COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY PROMPTS

Common Application  Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.

Common Application  Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.

Common application Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.

Common Application Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.

Common Application  A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.

Generic prompts… Explain a situation that has affected your high school experience. Include a personal statement.

Some might require a little more time and thought….

Rice University Write page 243 of your autobiography.

University of Chicago You are a circle. Now explain yourself.

Tulane University To give further evidence of your depth of thought, imagination, and expression of creativity, USE THE BOX in any way you feel appropriate and accompany it with a written commentary.

University of Chicago The late William Burroughs once wrote that “language is a virus from outer space”. We at the Univ. of Chicago think he’s right, and this leaves us wondering what else came here with it. Could this finally explain such improbable features of modern life as the Federal Tax Code, non-dairy creamer, Dennis Rodman, and the art of mime? Name something that you assert cannot have originated any other way. Offer a thorough defense of your hypothesis for extraterrestrial origins, including alternate explanations and reasons for eliminating them from consideration.

University of Virginia What is your favorite word and why?

University of Chicago Where is Waldo, really?

Northwestern Imagine you have written a short story, film, or play about your last four years. Briefly describe the one moment or scene that your audience will most remember from this autobiographical piece. What will they learn about you from that moment?

Kalamazoo Collge What invention would the world be better off without, and why?

University of Chicago “A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.” –Oscar Wilde Othello and Iago. Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. The Autobots and the Decepticons. History and art are full of heroes and their enemies. Tell us about the relationship between you and your arch-nemesis (either real or imagined).

University of Chicago In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose a question of your own. If your prompt is original and thoughtful, then you should have little trouble writing a great essay. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun.