The 7 Common App Prompts Explained
Common App Prompts
The Common App is a simple and convenient way for students to apply to more than 900 institutions of higher learning. One of the most important components of the Common App process is the main essay. The team behind the Common App provides six different prompts students can use to craft their essay. Or they can choose prompt 7: the open prompt. The prompts tend to remain fairly consistent from year to year, with only minor tweaks to some and no changes to others.
In this guide, the team at Cohort will take a close look at the Common App prompts for 2024-2025.
How Important are The Common App Essays?
Colleges rely on the Common App essay to help paint a complete picture of an applicant. So it is important that you give careful consideration to the prompt you choose and then enlist whatever help you need to produce an essay that will get you noticed for the right reasons. To that end, the admission and application mentors at Cohort can help.
All 7 Common App Prompts Listed and Explained
Prompt 1: Background, identity or talent - This is a popular choice for young people whose interests, background or talent plays a huge role in their identity. If you have a story to tell that is related to your identity or talents, Prompt 1 may be for you.
Prompt 2: Overcoming obstacles and challenges - Everyone faces challenges in their life. The important thing is how they respond to them. If you have encountered and overcome a significant obstacle in your life you may want to choose Prompt 2.
Prompt 3: Questioning a belief or idea - If you have come to question your beliefs or ideas, or the beliefs or ideas of others you may want to choose Prompt 3. Write about how you processed this challenge as well as the outcome.
Prompt 4: Responding to unexpected kindness - Was there an instance in your life when someone did something unexpected for you that made you happy or grateful? If so, write about how you responded and whether this kindness caused you to change your worldview in any way.
Prompt 5: Write about something that prompted a period of personal growth - Maybe it was that unexpected act of kindness, or perhaps there was some other event that caused you to undergo a mental and emotional growth spurt that is worth writing about.
Prompt 6: A captivating idea - Is there an idea or notion you’ve become aware of that is driving you to distraction? If so, consider writing about it, why it captivates you and the steps you’ve taken to learn more about it.
Prompt 7: Open prompt - If none of the above prompts speaks to you feel free to compose your essay on a topic of your choosing.
Following our advice helps students achieve great outcomes
Contact Cohort
Making sure you choose the right prompt for your Common App essay is vital. The experts at Cohort can help you do that and provide important pointers on every other aspect of the university application process. To learn more contact Cohort by using the form on our Contact page.
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