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6 Common App Essay Brainstorming Exercises to Have in Your Back Pocket

Student Life

July 06, 2024

The beginning stages of writing your personal statement for college admissions can be grueling. You may feel completely lost, unsure of what to write about and where to start from. This article will explore some easy and helpful brainstorming techniques for your common app essay!

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Personal Discovery

It is all said in the title - the personal statements ask about aspects of your life and personality.

To begin, take out a sheet of paper and create seven sections. Title each one of the sections according to the following, based on the Common App prompts: Experiences, Difficulties/Discomforts, Failures, Why am I unique?, What matters to me?, Ideas I have challenged, Somebody made happy.

  1. Experiences: Think about your life. What have been some interesting and shocking experiences you have had? How have these had an impact on you?
  2. Difficulties/Discomforts: Does this thing/person/incident affect your personality?
  3. Failures: We have all heard the quote ‘Failures are the stepping stones to success’. Think about any time when you faced a challenge or setback. How did it affect you and what did you learn?
  4. Why am I unique?: Not everybody is the same - everybody has different and distinctive features. If you have such a quality that you believe is so meaningful, jot that down.
  5. What matters to me?: What topic do you find so engaging that it makes you lose track of time? I love applications of computer science in medicine, so I spend hours researching different projects and opportunities. It truly makes me lose all track of time.
  6. Ideas I have challenged: The world is full of people with differing opinions about everything. There is not one thing that everybody agrees on. Jot down a few ideas you have thought about this way.
  7. Somebody made happy: How has gratitude affected you? Write down a few moments where somebody has done something so meaningful, that it changed the way you think. Think about when you made someone happy too.

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Take the Quiz: What Productivity Tool Should You Try?

Want to get organized but not sure where to start? Then this is the quiz for you!

Write your essay before choosing your prompt

In my AP Seminar class, the final project was to write a college essay. I kept going back and forth between topics, trying to see which prompts my stories would fit into. Some advice my teacher gave me was to write whatever came to my mind, and then select a prompt. This approach allows you to focus on your story rather than forcing it to fit a specific mold.

Look at successful essays from previous applicants to understand what works. This can inspire your writing and give you a tone and style that resonates with admissions officers.

Avoid clichés

“I injured my pinky the day of the big game.”

“I want to be a doctor to help people.”

Lists a resumé “I am awesome. Admit me.”

Cliché essay topics instantly turn off any admissions officer. They have read the same type of essay hundreds of thousands of times and are extremely bored. If topics like a sports injury have had such a profound impact on your life, weave into an interesting story, and connect it to something bigger.

The same can be applied to any point you are trying to make. Use examples and vivid details to illustrate your points; for instance, if you want to describe a research program, write about your project, the impact, and, any awards or recognition you received. This way, officers know that it was not some random program you made up on the fly and that you did meaningful work.

Another thing to keep in mind is to sound genuine. Admissions officers know how to recognize a fake essay, so it is important that what you put on paper is what you truly believe.

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Give yourself enough time

The essay prompts are released in March and are due in January. That is more than enough time to carefully plan out and craft your essay. After writing your drafts, ruthlessly edit.

They give you this much time because they want your essay and application well thought over. Continuously seek feedback, and add details if something new has happened. Keep refining until you feel like it feels presentable.

Be creative

There is a seventh prompt open to applicants to be creative, and potentially create an eccentric story. For example, the ‘Letter S’ essay. Harvard student Abigail Mack was so passionate about her hate of the letter S that she thought of writing her statement about it.

She read a snippet on her TikTok account and it went viral. People thought it was amusing, but it showcased her individuality and passion, so it stood out to admissions officers.

Make a resumé

Your mind will be all over the place as you try to select one prompt. To have a collected and organized source to go off of during brainstorming and writing, try creating a resumé. Try not to use those templates with fun colours or weird organization; instead, use this template.

Image Credits: Anete Lusina from Pexels

Bonus: Brainstorming Worksheets

We hope these tips help you in your essay writing!

Bhavana Rupakula
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Writer since Feb, 2024 · 7 published articles

Bhavana Rupakula is currently a junior in high school interested in journalism, math, computer science and medicine.

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