Applicants feel they lack compelling essay material

“I am applying this year to multiple schools and I have a couple of songs and I am also working on some other ones. I was wondering if there is a service just how you can go over essays with your counselor, but for music portfolios? Since I don't have outside help on them, and my school doesn't have a music lesson nor teacher. submitted by /u/Numerous-Spell6450 [link] [comments]”

“I am on the process of writing my personal statement essay for colleges. And I asked some teachers and they advised me to write more drafts until I find the exact unique story about me and they also mentioned that it can be a transformation. What do u think about this idea? submitted by /u/Top_Object_1987 [link] [comments]”

“Hey guys I was just looking for your opinion on my college app essay topic: My grandfather in Milan (who only speaks Italian) collects and sells stamps. One of my ECs is running a Pokémon card business (It’s one of my main ECs as I net a substantial amount). Our shared interest in ‘collectibles’ is the only way we’re able to really connect. The essay is pretty much about our weird relationship. Would this be a good topic for a common app essay or does it need to be more about me? Any opinion is”

“I was wondering if any Grad Application or Statement of Purpose groups currently exist (ex. Discord, Facebook Groups, Etc.) It can be hard to stay motivated or produce quality essays without having others to consistently work alongside with- even if just for morale support through the application season. (Please remove if not allowed!) submitted by /u/Silver_ivvi [link] [comments]”

“i dont anything about applications so how does an good application look like(an example maybe) submitted by /u/SuccessfulEffect1417 [link] [comments]”

“Hi All, I have drafted both the essays for my upcoming applications, I am trying to get a look on it. If anyone would like to help with that. submitted by /u/Infamous_Yard_6751 [link] [comments]”

“On BU, the question says to respond in 300 words or less, but there are 350 words allotted in the text box. I'm assuming I shouldn't go over 300, but just checking. submitted by /u/FuturePause2736 [link] [comments]”

“i have been trying for 1 week but still i have no idea on even how to start a common app essay. do you have any tips so that I write one line today? submitted by /u/Working_Farmer1516 [link] [comments]”

“hi I'm applying to nyu tisch for drama, I'm not from the states and I'm 20 (i graduated 2 years ago) so I'm not sure if i really know how to write a good essay for my application does anyone have some tips for me? I'm pretty sure i know what i want to write about but again i don't really know how an essay for college works so idrk how to write it does it make sense also if anyone jas tips on how do i get a scholarship especially full ride please tell me what can i do if y”

“Ok so I was originally gonna make my essay with the theme about "how I'm average" or how "I need to take risks for success" through storytelling via an object right. The main concern I have is will AO be like "oH tHiS gUyS eSsAy sAyS hE's aVeRaGe. wE dOn'T wAnT hIm." submitted by /u/Far_End_8624 [link] [comments]”

“Hi, I need help for my Extended Essay, I'm applying for early decision this year and I'm nervous, I wrote using the prompt that asks to use art as an elegant way to solve a problem, my teacher said I made it too emotional (and yeah, I kind of did) submitted by /u/Proof_Wrongdoer8178 [link] [comments]”

“Rising senior, looking for inspiration for the common app essay Also, do you know any website or smn where I can just read a bunch of good common app essays Edit: if u aren't comfortable with posting it publicly, my dms r open submitted by /u/Prior_Map_6868 [link] [comments]”

“Does anybody have experience with this? submitted by /u/National_Jacket7380 [link] [comments]”

“Hello, I have been reading through a few personal statement examples on youtube, collegeessayguy, and just posted all over social media when it pops up. One thing I noticed in many examples (essays from elevatED on youtube, and college essay guy chosen examples — I believe it was the top 12 examples) was that many included a very direct/clear conclusion paragraph telling how they learned or grew. When I read the collegeessayguy examples, I actually thought the majority of the 12 essay list inclu”

submitted by /u/TohruKnockoff [link] [comments]

“okay so i'm filling out my common app right now and i'm looking for some advice on editing my draft. a counselor is coaching my writing but he wants me to edit my narrative in a direction that i really don't like. he is very experienced and seems adamant on me using his version of the narrative, so maybe he has good reason, but i still feel very conflicted. if i could dm anyone and ask for some advice i would appreciate it so much!!! submitted by /u/Emergency-Writing-11 [”

“I have an essay that, at risk of sounding overconfident, I think is pretty good. I have been putting a lot of work into it and have received feedback from several peers. And I have several publications, but not of this type. I have been looking at several magazines that I think would be a good home for it, and many of them have instructions for how to submit guest essays through a form or a submissions@/editors@ email address. I am inclined to think that following those instructions is obviously”

“Hi all! I'm working on my Grad school essays in preparation for applications opening. I need some help. The questions ask about my motivation for grad school and unique aspects of my application are stumping me. I am very motivated to learn and love the subject. I do not question my decision to apply, but dont have much more to my character that I can try and flex. The unique things I have and my motivations strongly come from past experiences where I had to overcome great adversity. This is”

“Just to be clear: I started writing my essay even before CommonApp opened and I certainly didn't choose the topic so that "my prompt would be more unpopular." I just realized that my essay just so happens to fall under said prompt (it's Prompt 3, the prompt about questioning ideas or beliefs, if that matters). submitted by /u/ebeninamiiiii [link] [comments]”

“I had an essay that I wrote about my life overseas, and my college counselor told me its not personal enough. My topic was about how I romanticise chaos and inconvenience, and I embrace change and adventure. How can I really make this more personal and get deep into my identity, I feel like I have tried to come up with ideas and nothing is good enough. please help submitted by /u/Spare_Difficulty5532 [link] [comments]”

“I don't wanna drag out a new personal statement but also don't wanna say too little. submitted by /u/hassanshah23 [link] [comments]”

“Hi everyone! It's time for our weekly essay help thread! Please use this thread to request feedback on your essays , including your personal statement, work/activities descriptions, most meaningful activity essays, and secondary application essays. All other posts requesting essay feedback will be removed. Before asking for help writing an application essay, please read through our "Essays" wiki page which covers both the personal statement and secondary application essays. It also”

“How are you supposed to approach writing this? Are you supposed to write about how it relates to your general profile/extracurriculars or be completely separate? I’m planning to write about the prompt on “how do thoughts eat?” and possibly relate it to some of the work I’ve done in mental health if that helps. Thanks!! submitted by /u/No_Squirrel1264 [link] [comments]”

“I have written my essay where the first 2 paragraphs are quite small, and the 3rd paragraph is large. I would say that the first 2 paragraphs are equivalent to the third one. Does it really matter> submitted by /u/tomahawk122 [link] [comments]”

“title... I am kind of a reserved person so i dont wanna write about something isn't truthful since that would js be a bad essay and i don't wanna seem bland if yk what I mean. submitted by /u/AdBoth2468 [link] [comments]”

“I swear on the internet i always see the mention one class, research professor, lab u wanna join, and something outside of academics u want to partake in. This seems like such bs and terrible advice. I like the outside of academics thing u want to partake in, but everything else seems so bad and fake. what formula should I follow?? also are the people who recommend this bs trynna give bad advice, so kids buy their college course?? if so thats js a terrible move?? I see stuff online about buildin”

“Hi! I have an analogy for my CommonApp Essay that I really like. In short, the message it conveys is that I'd like to be able to help others feel unique without being special like I managed to do for myself (it's getting there). It's basic and sounds a little awkward, but I think the way I've set it up might make it a little more bearable haha. I'm just really struggling on continuing because I talked to a friend who got accepted to the same University + Major and when she sh”

“Hey everyone, I'm working my Common App Personal Statement and I'm stuck between two completely opposite pieces of advice on how to end my essay. (Sorry in advance if the stuff is vague…don’t want to give out the juice of my ps right now) Paid College Counselor’s Approach: Wants me to make the final section an explicit, direct shift to self-reflection (e.g., turning the lens back onto myself, my personal growth, and my future narrative- think of “Who am I?” stuff). AP Lang Teacher’s Appr”

“Hi everyone I just became a senior this year and I just started writing my college essays. The following prompt is for common app prompt 5: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. My essay topic is about how my loneliness before moving to Texas was both harmful and comforting simultaneously. I would say that it was one of the most major parts of my childhood, and at times it felt incredibly isolating”

I’m applying for undergraduate Finance programs in Europe and would really appreciate some honest feedback. I don’t want to post the full statement publicly, so if anyone here has experience with university…

“Hi everyone! Weary incoming senior here! Is any other senior willing to share a CommonApp essay of theirs that is in the works, or for incoming first-year college, anybody willing to share their CommonApp essay from last year? I'm still stuck working on my first draft and I feel like I'm severely behind.... submitted by /u/EffectiveMinimum8945 [link] [comments]”

“Say I said "I realized while writing this essay x" and the realization is a big turning point in the essay. Is that bad or good? submitted by /u/Lolotmjp [link] [comments]”

“Hi there, just looking for some advice! For the UCSF PRIDE essay, as I have it written I am alluding to several values/talking about them as a whole through a story + reflection without actually mentioning them by name. Writing like that feels more natural to me, but would it be better to explicitly say which ones I am talking about? (Like, this demonstrates professionalism because …) How did you approach this? Thank you! submitted by /u/arrozconleche99 [link] [comments]”

“looking for more eyes for my essay as I've been struggling to make edits! Want to just get as much feedback as I can. I am also open to reading essays! submitted by /u/Relative_Drive214 [link] [comments]”

submitted by /u/BusanSatoori [link] [comments]

title submitted by /u/Working_Farmer1516 [link] [comments]

“is it okay to end my essay by saying that I still need to grow and that I have a motivation to actually work on growing? basically how I've faced a challenge and how I'm still working on attacking it. dont wanna talk explicitly about what my essay is on bc its highkey cringe and vulnerable submitted by /u/Legal-Store6415 [link] [comments]”

“I dont really know where to start on writing the common app personal statement and online i see a lot of sob story essays and wanted to know whether sob stories really do better in getting into college? I am an international student so i really need my personal essay to go hard. submitted by /u/Pitiful-Cloud4961 [link] [comments]”

“hi guys! i'm a rising senior applying to colleges, and i don't use reddit very often, but i'm really stuck on something. in college, i want to study sciences and pursue medicine, but a kind of "hobby" i have is studying languages, and i love learning new ones. i was gonna write about how each language i've learned has taught me something or reminded me of my core values, but i see a lot of people saying your essay should relate to what you wanna study in college. i defi”

“so i've been struggling for a while now to come up with a college essay. because of that, i went on youtube and started doing a bunch of exercises from channels like the college essay guy to try and come up with some ideas. a recurring theme throughout every exercise i have completed is my introversion. i like taking walks/biking so i can be alone. i like cooking when i am alone. i like being alone to watch movies, or to watch videos on youtube. i tend to be the most productive when im alone”

“I wrote my entire common app personal essay myself until it was about 900 words. At this time, the essay scanned 92% human, 8% AI, and 0% mixed. Then, I used the help of ChatGPT and my family to cut it down to 650 words. Now, it scans in GPTZero as 100% mixed. On ZeroGPT, it scans as 20.1% AI. Will this hurt my application, and will admissions officers scan for AI at T20 schools? The content is all original and most of the wording is mine; AI was only used a bit for condensing the text. Is this”

“Basically the title. I feel like I need to have my diversity essay reviewed (it might just be hot garbage) but I don't know of any really good and reliable places to have them reviewed and wanted to know if ya'll had good recommendations :'] if I have to pay to get something reviewed well and quick I might have to take the bullet... submitted by /u/NetDue3698 [link] [comments]”

“I keep seeing posts about people struggling to finish their essays in time for R1. But looking at the prompts and word counts, writing them fairly quickly seems manageable. Am I missing something? AI also helps with organising your thoughts and catching grammatical errors. I'm applying R1 and honestly feel like I haven't put enough thought into my essays because I finished them so fast. submitted by /u/Piqueee [link] [comments]”

“Hello, I have a small query: If you genuinely believe your essay from the previous cycle was one of the strongest parts of your application, would you: Keep the same personal leadership or prof leadership essay/story (perhaps with some polishing), or Write a completely new essay/story to show a different side of yourself? Also, how much do AdComs actually look at your previous application essays when reviewing a reapplication? or do they primarily focus on the new application + reapplicant essay”

“would it be a bad idea to make an essay that tackles how I learned to build emotional endurance in a high stakes environment? going from a crybaby and viewing myself as pitiful to realizing that its okay to cry ? my last line is "It’s okay to cry. Just make sure it isn’t the last thing you do" while most of the feedback I've received is positive, i feel like I should make an entirely new essay that would tackle my resilience instead and not focus on being a crybaby-- what if that&#”

“I have no clue what to write my essay about and nothing really “character defining” happened to me until about a month ago at this point. The tldr of the story is that my friend reached out to me late at night and he was about to commit suicide. Once he told me this I went to his house and picked him up and drove around until 7 in the morning. I had work 5 hours later. Would this be a good story to choose for the essay? submitted by /u/Narrow_Chemistry4255 [link] [comments]”

“To those who have submitted already or are in college.. How many ECs did u add to the Common App? I have 6, but I feel like it isn't enough submitted by /u/purrliciousx [link] [comments]”

“Hello po! Can someone read mine and give me an honest comment or suggestion? I’m honestly getting really nervous, especially when I come across posts like “the essay that got me into Ateneo.” I can’t help but compare my essay to the ones I see online, and sometimes I feel like mine isn’t as beautiful or poetic. 🥹 I feel like my essay is unique because of the experience I wrote about, but I’m not sure if I was able to convey it well or if the overall flow makes sense. Huhu. I’d really appreciate”

“Hey guys, I'm an incoming senior, and I still need to write my college essay. I've been struggling to come up with a topic, and this is the only thing I can think of. For context, I plan on applying for biochem, going down a pre-med track. My only idea is to write about a 7th grade history project on civil war medicine that inspired me to want to help others and become a doctor. This project also changed my thoughts on science, as prior to this project, I actually hated science. I would”

“As title reads my application needs an essay. After asking my friends who are my go to for resume feedback and advice, they've never had to do this. One of these friends also works for the state and has had multiple promotions but still never had to fill one of these out. I need some help with formatting help specifically if they are going to want double spaced and if I should put any info in the top like my info the same way my resume shows it. Any help is appreciated, Thank you . sub”

“Are most people actually good at writing college essays? I know this probably isn’t the best place to ask but fuck it I’m overall a pretty great writer but I feel like I’m comparing myself to perfection rn and just want to know from people who maybe are college advisors or have read a lot of college essays— are they usually good? What is the average quality? if mine is good but not perfect, does that put me at above average? Idk if that even made sense but I feel like giving up atp lwk sub”

“I’m a twin(duh) and I’ve been struggling to find an essay topic. If I brought about how during my life there’s always been the comparison between me and my twin, and how it’s fueled things like rivalry, self doubt and a lack of being an individual but it eventually got me to seperate myself from my twin and be my own person? submitted by /u/Justhere294710 [link] [comments]”

“i’ve already heard a lot of advice telling me what NOT to do for my essays, which is helpful, don’t get me wrong, but i still don’t even really know what i SHOULD do. this is especially bad for the personal statement, since i really don’t even know how to talk about myself comprehensively, or even what the personal statement is meant to be submitted by /u/Pillowz_Here [link] [comments]”

“Been trying to sit down for the past few days to write my personally essays and can’t seem to get anything down. Anything I’ve thought about writing about has been done a bajillion times “coming back from injury as an athlete” “losing a grandparent” I want to make sure that my essay is noticeable and not just “here’s another athlete story” you know what I mean? Looking for any advice you guys might have for writing this essay submitted by /u/Justhere294710 [link] [comments]”

“I need someone to give me good advice regarding college essays and personal statements, I don’t have anyone I can talk to about it and I’m really struggling to come up with any ideas or essay topics that are interesting or good enough to write about. If anyone is willing to help me come up with ideas and conceptualize them, I will be so grateful 😫 I just need someone feedback and honest opinions submitted by /u/Low-Needleworker5712 [link] [comments]”

“Hi everyone! It's time for our weekly essay help thread! Please use this thread to request feedback on your essays , including your personal statement, work/activities descriptions, most meaningful activity essays, and secondary application essays. All other posts requesting essay feedback will be removed. Before asking for help writing an application essay, please read through our "Essays" wiki page which covers both the personal statement and secondary application essays. It also”

“Many of my schools require a personal statement for this app cycle. Last year, I tried to show my passion for my field in the personal statement while explaining my project and experience in my SOP. This year, I don't know where to draw the line for what is too personal. For people who have written successful statements before, how personal are we supposed to get and what do committees want to learn from the personal statement in comparison to an SOP? And advice would be helpful! submi”

“like everyone else right now, i am scrambling now to work on my college app/essay. the common app stuff was all relatively easy to get done because all the info you need for stuff like the activities list or honors are pretty straightforward, but the essay has been torturing me. i've gone through two drafts already, and scrapped both. the first was because it was really just a shitty topic and i wrote in a way that felt inauthentic. the second i gave up on because it felt too honest, specifi”

“What do you guys think about writing a Common App essay on the idea that hard work doesn’t guarantee the outcome you expect, but it can prepare you for an opportunity you never anticipated, using a real-life story? submitted by /u/bumblebee272007 [link] [comments]”