The Common Application essay is a short essay that gives students a chance to communicate their unique personality to admissions committees. It should include elements of memoir, cover letter, and narrative storytelling. Students do not need to have cured diseases or made scientific discoveries - they just need to write honestly about themselves. The essay should focus on the student using the first person "I". It should include an emotionally resonant story from the student's life that conveys a sense of who they are. After drafting the essay quickly, students can refine it using a structure with a hook to draw the reader in, a backstory explaining how the student responded to a challenge, and a section connecting their passions and goals to their intended major in university.

1. The Common Application essay: equal parts memoir, cover letter, and narrative, all
packed into less than 650 words. It’s the one chance students have to communicate a sense of
their unique personality to the admissions committee at the school of their choice—like a staged,
high-stakes selfie, paperclipped to the front of each application package. If you are a student
hoping to meet the Nov.1st deadline but have no idea how to begin writing, don’t panic. You
don’t need to have cured cancer or developed an earth-shattering physics equation to write a top-
tier entrance essay.
The first thing to remember is that this essay is almost entirely about you. Use “I” and
don’t be afraid to brag. Don’t shy away from writing about intense experiences either; stories
with strong emotional resonance generally make the best CA fodder. Use appropriately complex
diction, but don’t get carried away; you’ve already written the SAT, so they know your
vocabulary is solid. It’s more important at this point for your reader to come away with a strong
sense of who you are. If you’re truly stumped about how to begin, try asking a friend or
acquaintance to ask you a series of questions about your personality and interests. What sorts of
things do you enjoy? Of those, which are you most passionate about? Where did that passion
come from? What would you be most excited to study in university? Why? Do you have any
experiences in that discipline?
Once you’ve selected your focus, try pounding out a draft as quickly as possible, just to
get your ideas down. Then, when you’re ready to begin optimizing finer points like structure,
diction, and flow, refer to the following general guidelines. These same three structural elements
are utilized by many successful essays from previous years. First, the Hook (dramatic, high-
stakes, emotionally resonant) draws the reader in, often outlining a problem, crisis, or challenge,
as concisely as possible. Next, the Backstory explains your response to the challenge using
careful diction and short sentences, in such a way as to convey a clear sense of your unique
identity. This response often involves you taking initiative once it becomes clear no one else will
solve the issue for you. Key themes include creativity, determination, perceptiveness, and
maturity. Finally, the Goals, Hopes, and Dreams paragraph explains how the preceding
narrative meshes naturally with your passions and intended major. Here it is vital that you look
beyond university. It is not your end goal; just a means to an end.