1. College Application Essay Examples

I am combining my lives as a journalist, school board member and parent to cover education, primarily from kindergarten through high school. I worked for news organizations in Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, New Jersey and Florida before moving to South Africa and covering the end of apartheid. Next it was on to Hong Kong as the handover to China unfolded and my husband and I adopted two children. When they entered the Hoboken, N.J., public school system, I wasn’t content on the sidelines, so I ran for the school board twice and won in 2009. I was on the losing end of many 8-1 votes as I argued for lower taxes and higher standards during my nearly four-year term. Now my kids are teenagers-my son went to a public magnet high school and is now in a state college and my daughter is in a Catholic high school.

Welcome to the MacMurray College Application for Admission. Contact the Office of Admissions at 217.479.7056 or admissions@mac.edu with questions, or if.

The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. Nearly half of the college applicants who used the Common Application this year submitted an essay about their “background, identity, interest, or talent.” Only 4% of applicants using the Common App wanted to dig deep on the question of challenging a belief or idea. The Common App organization announced that it will keep the same line-up of personal statement essay prompts in 2016-17 that it used this application season. So college juniors can begin anytime to burnish those tales of painting ramshackle houses during spring break in Appalachia, making a run for the state title in pole vaulting and feeling the Bern.

The Common App replaced one of the five essay prompts and reworded others. The organization says it will now review the prompts every other year, rather than annually, to give admissions officers, guidance counselors, parents and students a chance to weigh in on the topics. Last year, after surveying 6,000 people, the organization tossed out the essay prompting students to describe the “place or environment where you are perfectly content.”.

A lesson on fracking in your high school chemistry class? Maybe you can turn it into a topic for your college essay. Photographer: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg “We want to make sure that every applicant can find a home within the essay prompts, and that they can use the prompts as a starting point to write an essay that is authentic and distinguishing,” said Scott Anderson, the senior director for programs and partnerships for the Common App, which has more than 600 member colleges that students can reach with one application. As of the end of January, as application fever was abating, more than 800,000 students had used the Common App. The prompts and their popularity rating are:. 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.

(47%). 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%). Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea.

What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? (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%; This is the only completely new essay prompt of the five.). Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community or family.

(22%) For some colleges, the Common App essay is the only one they require. Others, like Harvard and Yale, require the Common App essay plus ones they create. The University of California system doesn’t participate in the Common App. Applicants must answer four out of eight questions about topics such as leadership skills, favorite academic subject, significant challenges. They recommend that applicants avoid writing in verse, asking philosophical questions and including “inappropriate” humor. To add to the torture of all that introspective writing, the current application fee is $70 per UC campus. Harvard is $75 and Yale is $80.

College Application Essay Examples

Email me at SullivanMaur@gmail.com or tweet me at @SullivanMaur RECOMMENDED BY FORBES.

The University of Northwestern Ohio admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs and athletic and other school-administered programs. Any information collected will be used solely by the University of Northwestern Ohio to follow through on your request for additional information.

The University of Northwestern Ohio will maintain such information in confidence and does not sell contact information to third parties. I hereby give permission to release my academic transcript to UNOH.