The College Board says the "students’ college essay is their opportunity to reveal their best qualities and to show an admission committee what makes them stand out from other applicants."
The College Board also says The National Association for College Admission Counseling’s 2011 State of College Admission report has found that the essay can be "of considerable or moderate importance" to gaining admission to the college of your choice.
For these reasons--and to give me a sense of who you are as a human being and as a writer--you will write your essay as a summer assignment and share it with me via Google Drive.
You may select from among the Common App prompts below or from the prompts provided by your college of choice. I will score it using our district's college and career narrative essay grading rubric. This assignment will be due July 3.
(Note: If you have already written a college essay, please feel free to share that one. The length requirement for the Common App is 250-650 words. Work within that length requirement, and strive to be effective.)
You may select from among the Common App prompts below or from the prompts provided by your college of choice. I will score it using our district's college and career narrative essay grading rubric. This assignment will be due July 3.
(Note: If you have already written a college essay, please feel free to share that one. The length requirement for the Common App is 250-650 words. Work within that length requirement, and strive to be effective.)
2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
You must write 650 words (the maximum for the Common App) and you must format the paper according to MLA guidelines.
Note: These prompts require you to select specific details from a moment in your lives. A successful essay will bring that moment to life for the reader--who will meet you on this page for the first time. Describe the experience in a way that makes it live on the page for your reader; do not write a list of accomplishments. This work should read like a memoir, not a resume.
