The Common App’s Newest Essay Prompt
After a tumultuous year, college applications may seem more intimidating than ever. We’re here to help unpack the new Common App essay prompt and open a discussion on how best to choose your essay topic.
In 2016, nearly four years before COVID-19 became the only thing anyone talked about, indie-rock darling Mitski flirted with the question of happiness, “Happy came to visit me, he bought cookies on the way / I poured him tea and he told me it’ll all be okay.” Given the anxiety, uncertainty, and loss felt across the last 15 months, identifying what happiness means to us has only become more pertinent.
Enter Common App: an organization representing institutions of higher education, the Common Application has become a metonym for the college application process. Its seven essay prompts have stayed fairly consistent through the years, but for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle (what teenagers have affectionately dubbed the terrifying, awful, dreadful year), one prompt has changed:
Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
One of the most daunting choices a student faces is choosing which Common App prompt to address. Before we talk about whether you should answer this new prompt (or stick to the classics), let’s break down what this question is actually asking you—hint: it’s not as straightforward as it seems.
What’s this new question really about?
Like Mitski’s meditations on happiness, this question is asking you (in part) to explicitly consider the importance of joy, gratitude, and kindness. It is relevant, however, to consider the actual question—how has this gratitude affected or motivated you? At its core, the Common App essay is a personal essay, asking you to share a meaningful narrative and reflect on the consequences and implications of it. What are you learning about yourself? About your community?
The admissions officers are not looking for a story about your neighbor heroically catapulting themselves from a second-story window into a tree to rescue your tabby. They want to know how that action has affected your sense of self, or facilitated some sort of transfiguration or revelation.
The story of gratitude should only make up about ¼ of your essay. The rest should explore questions similar to the ones we’ve outlined below:
What role does kindness play in your life?
How has gratitude changed the way you view the world?
What actions have you taken in response to the knowledge you have gained?
Remember, not only are you narrating a story of gratitude and joy, but it’s also one where that joy came to you in a surprising way. What about the action was unexpected? What does that tell you about your own expectations regarding other people’s behavior? How has that changed the way you interact with the world around you?
How can I decide what to write about?
The prompt you choose isn’t as important as you think it is. Let me say it one more time. The prompt you choose isn’t as important as you think it is. There’s no secret answer the admissions officers are looking for that will guarantee you a slot at Yale, and there’s no one correct way to write about any of the topics. After all, one of the Common App prompts is “Share an essay on any topic of your choice.”
Sartre said it best: man truly is condemned to be free. The fact that you can seemingly write about anything can feel debilitating, paralyzing. The answer to this intense writer’s block lies in working backwards. Your first step in writing should never be to pick a prompt. Start by brainstorming what you may want to write about, looking for small, evocative moments. Off the top of my head, I can think of:
The time my first grade teacher humiliated me in front of the class.
Sneaking into an abandoned barn with my friends.
Buying my first pair of Doc Martens.
Imagine I decide to brainstorm the second topic. My next step would be to draft out as many sensory details about the topic as possible, for instance the sharp sting when a rusted metal gate opened a 3-inch gash on my left calf. Once you have a mountain of details on what it was like living the experience, begin the process of reflection. Perhaps a friend of mine stopped what they were doing to sanitize and wrap my wound while another sang Kokomo by the Beach Boys to ease my tension. What would that show about the variety of ways compassion can be expressed?
The college essay is not about who has the most intense, life-altering experience—it’s about reflection. What do you want the admissions committee to know about you? How will you be a valuable and productive member of their college’s community?
For personalized insight into picking an essay topic or support during the writing process, feel free to reach out to our team.