This document provides an overview and guidance on college application essays for the 2016-2017 admissions cycle. It discusses the purpose and role of essays within a holistic admissions review. Essays are one part of an applicant's overall application profile, along with test scores, grades, activities, and letters of recommendation. The document reviews changes to the Common Application, Coalition Application, UC application, and essays required by specific colleges like CSU, Lafayette, and Lehigh. It provides tips for brainstorming, outlining, revising, and completing all required essays as part of a strategic application process. Contact information is included for further essay advising.

1. Getting to Know You: The Purpose
of Each College Application Essay
Maya Angelou, September 8, 2016
Rebecca Joseph
getmetocollege@gmail.com
@getmetocollege

2. Overview of Shifting 2016 American
Admissions Landscape
ACT/SAT test
changes
FAFSA Changes New Coalition Application
Changes to Common
Application
2016 College Admissions

3. The Role of Essays
Getting to know you,
Getting to know all about you.

4. Essays Are One Piece of The
Applicant’s Quilt
Test
Scores
Grades
Rigor of
Coursework
ActivitiesRec Letters
Unique
passions
and
potential
Demonstrated
Interest

5. Apply In Order
• Financial AID- Opens October 1
• California State University Campuses October 1-November 30
• University of California Campuses Open Now, Submit Nov 1-30
• Other colleges.
• Rolling
• Early Action-not binding
• Early Decision-binding
• Scholarship Deadlines—College and Scholarships
• Regular

6. CSU EOP
• List any volunteer, extracurricular activities, or work experience in which you are
or have been involved in the past two years.
• Why would you like to attend college? Discuss your career and personal goals.
Are there any particular circumstances, school experiences, or persons that
influenced your preparation or motivation to attend college (e.g.,
cultural/financial background, family, teachers, schools you attended)? Please
explain.
• Briefly discuss your academic background. Did you utilize any additional support
at your high school, such as tutoring? Do your grades in high school and/or
college reflect your academic ability or potential?
• Briefly describe your family’s economic background. Include information about
your financial challenges.
• Please tell us more about yourself. Is there any additional information you would
like EOP to consider in determining your admission to the program?

7. University of California
• Introduces new format
and prompts for both
freshman and transfer
essays
• Applicants must write 4
short 350 word max
essays.
• Freshman can choose
from 8 prompts
• Transfers have one
required and then seven
prompts, of which
applicants must choose
3.

8. UC Focus
• Leadership
• Changing communities
• Creativity
• Academic Passions and Achievements
• Overcoming Challenges
• Initiative

9. UC Freshman and Transfer
Prompts
• Freshman Personal Insight Prompts: Answer
any 4 of the following 8 questions:
• What do you want UC to know about you?
Here’s your chance to tell us in your own
words.
• Which questions you choose to answer is
entirely up to you: But you should select
questions that are most relevant to your
experience and that best reflect your
individual circumstances.
1. Describe an example of your leadership
experience in which you have positively
influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or
contributed to group efforts over time.
2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be
expressed in many ways: problem solving,
original and innovative thinking, and artistically,
to name a few. Describe how you express your
creative side.
3. What would you say is your greatest talent or
skill? How have you developed and
demonstrated that talent over time?
4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a
significant educational opportunity or worked
to overcome an educational barrier you have
faced.
5. Describe the most significant
challenge you have faced and
the steps you have taken to
overcome this challenge. How
has this challenge affected
your academic achievement?
6. Describe your favorite
academic subject and explain
how it has influenced you.
7. What have you done to make
your school or your
community a better place?
8. What is the one thing that you
think sets you apart from
other candidates applying to
the University of California?

10. The Common Application

11. Current CA 2015-2017Prompts
250-650 Words (2015-2016 percentages)
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they
believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please
share your story. (49%)
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? (17%)
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%)
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. (10%)
5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from
childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. (22%)

12. New Coalition Application
New Kid on the Block

13. Unique Coalition Features
• ONLY platform that allows
students to invite anyone of
their choice to collaborate on
platform.
• Students can create their OWN
connection.
• Students can start EARLY
• Students enter profile data
ONCE

14. Coalition Essays
• You are free to work on these essays at any time. (You can even store essay
drafts in your Locker!) They are useful for honing your essay writing skills as well
as for inclusion with your application. If you plan to submit one of our general
essays with your application(s), please use one of the prompts offered during
your application year.
• Essay Prompts for 2016-2017 application are: (word limit depends on each
college)
• Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates
your character or helped to shape it.
• Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which
the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making
your contribution.
• Has there been a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief
challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?
• What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What’s the best part? What
advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to
you)?
• Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.

15. Each College’s Additional Essays Differ

16. Lafayette College

17. Lafayette=CommonApp +2 AdditionalShortEssays
2016-2017 Lafayette Member Questions: Additional Information
• 1. Students identify Lafayette as an excellent fit for countless
reasons. In your response, be deliberate and specific about your
motivation for applying to Lafayette. Why Lafayette? (Required,
Paste in or type in, 20-200 word range)
• 2. There’s a difference between being busy and being engaged.
Lafayette comes alive each day with the energy of students who are
deeply engaged in their academic, co-curricular and extracurricular
explorations. In response to the prompt below, keep it simple –
choose one activity and add depth to our understanding of your
involvement. What do you do? Why do you do it? (Optional, Paste
in or type in, 20-200 word range)
• 3. If you wish to include a copy of your resume as part of your
application, please upload it here. (Optional, Upload)

18. Lehigh University

19. LehighUniversity:CommonApp+2 Writing
SupplementalEssays
2015-2016 Lehigh Writing Supplement (NO Member Questions with Essays)
1. What do you and Lehigh have in common? Please reply with 250-350
words. (Required, 250-350 word range, Paste in)
2. Answer one of the following prompts. (Required, 150-250 word range, Paste
in)
• Imagine that you just completed your visit to Lehigh University. What would
you Tweet about us and why?
• Describe your favorite ''Bazinga'' moment.
• If your name were an acronym, what would it stand for and how would it
reflect your strengths and personality?
• In your opinion, what are the five characteristics of a successful person?
• You've just reached your one millionth hit on your YouTube video. What is
the video about?

20. College Perspectives
• How they see the role of the
essay in holistic review
• The process must start with
personal reflection
• Authenticity is crucial…in the
essay as well as the
application
• Our specific questions and
what we hope to see
• Important points to always
keep in mind

21. Essays=Opportunity
•Share
•Reflect
•Stand Out
http://tinyurl.com/heca2
016essays

22. Before All Essays: Strategic Planning

23. Before Common App Long Essay:
Brainstorming Strategies

24. Some Key Strategies
• Resumes
• Culture Bags
• Letters to Roommates
• UC Insight Questions
• Short Activities Statements
• Explain Gladwell’s Outliers. How Are You An Outlier?
• Explain Harvard’s View of Kindness. How Are You Kind?
• Read Sample Essays on College Websites

25. Before School Specific Essays

26. Through: Guided Questions

27. Through: Revising and Revising

28. Beyond: Completing The Puzzle

29. What Can We Do Now?
• Pick the four UC
prompts you want to
answer.
• Think of the pieces of
your quilt?
• Academics
• Achievements
• Passions
• Experiences

30. Contact Dr. Joseph
Rebecca Joseph, PhD
• Professor, Cal State LA
• Founder, Get Me To College
and All College Application
Essays
• Current 2016 Unsung Hero,
LA County
Contact
getmetocollege@gmail.com
@getmetocollege
@allcollegeessay