaluating students. Often, campus visits will include a public session with an admissions representative, and the insights they reveal around what kinds of students they are looking to accept can be extremely valuable as you prepare your resume and get ready to apply. For example, you can use this knowledge to help you select who will write your letters of recommendation given your relationship with them. The second is details for supplemental essays. Going into the school visit, it would be a good idea to know the supplemental prompts from previous years in advance, and you can pick up helpful nuggets of information to inform the direction of your supplemental essays during the school visit.

Question 37

What is the best piece of advice for going on school visits?

Accepted Answer

Enjoy the visit and have fun! You shouldn’t put extra pressure on yourself during a school visit - it is a thrilling experience and you should soak it in. This is your time to explore and envision what it will be like to be in college, which is an incredible experience to have.

Question 38

When do school visits take place?

Accepted Answer

School visits typically take place year round (aside from winter and spring breaks), but ideally, you want to go during the fall or spring so that you can get a better idea of the full experience with students being on campus. This way, there is more of an opportunity to speak with students, sit in on lectures, and experience campus culture. Each school will have plenty of information on their campus tours on their website, so that is a great place to start for a specific school’s visit.

Question 39

When should I schedule my school visits?

Accepted Answer

The best time to visit schools are during the spring of your junior year or fall of your senior year. As such, you want to ensure that you give yourself ample time to make all of the necessary preparations - booking your place in the tour, booking a hotel, getting plane tickets, and any other necessary arrangements you may need to make. A good rule of thumb would be to plan ~6 months in advance to be safe, as tours book up rather quickly. So if you are planning to visit a school in the spring, make arrangements the previous fall, and if you are visiting a school in the fall, make arrangements in the previous spring.

Question 40

What are the sections of the Common App?

Accepted Answer

The sections of the Common App are as follows: Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities (extracurriculars), Writing (essay), and Courses & Grades.

Question 41

How do I access the Common App?

Accepted Answer

You can access the Common App through the following link: https://www.commonapp.org

Question 42

Do all schools use the Common App?

Accepted Answer

No, not all schools use the Common App. The following is a list of schools that DO accept the Common App (updated as of July 2019): https://blog.prepscholar.com/which-schools-use-the-common-application-complete-list If you do not see your school on this list, then they do not accept the Common App. For example, the UC school system has its own application portal.

Question 43

What should I do if a school doesn’t take the Common App?

Accepted Answer

If a school does not take the Common App, you will need to research how to apply to that school - there will be a wealth of information available either on the school’s website or via general Google searching. For example, as discussed in the question above, the UC school system has its own application portal: https://apply.universityofcalifornia.edu/my-application/login

Question 44

What do I need to submit to schools outside of the Common App?

Accepted Answer

This will depend on the specific school. If a school does not accept the Common App, it will have its own requirements or be a part of a larger application portal (such as the one for UC schools). Either way, you will be able to find out what you need to submit based on the information you find on the specific application websites.

Question 45

What should I select if I’m an international student?

Accepted Answer

If you are an international student, you will have an opportunity to describe this in the Address and Geography portions of the Profile section of the Common App. In the Address portion, you will fill out your home address (wherever you will be when receiving mail). In the Geography portion, you will select your country of birth, city of birth, number of years you have lived in the United States, and number of years you have lived outside of the United States.

Question 46

If I’m confused about a question on the Common App, what should I do?"

Accepted Answer

If you are confused about a question on the Common App, you should check out their Applicant Solutions Center website: https://appsupport.commonapp.org/applicantsupport/s/ On this website, there are several helpful links and videos, and if you are still not able to find the answer you are looking for, you can click the Contact Support button on that link and send a message directly to a support team with your question.

Question 47

How important are essays to my application?

Accepted Answer

Essays are a pivotal portion of your application - they make up 25% of the overall application and provide you with an opportunity to put your application over the top. The essay is truly a differentiator, and its importance cannot be overstated!

Question 48

Do I need to hire a consultant to help with essays?

Accepted Answer

You do NOT need to hire a consultant to help with essays. In fact, that is one of the motivations behind the creation of College Apps Clarified. The College Apps Clarified podcast, along with the accompanying videos and tools, outline a unique methodology for writing essays that has helped several students gain acceptance into elite schools - and these resources are completely free. Even if you don’t utilize these resources and are writing the essay without help, at the end of the day, as long as you are using your authentic voice, stay disciplined, and go through several rounds of revision, you should be able to have an essay that is roughly 80% ready for submission. For the final 20%, this is where we recommend you have different sets of eyes on your essay to ensure that the essay flows and comes across as you think it should. Whether this is a friend, a trusted mentor, a high school English teacher (which we highly recommend), or a paid essay expert, having someone else provide feedback and their perspective on the essay can be immensely valuable. If you are interested in having an expert review your essay with a quick turnaround to get you to the finish line, we recommend that you check out our trusted partner, Narrative Applications. If there is a time during the essay writing process to hire someone to help, it would be during this final phase after you already feel good about your essay(s) and have made significant progress. But make no mistake - you do not need to hire a consultant to help with essays. You have the resources at your disposal to write a strong college essay for free.

Question 49

When should I start brainstorming essays?

Accepted Answer

You should start the brainstorming process ideally when the Common App prompts come out, or at least as soon as you read the prompts for the first time. As you read each prompt out loud to yourself, think about what resonates with you as you read it - maybe it is a time you showed resilience in a sport, maybe it is a time you had an enriching learning experience through volunteering. Whatever thoughts may arise as you go through the prompts, keep them in mind as you transition into actually beginning to brainstorm ideas on paper.

Question 50

How should I brainstorm essays?

Accepted Answer

For brainstorming essays, we recommend using a unique methodology called Parallel Chronological Timelines, which we discuss in the College Apps Clarified podcast. The idea behind this approach is that throughout your life, you have various timelines that you experience: time, events, ideas, decisions, travel, relationships, accomplishments, and so on. Essentially, to start, you write major milestones/memories along each of these timelines. As you take notes across each of these timelines, you may notice that some of your seemingly disconnected experiences are actually very much related, and that lessons you learned from one experience may have actually carried over to a completely different one. For example, the perseverance you learned from dedicating hours after hours perfecting your basketball shot may have been what gave you the tenacity to stick through a volunteering experience that was challenging at first, but, because you didn’t give up, ended up being the most rewarding experience of your life. The idea behind this methodology is to weave different parts of your life together, which can create a very powerful essay. We highly recommend listening to this step of the podcast, which breaks this process down in depth, as well as downloading the Brainstorm Template in the Downloads section of the website (under Tools & Videos), which outlines the process for you and can help you get started.

Question 51

What are the most important things to keep in mind for writing essays?

Accepted Answer

There are two critical components to keep in mind for writing essays: authenticity and diligence. Staying true to yourself and using your authentic voice may sound like a cliché, but it is the key to writing a great essay. The most powerful essays come from the heart - you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable. Doing so can move the college admissions officer who is reading your essay and can make them relate to you, which is the best possible result you can have from an essay. Diligence, meanwhile, is necessary throughout the process. Writing these essays can be quite difficult, so you need to stay disciplined and make sure you consistently put forth your best effort.

Question 52

How do I choose a topic?

Accepted Answer

As we discuss in the question about how to brainstorming essays, the Parallel Chronological Timelines methodology often reveals a topic (or multiple topics) that you can choose to write about. The key to selecting a topic is to allow it to flow naturally from your own experiences.

Question 53

What structure should my essays have?

Accepted Answer

Unlike academic essays, there is no required structure when writing a college essay. Feel free to be creative!

Question 54

When do essay prompts come out?

Accepted Answer

Supplemental essay prompts for schools typically come out at some point in July or August, and very likely, all will be released by September 1st at the latest. Throughout the summer, you can check the websites of schools you are interested in to track whether their essays have been released. Meanwhile, the Common App essay prompt release date varies. For example, the Common App announced in January 2019 that the 2019-2020 prompts would remain the same as the prompts from 2018-2019, which is not uncommon. If the prompts do change, usually it only 1-2 that change, with the other 5-6 remaining the same. Due to the variation in timing in which the essay prompts come out, it is a good idea to periodically check school websites and run general Google searches. Note that many supplemental essays also stay the same year to year, so feel free to get a head start by looking at older versions.

Question 55

How do I choose which Common App prompt to answer?

Accepted Answer

Similar to choosing a topic, the best way to choose which Common App prompt to answer is to select the one that resonates with you the most. As you read the prompts out loud to yourself and start thinking about memories and experiences you have had that apply to the given prompt, you will likely be able to tell which prompt resonates with you the most. This will likely be a prompt that evokes strong emotions or immediately sparks ideas for what to write about (sort of like an ah-ha! moment). If there isn’t a prompt that stands out from the rest or resonates with you right away, the last prompt, which is typically open-ended, is a great option because it gives you the flexibility to respond in virtually any way you choose.

Question 56

Do I actually have to answer the prompt?

Accepted Answer

There is a difference between answering a prompt and responding to a prompt - you don’t need to necessarily write an explicit answer to the prompt. The prompts are meant to guide you to write a compelling essay. Admissions officers care more about your message than how well you “answer” the prompt.

Question 57

Can I submit an essay I’ve written in the past?

Accepted Answer

In theory, you can submit an essay that was written in the past. But in practice, you should probably not do so. The likelihood of an essay you’ve written in the past being suitable for a college essay is extremely unlikely, as college essays are a different form of writing that, unlike academic writing, requires deep introspection and creativity to show your voice. As a result, we highly, highly advise against submitting an essay you’ve written in the past.

Question 58

What types of messages should a college essay convey?

Accepted Answer

First and foremost, the most critical part about writing a college essay is that it has genuine authenticity. There isn’t a specific type of message that a college essay should convey. For example, you shouldn’t feel obligated to follow the classic narrative of “I failed, I learned from it, I applied what I learned and then I succeeded” or a similarly common essay structure. At the end of the day, a college essay is your opportunity to show the admissions officer who you are and what makes you special. In order to do this, your message should be a genuine portrayal of who you are, what you care about, and why you care about it.

Question 59

How can I get better at writing about myself?

Accepted Answer

Because writing about yourself takes deep introspection and thought, one great way to get better at writing about yourself is to surround yourself with objects or the right environment to evoke strong memories and feelings. Perhaps it is your first baseball mitt or your first pair of dancing slippers. Maybe it’s an old photo album. Maybe it’s sitting on the grass in your backyard and gazing up into the clear sky. Whatever it may be, placing yourself in the right setting can go a long way in improving your ability to write about yourself, as it facilitates your ability to feel vulnerable and emotional. And, like with any skill, you can never have enough practice. As simple as it sounds, the more you practice, the better you will become. As you start to write college essays, you will likely find that the process becomes easier and less daunting, and you will be able to write about yourself more seamlessly as a result.

Question 60

Is it a smart move to take a risk on my essays?

Accepted Answer

Continuing with the theme of the importance of authenticity, if taking a risk in your essay(s) is a genuine representation of who you are as a person and what you believe in, then taking a risk can be fine and can come across well (when handled tactfully). However, it is not a smart move to take a risk for the sake of getting noticed - this will be pretty apparent in your essay, as it will likely not be a genuine portrayal of who you are, which an admissions officer will be able to read through. In any case, it is just good to keep in mind that there is always a chance that taking a risk backfires. That is not necessarily a reason not to take one, assuming it fits within your narrative, but it’s just something to keep in mind.

Question 61

Can I make jokes/be funny in my essay?

Accepted Answer

It depends on your personality. Injecting a bit of humor into your essays can certainly be a good tactic, as it can make your essay more enjoyable to read/more relatable for an admissions officer when done correctly. However, you should not feel obligated to do so and you should not force jokes if they do not fit into the natural cadence of the essay, or if doing so takes away from your authentic voice.

Question 62

Does writing about mistakes or failure reflect badly on my application?

Accepted Answer

The act of writing about failure or mistakes does not reflect badly on your application; what matters is how you approach writing about failure or mistakes. When doing so, you want to focus on what you learned/how you grew as an individual from the mistake or failure rather than harping too much on the mistake or failure itself. In fact, when done properly, writing about a failure or mistake can reflect positively, as it can demonstrate your resilience. That said, if you choose to write about a failure or mistake, try to avoid writing about an academic failure - since such a significant portion of your application is contingent on your academic performance, highlighting shortcomings may reflect negatively on your application.

Question 63

How long do admissions officers take to read my essay?

Accepted Answer

As the volume of college applications continue to increase each year, admissions officers spend less and less time per application. As a result, admissions officers will often average less than 15 minutes to assess your entire application. It is thus a fair estimate that admissions officers will take 4-6 minutes, if not less, to read your essay.

Question 64

How many essays does each admissions officer read?

Accepted Answer

This depends on the size of the school, but more than likely, each admissions officer reads thousands of essays.

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