essay topics

The Common Application is a standard application form designed to simplify and streamline the college application process. The Common Application is the recommended form of more than 240 selective colleges and universities, many of which use the Common Application exclusively. The Personal Statement section of the Common Application reads as follows:

The personal statement helps us to know you as an individual in different way than from test scores, grades, courses and other objective information.

It will demonstrate your ability to organize thoughts to express yourself. We are looking for an essay topics that will help us know you better as a person and as a student.

Please write a short essay (250 to 500 words) on an essay topic you choose or one of the options listed below. You should attach your essay on separate sheets of same size.

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

2. Discuss a matter of personal, local, national or international level that is important for you.

3. Designate one person who had a significant influence on you and describe that influence.

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

5. Topic of your choice

Some schools accepting the Common Application require that you print out and complete a hard copy for submission. But most schools accepting the Common Application permit you to fill out the application form (including the essay topics) online, and then submit it to the school over the Internet—all via the Common Application Web site.

Even among the schools that don’t use the Common Application, some variation on one or more of these four topics is often used. Nevertheless, a wide variety of additional essay topics and questions also appear on college applications. The essay topics vary so widely that it would be futile to try to list them all or to categorize them here. Besides, there is no best way to respond to specific types of questions and topics (regardless of what you might read elsewhere). The key is to follow general guidelines and to discover your own style and voice that you can apply to any kind of essay topics.

You might be asking yourself why people make such a big deal about the college essay, and you’re not alone. When everyone is talking about SAT scores, grades, and extracurricular involvement, its hard to imagine that something as vague and subjective as “500 to 700 words on a topic of your choice” could possibly have a significant impact on your chances of ad­mission to college. While there’s no question that hard numbers and ex­tracurricular involvement are large factors in most admissions decisions, there are some qualities that test scores and long lists of achievements sim­ply can’t convey- that’s why the college essay was created.

On the most basic level, the college application essay is a tool by which applicants can convey something meaningful about themselves to the ad­missions staff. It’s a chance to add another dimension to your application. Ultimately, it’s a chance for you to define yourself, rather than letting the grades, test scores, and achievements define you. Think of it as a bonus, be­cause if you approach the college essay properly, it can be one of the strongest aspects of your application. Remember, it’s harder for most of us, including admissions officers, to dismiss someone that we feel like we know. An application that coveys your personality will be less likely to get tossed into the reject pile with “Minnesota, football jock, 2.8 GPA, 880 SAT I” and “Jane Doe, the clarinet player.” That’s where a strong college essay becomes essential.

Our professional writers can help you with your college essay.

For a narrative essay, you might tell a story about the library; for a persuasive essay, you might convince your readers to support the library bond issue or visit the library more often. For a descriptive essay, give sensory details about the library’s atmosphere; for an expository essay, you could explain how the online card catalog system works.

Remember that narration is writing that tells a story. Narrative essays can be developed in many ways, including chronological order (time order), as you would construct a story. The difference, of course, is that an essay is non fiction rather than fiction. Narrative essays can also be developed through cause and effect, comparison and contrast, and definition. Let’s focus on developing a narrative essay writing through definition.

Here are some ways to construct a definition passage or essay:

• List characteristics of a thing beyond what you need to just identify it.

• List characteristics of a thing beyond what you need to just identify it.

• Define the whole by naming its parts.

• Define the object by tracing its origins.

• Give synonyms for the concept or object being defined.

The Narrative Essay Writing

The narrative essay writing relates a story or tells about an event. It is frequently used for English and history compositions. It can also be used for the college essay. This type of essay retells a meaningful event, either historical or personal. It must contain relevant details and be well organized in a chronological manner.

Guidelines to consider when narrative essay writing include:

- Organize all the incidents and details in chronological order.

- Begin with the earliest event in the sequence.

- Supply any necessary background information.

- Use transitional expressions that indicate time order.

SETTING UP A NARRATIVE ESSAY

The narrative essay is set up differently than the expository or persuasive essays. It can have three, four, or even five paragraphs. It is usually easier to set it up in three or four. In the following example we will set it up into three paragraphs. It still has the same three basic parts: the introduction, body, and conclusion. In the narrative essay each paragraph will represent one of the basic parts. Remember that the narrative essay is written in the first person and discusses a personal issue.

The first step in process essay writing – is to choose a right topic (process). Since you are going to explain how some exact process works, you must know the procedure (the process) inside out.

Do not use some hard or strange process that you are not familiar with. You can lose some points or even fail your process essay describing unknown process.

Now try to ask yourself following questions and make sure you can answer all of them:

• Why is it important to describe exactly this process?

• Who are your target audience (your readers)? Will it be interesting for them to read about this process? Do they need some special knowledge (background) to understand this process?

• How many steps in that process?

• What difficulties you can face during each step? How you can solve these problems?

• Are there any alternative ways to complete this process?

Now it is the time to think about your title.

If you want to write an ideal process essay the title should be very informative. Your reader should know from the very begging what is the process that you want to describe.

Structure of a process essay:

- Introduction (including Thesis Statement). Here you should name the process and provide some background information. You can also explain why it is important to know about this process.

- Body. Here you should describe the process step-by-step, do not forget to mention all, even minor, details. Please, note that process essay is not necessarily advised to provide the audience with enough instruction to allow them to reconstruct the process. But in the same time instructions should be clear enough!

- Conclusion. First of all restate/paraphrase your thesis statement here. Please, provide the summary of the whole process also and tell the reader about the results of the activity. You can also give some tips and advises to the readers in this part.

Writing your process essay you can use specific, technical language. It is also suggested to use transitional words, to give your reader an idea when one step ends and next step starts. Process essays are often written in the second person, but it is better to check this fact with your tutor.

Analytical essay

An analytical essay is a response to a nonfiction article or essay. In this type of writing assignment, you are asked to read a selection and then write an essay on an assigned topic, with supporting details and evidence taken from the reading.

An analytical essay is similar to a response to literature essay in that both types of essay require you to write a response to something that you have read.

Analytical Essay General Tips

Show that You Understand the Reading Selection

It is important to show that you understand the reading selection. One way to do this is to write a short summary of the reading selection at the very beginning of your analytical essay.

Thesis Statement

A good thesis statement will help you keep your essay on track. Make sure that your thesis statement is clear and direct and that it matches the topic you have been assigned to write on.

Support Your Points

Make sure that your thesis and any other points you make are supported by quotes from the reading.

Pointers for writing analytical essays

One, or sometimes two, of the three essays on the exam arc analytical. That is, you must read passages and analyze them. (A question sometimes contains two short passages to be analyzed and compared.) The author, date, and context of the passage are often identified.

Analytical essay questions most often instruct you to write about the “rhetorical strategies” used by the author to convey meaning, achieve a purpose, or create an effect. Regardless of how the question is worded, however, you arc expected to dissect the passage, breaking it down into its component parts in order to explain how the author put it together.

Sometimes, you may be asked to read a short statement or a passage and analyze its validity. In such cases, you will be asked to write an essay which supports the sentiment expressed, refutes the authors view, or comes down somewhere between the two extremes. To support your point of view, you are free to use evidence drawn from your reading, observations, studies, and personal experience.

Highlight

Most analytical essays examine the purpose, content, structure, and rhetoric of a passage.

Reading and Analyzing the Topic

At the risk of stating the obvious, your preparations for writing an analytical essay should begin by reading the question, or prompt, very carefully. Read it twice or three times, underlining significant ideas and words until you know exactly what you arc being asked to write about.

Writing Personal Essays

A personal essay shares the details of a specific event or time in your life, emphasizing what you have learned from the experience. In this way, a personal essay is part recollection and part reflection.

Whether your purpose in your essays is to narrate, persuade, explain, or describe (or some combination thereof), following the five easy steps can help you get started.

1. Write what you want to write. Yes, I know that you’ve likely gotten this advice before, and with good cause: It really holds true. Choose a topic that really matters to you. Since you’re writing a personal essay, you want to choose something that touches your soul. Otherwise, you’ll likely have trouble mustering the passion you need.

2. Determine your purpose and audience. Your purpose will determine how you write about the topic. For instance, if you write a narrative essay, your purpose is to entertain. As a result, your essay is likely to be light and charming. An expositor)’ essay, in contrast, is designed to explain or instruct. It may still be amusing, but its primary purpose is to teach ‘em.

3. Gather information. You can do this informally by tapping your memories and jotting down notes. Or, you could do some formal research by interviewing people, reading online sources, or checking reference books. Be sure you have the facts you need to make your essay interesting to your readers.

4. Write the personal essay. Decide how many paragraphs your personal essay will have. A brief essay of 550-500 words will usually have an introduction, a body (three-to-five paragraphs), and a conclusion. Then get your ideas down on paper.

5. Revise and edit. Let your personal essay sit to “cool down” a few hours or a few days, if you have the rime. Then reread your essay and decide what to keep and what to change. Don’t be discouraged! It takes time to whip your essay into the form you want. I published the following essay in a local newspaper. It took five drafts until I was satisfied.

Wrong turn

Don’t forget to narrow your topic to (it your parameters. For example, if you want to submit a 500-word personal essay to a newspaper, don’t write about all extreme sports; instead, take a small slice of the topic, enough lo cover in detail in the space you have.

Even at colleges where the competition isn’t quite as intense, admissions people take pains to assemble a varied and qualified student body. A few colleges, struggling to stay in business, admit virtually anyone who applies, and others, bound by law, employ open admissions. Such schools are the exception. As a general rule, the selectivity is practiced everywhere, and the selection of candidates is never done at random.

Schools immediately remove any person who clearly can not do the job.”In general,” says Muhlenberg’s dean of admission, Christopher Hooker-Haring, “students do a pretty good job of matching themselves up with colleges.” As a result, 85 to 90 percent are academically qualified and survive the first cut. Next, a college may pick out a small group of superstars, from presiden­tial scholars to world-class swimmers. The balance of candidates is left in what Harry Bauld, a former admissions representative at Brown and Columbia, terms “the gray area.” These applicants, Bauld says, are “in the ball park” but still far from being accepted. Faced with large numbers of good scholastic records—like those submitted by Jeff, Kathy, and Pat—admissions officials make decisions using what Karl M. Furstenberg, dean of admissions at Dartmouth calls “the intangibles,” qualities that don’t show up on a transcript and can’t be listed in a resume. “This makes our job harder,” claims Furstenberg. “It forces us to look at critical thinking.” And nowhere is an applicant’s level of thinking more evident than in the application essay.

Moreover, people who read college essays for a living know the distinctive style of high school writing. Even the best of it differs from the writing of adults. Perhaps it’s the rhythm, the use of a certain word, an unusual turn of phrase, the juxtaposition of ideas—each can tip off a reader that an adult has had a hand in the essay. There are certain usages that, although natural for an experienced adult writer, would almost never find their way into a high school student’s essay. (The sentence you just read contains just such an example. Notice that the subordinate clause, “although natural for an experienced adult writer,” is embedded in the main clause. One in a thousand high school writers is likely to construct a sentence like that. It would be equally rare, too, for a high school student to say “usages . . . find their way.” Teenagers don’t express themselves that way.)

That’s not to say that every ably written application essay will arouse suspicion in the admissions office. Many applicants write superior essays all by themselves. If a student with average English grades and unexceptional College Board scores submits a slick, highly sophisticated essay, however, a reader will notice. When admissions officers have reason to question the authorship of an application essay, they’ll scrutinize the applicant’s school record and search through teachers’ recommendations for mention of the student’s writing ability. If they still have doubts, they may phone the high school for verification.

Getting substantial help with an application essay may reduce your anxiety, but it also does you a disservice. You should make it into the college of your choice based on what you know, what you can do, and who you are. Misrepresenting yourself may get you in, but once on campus you will do the work, you will do the writing, you will sink or pus you will do the work, you will do the writing, you will sink or swim on your own. An essay that fools the admissions office will grant you a short-lived victory. In a few months, the real you will start bringing home real grades. Your application essay will be history, as will, perhaps, your career as a student at that college.

What is a

The response essay is based on a provocative question that highlights specific insights applicable to a broad range of literary texts. The question provides for varied personal interpretations and multiple approaches. It allows students to truly create the specific substance of their own essay.

What is the purpose of the response essay?

The College Hoard wants to assess your ability to discuss a work of literature in a particular context. The illustrations you include in your essay will demonstrate your insights and critical thinking as well as your writ­ing ability.

Although the question is the same for all students, you have total freedom to choose the piece of literature to which you will refer. Once chosen, you have total freedom to select the specifics that will support your thesis. Unlike the other two essays, which have rubrics based on certain concrete interpretations and directions of the text, your response essay will be uniquely your own.

What are the pitfalls of the response essay?

It is our experience that the free-response question is a double-edged sword. Students can suffer from over-confidence because of the open nature of this essay. They depend on memory rather than on preparation and often go for the most obvious illustrations. They tend to ramble on in vague and unsupported generalities, and they frequently provide incorrect information. The failure to plan and limit can undermine this essay.

Students often have trouble choosing the appropriate work and lose valuable time pondering a variety of choices. It is important to be decisive and confident in your presentation.

What kinds of works may I refer to in this essay?

Generally, you are asked to choose a lull-length work, almost always a novel or play. However, if the prompt says “choose a work.” you may use a poem, short story, novella, or a work of non-fiction. Note: You may never use a film.

Must I use the list of works provided at the bottom of the prompt?

Absolutely not! Since this is a free-response essay, the choice of a literary work is up to you. You should choose a work that is appropriate to the prompt, appropriate to AH students, and one that is comfortable for you.

Writing a literature essay on examination requires many skills you need to carefully plan and construct an argument justify your argument by proving evidence (at times m the form of quotes), and formulate a logical conclusion.

Some tips before you begin:

• Focus on the question word and the task you are asked to do brainstorm around the question word/task
• Plan your argument by listing the points you would like to make. This will focus your ideas in paragraphs.
• Write a rough draft
• Reread the essay and edit if necessary

• Write the essay neatly

Some students who are reading works of literature in a foreign language will be working towards a written examination, usually involving essay writing. Sometimes the essays will need to be written in the target language.

Essay writing and examinations are frequently a lonely business. The element of competition and the awarding of marks compound this isolation. In our view, essay writing and marking need to be explored and shared so that the processes at work can be better understood.

Every literature essay is a form of communication between writer and reader. Poor marks indicate that the two of them are not in tune: the writer is not meeting the expectations of the reader. Clearly the teacher’s written comments or class discussion of an essay question will help students to understand what is expected of them but the teacher has many other helpful options available.

Asking students to set literature essay questions enables them to appreciate how the working of the question determines what will be relevant in the answer and also gives them a greater sensitivity to the sort of question that particular literary works seem to demand.

Exchanging essays and then marking and reporting on them, or even marking and commencing on their own essays, prior to handing them in to the teacher, can help students to develop greater awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses.

Brainstorming for the relevant content of a literature essay in groups prior to individual writing is another way of restoring a social dimension to the planning of essays.

With weaker groups, the teacher can supply a checklist of possible points for inclusion in an essay. Students can then be asked to prioritize the points and group them, having first deleted any that are considered irrelevant.

Write in third person:

Be sure to write your scholarship essay in third person. This means not using words such as “I” “we” or even “you”. Rather, you want to write your essay as if it is a newspaper article or a press release. For instance, suppose the essay question is “What do you think about abortions?” Don’t start off saying “I think abortions are…”or “I believe that abortions can…” Instead, just say “Abortions are…” or “Abortions can…”

Scholarship essay organization:

Be sure to organize your scholarship essay. This means that you will need a definite introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Be sure to use paragraphs and organize your thoughts. Don’t have random thoughts within the essay that don’t exactly fit with the flow of the paragraphs.

Scholarship essay references:

Use references in your scholarship essay to show that you did your research. You can cite a book, a magazine, or even a web site. Whenever you make a claim in your essay that wouldn’t be obvious to most people, you should definitely cite where you obtained such a statement. You can also include a few quotes from notable people, but make sure that it appropriately relates to the topic of your scholarship essay.

Pay Attention:

Pay attention to the rules. Many people lose scholarship essay contests because they don’t follow simple rules. For example, if a scholarship contest requires that you put only your name and phone number at the top of your essay—then do just that. Don’t decide to add your address and fax number. If they say to email your essay in, don’t submit it via postal mail. This may very well be a test to see if you can follow instructions.

No Typos:

Be sure that you spell all words correctly in your essay. Make sure that you use quotation marks, commas, colons, semi-colons, and peri­ods appropriately. Avoid incomplete sentences and run-on sentences.

Make the Deadline:

Shockingly, many applicants try to submit essays after the deadline. Make sure that you get yours in on time. Don’t procrastinate. Start early, and submit early.

Think Big…and Small:

Don’t just apply for the high-end scholarships for $5,000 and up. Keep in mind that these gener­ally are more competitive due to more applicants. Be sure to also apply for the smaller ones, like the $500 and $1,000 scholarships. These opportuni­ties are easier to win because most applicants don’t take them very seriously. They also usu­ally have fewer applicants.