Common Application Prompts 2020!

After sending a survey to thousands of  college counselors and other stakeholders, the Common Application has announced that, for the fourth year in a row, it has decided to keep the same six prompts (see prompts below). For counselors, this news is a relief as no additional preparation will be necessary to help their students tackle their essays. The release of the questions is also a signal to rising seniors that there is no time but the present to start thinking about their story and what they want to share with admission officers.  As students begin to think about their writing, here are some tips that they may want to keep in mind: Avoid overused phrase like my educational journey, the best version of myself, [...]

Common Application Prompts 2020!2020-02-22T18:51:41+00:00

Bite Your Tongue!

Another wonderful article written about why we need to allow our students to be themselves in their college essay.  I recently worked with a student on an essay.  She wrote about how she tried to bring a sense of school spirit to her classmates even when their football team had never won a game. The essay perfectly captured who she is and what makes her the most proud. A few days later she came to me and said that her parents wanted her to write about her academics because that is what colleges want to hear. NO! They want to hear what makes an applicant tick, who they are, and what values they will bring to campus.  Kimberly Lifton captures this same sentiment in the [...]

Bite Your Tongue!2018-10-16T01:04:48+00:00
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