1. Essay #2 Common Application

2. Answer the prompt directly and completely Essay Prompt Two: 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? Break it down: What are the key words in the prompt?

3. Answer the prompt directly and completely Essay Prompt Two: 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? ****After describing the “failure,” be sure to show the positive changes that emerged from the situation!

4. Be personal and specific

5. Academic: Did you challenge yourself in an academic area that is not usually your forte, and find that it didn’t go the way you hoped it might? Did you seek a summer internship in an academic area you thought you’d like to explore more deeply, and find that you weren’t engaged in the way you wished? Have you submitted your writing, art, or lab results to a journal for publication and receive your first rejection letter/negative feedback? Extracurricular: Did you believe the serious injury you experienced in your sophomore year would detail your athletic career? Or did you fail in your sport choice? Did you dream of continuing your horseback riding or sailing when your family moved but found your parents no longer would cover the cost or there was no opportunity in the new area to continue? Did it seem like a great idea for you to follow in the footsteps of an older sibling only to learn that path wasn’t right for you? Personal: Did you challenge yourself to a resolution, goal, or personal promise, and find you weren’t able to stick with it? Did you make an effort to reach out to people you hoped would be your friends only to find they didn’t welcome you? Have you ever taken a close look at your character traits and personal qualities and hoped to make fundamental changes, but then realized those traits and qualities were inextricably tied to who you are?

6. SAMPLE

7. Essay 2 Draft Day  Did you answer the prompt directly and completely? Failure; Affected you; Recovery  What message are you sending about yourself? Write a complete sentence at the top… “I am showing that I am _____ through this story.  Were you personal and specific? Is it a STORY?  Is your audience a college admissions officer, or are there things that need to be explained further to someone outside GV? Enhancement, Maris Grove  Can the beginning of the essay be more interesting?  Can you add transitions to make the paper smoother?

8. Transitions between sentences and paragraphs I wished I’d gone home. I was still there. I won a metal. I was hurting more than ever. Although I wished I’d gone home, I was still there. Ironically, I won a metal despite my hurting more than ever. I wished as hard as I could to go home, but it didn’t work. I was still there. I had won third place and had to stay to collect my prize despite my hurting more than ever.

9. Vary sentence length and structure I went skiing. I listened to my I-pod. I considered college choices. I crashed.  Skiing and listening to my I-pod, I considered my college choices and, of course, crashed.  Skiing, listening to an I-pod, and considering college choices is a dangerous combination. I, inevitably, crashed.  Skiing was not enough to take my mind off college choices, so I listened to my I-pod. Before too long, I crashed.