Common App Essay Prompts 2025-2026 Are Live! Now Go Live (and Notice) Your Life! Common App Essay prompts are newly released for 2025-2026 college admissions, everyone's most relaxing season of life! Spoiler alert, the Common App essay prompts are the same as last year, which doesn't mean much to anyone who wasn't applying last year! Before you freak out (unless you enjoy a good freakout, which, by all means, you do you), I'm writing a post to make you happy. Note- The Common App website itself offers some basic resources for getting started on the personal essay, to encourage reflection. And this is a good time for reflection and introspection! When Should I Start My College Essay? Now-- Sort of. For most students, summer before senior year is plenty early enough to draft the essay proper, with the goal of a very strong draft before September hits. However, there are things you can do in the Spring of junior year that will lead you towards an incredible, magnetic Common App essay. This requires increasing your awareness, yes, but without trying too hard at all. It is possibly even pleasurable! I call this, how to write your college essay without writing it. Gather enough notes, and your college essay will start to crystallise for you. Really. How to Start Your Best Common App Essay Without Even Trying My 3-step college essay writing-ish process Notice your own thoughts, feelings, actions and passions Take Notes (in docs or voice memos) Organise your content What to notice to start your essay... Notice your own thoughts. Where does your mind go? When you're walking down the street, in your room, commuting? With family, your bestie? Doing something terribly boring? How quickly do you turn on something to listen to, and what are you listening to? How often are you looking up and out versus down at a device- yes, even while walking? What are you taking in? OK, my friend. TAKE NOTES. That's right- on Continue Reading …
start writing
Common App Essay Prompts 2024-2025 Are Live! How To Start Writing
Common App Essay Prompts 2024-2025 Are Live! Now Go Live (and Notice) Your Life! Common App Essay prompts are newly released for 2024-2025 college admissions, everyone's most relaxing season of life! Spoiler alert, the Common App essay prompts are the same as last year, which doesn't mean much to anyone who wasn't applying last year! Before you freak out (unless you enjoy a good freakout, which, by all means, you do you), I'm writing a post to make you happy. Note- The Common App website itself offers some basic resources for getting started on the personal essay, to encourage reflection. And this is a good time for reflection and introspection! When Should I Start My College Essay? Now-- Sort of. For most students, summer before senior year is plenty early enough to draft the essay proper, with the goal of a very strong draft before September hits. However, there are things you can do in the Spring of junior year that will lead you towards an incredible, magnetic Common App essay. This requires increasing your awareness, yes, but without trying too hard at all. It is possibly even pleasurable! I call this, how to write your college essay without writing it. Gather enough notes, and your college essay will start to crystallise for you. Really. How to Start Your Best Common App Essay Without Even Trying My 3-step college essay writing-ish process Notice your own thoughts, feelings, actions and passions Take Notes (in docs or voice memos) Organise your content What to notice to start your essay... Notice your own thoughts. Where does your mind go? When you're walking down the street, in your room, commuting? With family, your bestie? Doing something terribly boring? How quickly do you turn on something to listen to, and what are you listening to? How often are you looking up and out versus down at a device- yes, even while walking? What are you taking in? OK, my friend. TAKE NOTES. That's right- on an app on your phone. Or in the Continue Reading …
Begin your college essay anywhere
How to begin writing your college essay? Sometimes it feels harder than bench pressing 3x your weight. Sometimes it feels harder than plucking hairs with your non-dominant hand. Sometimes it feels harder than spelling French words correctly. But it doesn't have to. Faced with the challenge of how to begin, just begin. That is, go around the challenge by refusing to see it as a challenge. Overwrite the fear, inertia, or blank feeling by starting right there, using it as your prompt. Freewrite from this moment Caffeinate yourself until you see double, turn down the sound of babies crying and your neighbor's weird fetish for Frank Sinatra, turn down the sound of siblings having the same old fight, parents barking, friends texting....and start there. I mean, you could start with any of the things listed above, the particulars of your life. Or you could start with the emotion-- or lack of emotion-- that facing an essay brings up. For example, you might set a timer, take a few deep breaths and start: "At this moment, I am staring at the page, well aware that what I put on this page is supposed to be super talented, attractive, and make me sound as Good as Friday. To handle this amount of pressure and anxiety, I am on my third Starbucks Peppermint Latte, which I got with my last dollar for the week, and now I add to my list of crappy things that I might not be able to sleep for a month from the amount of stimulant coursing through my blood, and I notice all the other people working nearby-- I'm in the library-- and that they all seem to be typing freely and easily, so I have to believe they are updating their social media accounts, not writing an application essay. I just noticed that is the longest sentence ever..." Will you win the Pulitzer for this content? Likely not, but if you do, please mention that this blog helped you get going. That said, who cares? The way you get over not knowing where to begin is by Continue Reading …