Career development (certifications, courses & curriculum) for changemakers.
As part of your college application process, many colleges will require an admissions essay. This is your opportunity to highlight your strengths, academic achievements, and overall personality. Your personal statement will help admission officers (yes–real people read your essay!) to make their final decisions.
In this post, we'll cover:
Your GPA, transcript, test scores, college interview, and other concrete items are undeniably important parts of your college application; but, your essay is a critical component because it gives you the opportunity to reveal a part of you that won’t shine through anywhere else.
Simply put, it's your chance to stand out. So, let’s dive in and talk about essay prompts.
Both the Coalition for College and the Common App provide you with essay prompts to choose from. Typically, you'll select one prompt to respond to, but depending on the school(s) you're applying to, you might need to submit additional essays (supplemental essays) or short answers in addition to your main essay.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let's take a step back. The first thing you should do before you begin your essay is to complete a nearly finalized list of schools you'll be applying to in the fall. Take some time to browse the website of each institution to which you are applying. That way, you'll have a better understanding of application and essay requirements.
As noted in the last section, some schools may ask you to respond to just one prompt, while others ask for a supplemental essay. Still other schools might have word count limits that vary slightly.
Depending on the schools you're applying to, you might have choices to make in terms of how you apply, and therefore, the essays you submit. By the end of this article, we hope you'll feel confident in creating an application strategy of your own backed up by some stellar essays.
You can apply to Coalition colleges with Scoir! The following essay prompts will be reflected in Scoir as you complete the application process. Coalition's website details that there’s no perfect length, but you should aim for your essay to be between 500-650 words.
What is the Coalition for College, you ask? One of the distinguishing characteristics of Coalition member schools is their mission. The Coalition is made up of more than 150 top colleges and universities committed to making college more affordable and ensuring you graduate on time.
If you apply using Common App, you'll use one of the following essay prompts. The 2023-2024 Common App essay prompts remain the same as the year prior. Similarly to Coalition, you have a maximum limit of 650 words and a minimum of 250 words.
We encourage students to choose whichever application method best serves them. If you decide to apply via Common App, instead of Scoir, you'll complete your application in Common App and manually update your college list in Scoir. Here's how.
We get it! Sometimes it helps to see all of the prompts together, so you can get a broader sense of what these prompts are trying to bring out of you. We created this visual, which includes the Coalition and Common App essay prompts, with you in mind.
As you read through these prompts, you might’ve noticed that they’re pretty similar in nature. In fact, some of them line up nearly perfectly! The big thing to take away from this article is that essay prompts are meant to invite reflective writing.
Decide on the story you want to tell first. Then, pick an essay prompt that aligns with your story, instead of the other way around!
It's important to remember that your space is limited. Stay focused, and don't take too long to make your point. Remember, Coalition essays should be 500-650 words long, and Common App essays should be no more than 650, and no less than 250.
May is a great time to begin outlining your essay. Nothing super formal is needed–maybe open a note on your phone!
By the end of June, you should aim to have a full first draft prepared of at least one essay (depending on how many you might need). Put that draft aside for now and consider starting on a draft of a second, entirely different essay topic.
Use July to finalize the first draft of your second essay. Now is also the time to decide whether you'll be applying early. This will help you understand how much work you have to finish before those early deadlines.
Use August to gain feedback on your essay drafts from people you trust. Decide which one you'd like to move forward with, make those final edits, and consider your personal statement complete as you head into your senior year! This leaves you with plenty of time to write those supplemental essays if you need them.
Looking for more resources to support your college essay writing? Our partner College Essay Guy holds an incredible video course on How to Write the College Application + Supplemental Essays that may help.
This article was originally published on May 11, 2022. It was updated on July 13, 2023 for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
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