Keep Calm and CRUSH the new CommonApp

While this was certainly not my plan for today… I can’t simply ignore this announcement can I?

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/new-common-application-will-be-a-stickler-for-essays/

As some of you may have heard… the CommonApp is changing. In a BIG way.

The two most noticeable changes are:

1.     The removal of the “Topic of Choice” essay option

And

2.     The removal of the “upload resume” option.

Though more information is still needed, here are my initial thoughts of how the changes will affect applicants, and how to handle the changes.

Lets talk about the essay today:

As any regular readers will know, I truly believe that the essay is your best shot to tell the admissions something about yourself that they don’t already know.

The removal of the “Topic of Choice” is going to make the quirky, off the wall essays a little tougher to write.

BUT they are not going to be impossible.

A good essay combines a lot of personality with a story of growth or change. You can still do this with a question.
Yes, your essay is going to conform to a prompt now, but that shouldn’t limit your creativity to the point of writing a generic essay.

These prompts are going to give a huge advantage to those who can be creative or interesting within the confines. It will make unique essays, well, unique.

To demonstrate this, I am going to take the new prompts CommonApp has released, and fit each one to an essay I wrote when I was applying to colleges.

•            Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

This question was very similar to another I had for a supplement. These are the “I come from a kooky background/have weird family traditions/came from adversity or diversity” essays.

For this one, I would have used my essay about my lifelong desire to sit at the adult table at family breakfast, because I wanted to participate in the conversation.

The essay showed that I was intellectually curious, loved to be challenged, and loved to take part in meaningful discussion. 

•            Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?

This is the typical “I failed, I had an injury before the big game, I lost the race but it’s all about the journey” essay.

I did not write this type of essay, but if I was going to I would have tweaked an essay I wrote about singing. I would have talked about how I did not get into the select music class my first try, but having another year in the general chorus improved my music theory skills to the point where I was more advanced than the select group students. It also allowed me to make strong friendships with people who I had never interacted with before, and taught me to love music for the people I’m with.

The original music essay was about how I’m adaptable and take directions well, which this new one would as well. But it would also demonstrate how I don’t get discouraged, and I always take failure as a cue to try harder.

•            Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

This is the “I had my eyes opened, learned to support a cause” essay.
The absolute best essay I wrote was of this nature (and I never got to release it either!)

I wrote about how a class I was in often had current events style debates, and how I was often the only one with my particular political opinion. That led me to learn to support my ideas, do my research, and make my own choices.

Though, if I were writing this today, I would write about my obsession with Shakespeare’s Othello and how I believe the play has more merit if you read Iago as the protagonist (how he’s a much more interesting hero than Othello).
I would talk about how I debated it with my English teacher and eventually got her on my side, and how I read it twice and my second reading (the anti-Othello reading) was much more enjoyable than the first.

This shows that I read and think critically, that I read Shakespeare for fun, and that I’m not afraid to challenge ideas.

•            Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?

This is another “I had a life changing experience, I have a close relationship with someone, I travel,” essay.

For this essay I would have used the essay I wrote about my desire to sit at the adult table at family breakfast (see prompt 1). Same ideas, though adding more about how the 3 generations and their ideas mixed together were my favorite place.

•            Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

This is the “I did something incredible” essay. Or the “this is my interesting cultural background” essay.

The essay I actually used for my CommonApp works with this one.

I wrote about my lifelong love of reading, and ended it by mentioning the self imposed “reading challenges” I started in high school.

To conform to the prompt I would mention how this allowed me to participate and relate more actively with my family (like reading the newspaper daily gave my father and I something to talk about, reading more challenging books allowed me to give my mother recommendations, etc).

I could also have written an essay about how my family watches Jeopardy every day before dinner, and how somehow, like magic, I started being the best at answering the questions around the time I hit 15. And that transition, no matter how small, to me meant I was an adult at last.

That is a quirky, weird essay from a very mundane prompt.

I don’t have a ton to write about the resume yet, I need to do more research.

But never fear, these essays are NOT the end of the fun CommonApp essays.

So everyone? Stay nice and calm!