How to Pick the Right Common App Prompt

How to Pick the Right Common App Prompt

Copyright Roxanne Ocampo 2014

In the next 30 days many of you will courageously select the Early Action option and click “Submit” on the Common Application.  Others may have decided a January 1 Regular Admission deadline is more practical.  Either way, you will be amongst 1.5M (yes, million) students across the US applying to the nearly 500 partner campuses on the Common Application.

My students tell me this is not a fun time.  They stare at their laptop or iPad screen for hours, feeling anxious and frustrated.  They just want to pick the right prompt so they can get on with it.  But, they’re stuck.  They read the five prompts, but none of the prompts feels right to them.  Frustrated, they ask me, “How do I know which prompt is the best one for me?”  They’ve only got one shot to tell their story, in 650 words or less, while positively influencing the admissions reader.  Oh yeah, and it’s got to be brilliant.

Quetzal Mama’s here to help!  I’m going to share a timely tip from my toolkit, “Nailed it!  Quetzal Mama’s Toolkit for Extraordinary College Essays.”  This is not one tip – it is a strategy to methodically approach the prompt selection.  This strategy will walk you through my 3-step process so that you can “nail” the prompt selection stage!

Step No. 1 – Process of Elimination.  First, you’ve got to weed out the prompts that just ain’t happening.  There will be two types of prompts in this category.  One type to eliminate is the one that won’t help you highlight or enhance your academic profile.  Move on.  The second type to eliminate appears unappealing, uninspiring, and it feels like you are forcing yourself to respond.  Again, move on.

Step No. 2 – Pick the Prompt that Complements Your Profile – Now that you have eliminated a few prompts, you’ll need to figure out which prompt is the best for you.  To help you identify the most appropriate prompt, ask yourself these questions:

Quetzal Mama’s Rubric to Pick the Right Prompt

Which prompt represents me in the best light?

Which prompt will allow me to speak to my best qualities, strengths, and assets?

Which prompt is closely aligned with my personal story?

Which prompt feels right to me and inspires me to write?

Finally, and most important:

Which prompt will share something wonderful about me

that hasn’t already been shared in my application?

Step No. 3 – Weigh the Pros & Cons.  At this point you should have at least one or two prompts worth considering.  Now you’ll need to do some risk calculation.  Carefully review each of your “contenders” by creating a “Pros” and “Cons” list.  Grab a piece of paper, place a line through the center, and begin writing quick notes in each column.  You should end up with lopsided columns – where one column is definitely more “pro” than “con.”  Eliminate the prompts that have more “cons.”  The final step in this risk calculation is to consider Quetzal Mama’s “Pros & Cons” for each of the five 2014/2015 Common Application prompts.  My list is here: Pros and Cons

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