Essay topics
ESSAY TOPICS ON THE “COMMON APPLICATION”
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.
- 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.






