How to Write a College Application Essay: A Complete Guide
- College application essays allow you to showcase your strengths and uniqueness.
- A well-written college essay could tip an admission decision in your favor.
- You should spend time editing and proofreading your application essays.
- A college counselor can help you perfect your essay.
Many colleges and universities require a college admissions essay as part of the application process. These personal statements allow you to describe your academic achievements, strengths, and other personal insights to help admissions officers see you as a unique individual.
The essay also demonstrates your readiness for college and your likelihood of success.
While your GPA, SAT or ACT scores, and transcripts are important, a college application essay can offer an admissions department a perspective that these metrics don’t reveal. Consult with a college counselor to make sure you nail your admissions essay.
How Important Is the College Application Essay?
Many schools strongly emphasize the college application essay during admissions.
Although universities consider other elements such as your GPA and recommendation letters, an exceptional personal essay for college can help you stand out from other applicants. If you have a similar GPA and test scores to other applicants, an essay can allow you to differentiate yourself.
According to a 2023 study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, 56.2% of admissions counselors reported that their institutions placed “considerable” or “moderate” importance on the college application essay when making admission decisions.
The report also found that private schools and more selective colleges tended to put more weight on admissions essays.
Learn More About Empowerly’s College Admissions Counseling
How Long Should a College Essay Be?
Effective college essays are concise. Students who don’t know how to write a personal statement for college might lose their readers’ attention if they take too long to make their point. Remember — you typically only get a few hundred words to leave a favorable impression.
The Common App essay, for example, allows applicants to write a maximum of 650 words and a minimum of 250 words. Most supplemental essays submitted through this application system should be around 250 words or less.
Coalition Application essays should be 500-650 words.
What Kinds of College Essay Prompts Are There?
College essay prompts are typically broad, open-ended questions. They intend to focus students’ writing while allowing for some freedom when addressing a topic. Depending on the school you’re applying to, you might respond to one prompt or pick from several.
Students should pay attention to what a prompt asks and stay on topic. Failing to answer the prompt directly is a common mistake when writing a personal statement for college.
Both the Common App and Coalition Application provide several prompts. If you’re using either application platform, read your chosen question carefully as you develop your response. Creating outlines can help you stay on topic while drafting.
Common App Essay Prompts, 2025-2026
- 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.
- The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
- Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
- 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?
- Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
- Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
- Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
Coalition Application Essay Prompts, 2025-2026
- Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.
- What interests or excites you? How does it shape who you are now or who you might become in the future?
- Describe a time when you had a positive impact on others. What were the challenges? What were the rewards?
- Has there been a time when an idea or belief of yours was questioned? How did you respond? What did you learn?
- What success have you achieved or obstacle have you faced? What advice would you give a sibling or friend going through a similar experience?
- Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.
What Are Some Examples of Good College Essay Topics?
Good college essay topics enable concise, transparent, honest, and meaningful writing. Because personal statements should differentiate applicants from their peers, topics should include compelling details and anecdotes.
Students should think carefully before writing about a negative experience or personal weakness. A college essay should portray the applicant positively, and dwelling on difficult or taboo topics could detract from your strengths.
College application essay examples can help you brainstorm topics. Also consider asking family members and peers to comment on your strengths and unique qualities. They may have insights into what makes you a good fit for a particular major or area of study.
Some essay topics to consider:
- A Defining Moment, Experience, or Realization: An experience that changed your perspective or a strong belief you no longer hold
- Someone Who Has Greatly Influenced You: Your most important mentor or someone who changed your life for the better
- A Key Part of Your Identity: An important fact about you that you wish more people knew or your best characteristic
- Your Biggest Passion: A cause for which you have sacrificed or how your passion helped shape your identity
- A Problem You Solved: A significant obstacle you overcame or a solution you developed that achieved results
- A Unique Hobby: Your most enjoyable pastime or a valuable lesson a hobby taught you
A college admissions counselor can advise you on what to — and not to — include in your essay.
How to Write a Personal Statement for College: 6 Tips
A key characteristic of an excellent college application essay is writing quality. The personal statement can weigh heavily on some admission decisions. You can employ these strategies to make your essay stand out.
1 | Pick a Meaningful Topic
Compelling college essay topics help you tell memorable and relatable stories. Choosing a subject with personal meaning will let you write more authentically and enthusiastically, maintaining readers’ interest.
2 | Keep the Focus on You
Unlike test scores or letters of recommendation, good college essay topics give you considerable control over how you express your best self. Therefore, the essay should focus on you — not on other people.
Even personal statements that discuss an influential teacher or mentor should keep the story’s focus on you, such as how that person drove you to change or take action.
3 | Use Specific Details and Examples
College essays should illustrate your potential by outlining your achievements. Include detailed descriptions and examples that portray your experiences.
For instance, if you want to convey your leadership skills, you might describe a time you inspired others or helped a group achieve a tangible outcome.
4 | Reveal Something Unique About Yourself
Your college application essay should distinguish you from other applicants. For example, writing about playing a niche instrument or winning an Olympic medal can help you stand out and demonstrate how your distinctive qualities will add to campus life.
5 | Tell a Story
Use your college admissions essay to tell a story, striving for quality instead of quantity. College admissions committees don’t want to read your life story — instead, focus on one or two strong anecdotes that reveal your true self, values, skills, and proficiencies.
6 | Edit and Proofread
Editing involves fine-tuning a draft to improve its organization and clarity. Proofreading typically follows editing and entails checking for errors. Once you edit and proofread your essay, you’ll probably want at least a second set of eyes to look at it.
You should strongly consider asking someone else to review your draft to catch additional errors and provide constructive feedback. Having a college counselor edit your essay will help ensure you are submitting the best possible application to the admissions committee.
What Should You Avoid in Your Personal Essay for College?
Although a personal essay for college can demonstrate excellent writing and topic choice, it can still leave an unfavorable impression if it contains inappropriate or repetitive information. Here are some examples of topics to leave out of your statement.
Your Grades, Test Scores, and Academic Achievements
Successful college essays should include information that does not appear anywhere else in the application. When reviewing other submission documents, admissions officers can learn about your grades, previous courses, and scholarly achievements. Your essay shouldn’t focus on these kinds of details.
Your Life of Privilege
Steer clear of topics that highlight a privileged lifestyle. For example, framing a relatively common athletic injury as the hardest challenge you’ve faced may not demonstrate resilience as effectively as you’d like it to. It also suggests a lack of awareness of more serious obstacles others your age have faced.
Your Pet
In your eyes, Fido and Fluffy may be the most amazing creatures on the planet. But we all love our pets. You want your college essay to stand out by focusing on a topic or experience that’s unique to you rather than something universal.
Cliches and Trite Quotations
You have the opportunity to express your creativity and originality in your college admissions essay. Using cliches and trite expressions makes writers appear lazy or unimaginative. Also, some sayings may be relevant to specific cultures, alienating or confusing some readers.
Your Criminal Record
Everybody admires an underdog who overcomes adversity, but illuminating past missteps with the law isn’t exactly the best way to make a good first impression on college admissions officers. While you shouldn’t sanitize reality for the benefit of your reader, choose a college essay topic that at the very least presents you in a positive light.
Grammar and Spelling Mistakes
Knowing how to write a college application essay includes detecting spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes. Error-free personal statements go far to illustrate your excellent writing skills. Ask a teacher, mentor, or college counselor you trust to read your essay and catch any mistakes before submitting.
College Application Essay Examples
Your college application essay should be unique to you, but if you’re looking for an idea of what worked, take it from the colleges themselves:
- Essays by admitted Johns Hopkins University applicants
- Essays by admitted Harvard University applicants
- Essay examples New York University liked
- Essays that worked at Hamilton College
- Essays Connecticut College considers the “best”
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