“Noooooo!” you scream in anguish as your dreams (and your soul) are crushed by those big red letters staring back at you. Okay, an actual rejection letter would probably let you down way more gently than that. The soul-crushing disappointment, though? That’s super real and, well, crushing.

But your dreams don’t have to end that way. Use these 11 secrets to good college essays to help you nail all your college application essays and keep your dreams on track.

11 Secrets to Good College Essays

Whether you’re writing a general personal statement or one of what feels like a million supplemental admission essays, the nuts and bolts of what creates good college essays don’t really change that much. That means the secrets below apply in most cases.

Secret #1: Decode the prompt

The goal of essentially every prompt (as well as the general personal statement) is to give the admissions committee insight into who you are—as a person, as a student, and most importantly, as a potential student and community member at that specific school.

In other words, decoding the prompt is essential to your admission prospects. Once you decode the prompt, you can focus on showing the committee who you are and why you’re the best candidate within the scope of the prompt itself.

But you also need to understand what’s being asked specifically in a prompt and recognize the hints about the scope and structure of your response. Not sure how to do that? That’s okay. I’m here to help.

How to decode a college essay prompt

Let’s look at an example.

Prompt: “Tell us about personal, social or family challenges you have faced. How have you dealt with them, and how have they shaped your thinking? (500 words or less)”

The first hint is the word length.

While pretty standard, 500 words doesn’t give you a ton of space to work with. Thus, being clear and concise is key.

Second, the prompt is asking you to address three different things:

• Share personal, social, or family challenges
• Show how you dealt with them
• Show how you changed because of those challenges

This tells you that what you write about has to be directly related to you or impact you personally. You can’t tell a story about something that happened before you were born or about something that happened to your best friend and didn’t involve you.

The question is also asking for information that highlights important aspects of your character, background, or skills. While you might feel like the death of your grandparent is the most compelling story to tell, sharing the story of leading a group in class to victory on a project might be more enlightening for the committee.

Finally, the phrasing in the question suggests that you really need to bring home the lessons you’ve learned and how you’re going to apply those lessons in college and beyond.

Read this response to see how well one student decoded (or didn’t decode) the prompt above.

The main takeaway is, regardless of the prompt, understanding what a prompt is really asking is central to writing good college essays. Want more help on how to tackle a specific prompt? Check out these resources:

• 10 Common Types of College Essay Prompts—and How to Crush Them
• Decode the Common App College Essay Prompts for 2018-19

Secret #2: Think like the admissions committee

The admissions officers decide whether you’re admitted to your dream school. That means, to write a killer essay, you need to think like them and figure out what they care about.

Ultimately, they want insight into your perspective, your thinking, and your self-awareness. But they’re also considering the following:

What impact you’ll have

• What do you value about this school?
• What experiences have shaped your perspective and are unique to you (and are obvs worth sharing with your peers)?
• What do you want to get out of the college experience, specifically at this school?
• What strengths will serve you well in this program and the community? (Many prompts will directly ask this, but even if they don’t, trust me—the admissions committee wants to know.)
• How will you aid your peers?

The admissions committee often also wants to get an idea of what impact you’ll have on the reputation of the college—both during your college years and beyond. This isn’t universally true (obviously a community college doesn’t care if you want to cure cancer). But most admissions committees are considering your potential ROI (return on investment).

In other words, make it clear to them what you want to ultimately achieve in your career. Whatever that is, it will (eventually) reflect back on the school you attended, so it helps them decide if you’re a good fit.

Demonstrated interest and yield

Demonstrated interest is pretty self-explanatory—it’s how well you demonstrate your interest in the specific school. That means showing why, SPECIFICALLY, you want to attend this school. If you could remove the name of the school or program in your essays and drop in any other school/program name, you’re not effectively demonstrating your interest.

Yield is the percentage of accepted students who actually enroll. When you can demonstrate your interest, admissions officers are more likely to assume you’d actually enroll if accepted—and thus increase the yield of their offers (something that’s good for them).

Want more insight on what the admissions committee is thinking? Read Personal Statement Advice: Here’s What the Admissions Experts Have to Say.

Secret #3: Embrace a theme

Good college essays have a narrative or theme that connects all of the ideas. Period. Even if the prompt itself is pretty open-ended, your response should have a purpose and be centered around a theme.

That means making clear connections that bring the theme into focus throughout your essay.

For example, maybe you want to prevent needless suffering due to lack of access to preventative healthcare. Or maybe you have a lifelong passion for artistic expression or a desire to connect with others from different cultures.

Whatever *it* is, you want a theme that tells an engaging and compelling story. Then make sure that narrative is cohesive throughout your application essay. What you don’t want is a list of key ideas that feel disconnected.

If you need help identifying a theme, here are a few posts that can help you brainstorm ideas:

• How to Come Up With College Essay Ideas That Stand Out
• 4 Must-Answer Questions Before Brainstorming Personal Statement Topics
• Personal Statement Topics: A Step-by-Step Tutorial to Finding Yours!

Finally, many of the same elements of writing a personal narrative essay apply to college application essays. That means you can gain insight in how to approach your application essays by understanding what makes a personal narrative powerful.

Secret #4: Outline before you write

Once you know what you’re going to write about (see Secret #1 if you need help decoding the prompt), an outline is your bestiest of besties. Mapping out your essay in an outline or using a graphic organizer will help keep your essay focused.

More than that, it’ll help you organize your ideas logically.

And most importantly, outlining makes it easier for you to see how to connect different sections to a central idea or theme (see Secret #3).

Secret #5: Be authentic and unique

Everyone has a unique story to tell. Embrace yours, and be authentic in telling it.

What do I mean by that?

First, write in your own voice and at your own writing ability. Being fake will be obvious, yo. Don’t make stuff up, don’t try to pretend to be someone you’re not, and don’t use so-called “big words” just because you think they make you sound smart. They don’t.

Second, write authentically about your experiences, your thoughts, your goals, and so on. If you were telling a friend about something, how would you talk about it? You’d be real and share your true thoughts, feelings, and aspirations, right? That’s the voice you want to capture.

Third, show why you’re unique and what makes you stand out from other applicants. How? Focus on key experiences that have shaped who you are. How you’ve responded to, learned from, and grown as a result of those experiences are the details that make you unique. Make a strong statement that tells YOUR unique story.

One caveat here is that you also want to keep Secrets #6, #7, and #8 in mind when crafting unique and authentic narratives.

Secret #6: Perfect the art of the humblebrag

You’re a badass, so own it—humbly, of course. This delicate balance lies in showing the admissions committee why you’re a badass without explicitly saying, “I’m a badass, yo!”

Enter the humblebrag.

Writing about yourself can be tough. I get it. But your application essays are one of the few places you’re expected to toot your own horn. It’s your job to show the admissions committee how awesome you are so that giving you an offer is a no-brainer.

Think of humblebragging as sort of like passive-aggressive bragging. You want to project confidence about who you are, why you’re unique, what attribute you’re zeroing in on, what you achieved, etc., but do so in a subtle rather than cocky way.

Let’s look at a few examples:

Example #1 (strong English skills): “Learning English was a challenge, but I worked hard and placed at the top of my English Language Learning class and received top marks on the TESOL exam.”

Example #2 (leadership experience): “My peers frequently looked to me for leadership and guidance, electing me to serve as group leader to ensure our best results.”

Example #3 (returning to school after a long absence): “Because I have had time to develop myself personally and professionally, I bring a strong sense of maturity and responsibility to my work.”

Trust me, I know how uncomfortable it can be to sell yourself, but that’s the whole point of college application essays, so don’t sell yourself short. And definitely don’t write about how you’re not very good at something. Embrace your awesomeness, whatever it is, in ways that show your strengths, character, ambitions, and drive.

Still feeling a little uncomfortable braggin’ about your badassery? Read How to Write an Essay About Yourself With Confidence.

Secret #7: Put on your persuasive pants

Regardless of what you’re writing about in your application essays, you want to be persuasive in your tone, in your word choices, and in the way you project confidence. How?

Don’t be wishy-washy

Promise, right now, to ban the phrases “I believe,” “I think,” and “I hope” (and any other phrases that lack an authoritative voice) from your application essays. Those phrases actually undermine your projected confidence, undermine your conviction in whatever follows the phrases, and ultimately, undermine the admissions committee’s confidence in you.

Use persuasive writing techniques

Your words and your approach matter a lot when you’re trying to be persuasive. At the core of persuasion are ethos, pathos, and logos (you can read about how to use them in your writing here), but there are many persuasive techniques you can use to convince the admissions committee that you’re perfect for the school.

Don’t use underwhelming aspirations

While you want to be authentic (see Secret #5), you don’t want to be underwhelming by saying something like, “I want to work at a mid-tier company in the plastics industry.” Not very compelling, right?

Instead, think big. Be bold. You should shoot for the stars in terms of your goals and aspirations. NO ONE WILL FOLLOW UP ON THIS. That said, you don’t have free license to lie or BS your way through your college application essays. Just be fearless and confident.

Describe the absolute dream. Then convince the admissions committee not only that you’re equipped to achieve it, but also that this school is central to making that dream a reality.

And hey, if you need to literally put on a snazzy pair of pants to feel more persuasive, no judgment here. I may or may not have worn silver leopard-print pants covered in glitter when writing persuasive essays in college.

Secret #8: Avoid a snoozefest

Your goal is to be accepted, which means not putting the admissions committee to sleep, obviously. The admissions committee literally has to read THOUSANDS of essays from applicants just like you who are just as eager to be accepted.

The good news is that there are some techniques you can use to get—and keep—their attention by being engaging and telling a compelling narrative. How? I’m glad you asked. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Use a good hook

Starting with a good hook is essential to writing good application essays. Why? You want to get the admissions committee engaged with your essay from the very first sentence. Need help developing a compelling opening? Read How to Start a Personal Statement the Right Way and How to Write Attention Grabbers That Work.

SHOW, don’t tell, the committee why you’re awesome and a good fit for the school

In other words, share a story. Don’t simply tell the admissions officers something. SHOW them through the actions you took, how your thinking shifted, how you were impacted by something, what you felt…yada, yada, yada. Tap into details that evoke emotions using descriptive, emotive words. Paint a picture that’s compelling.

Focus on what you’re passionate about

Don’t write about something just because you think it will be impressive. Admissions officers will see right through that. If you choose something that you’re passionate about, the enthusiasm behind it will show. And that’s super important for writing good college essays.

Secret #9: Keep the focus on YOU

This seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many students use too much valuable essay space to talk about something or someone else that’s more tangential to their own story.

For instance, a common mistake is focusing completely on an event that took place, such as an event you volunteered at, something monumental that happened to you, or something that happened to everyone (like 9/11).

While what occurred is important, you need to demonstrate how it affected YOU and how YOU felt. Admissions officers want to see how YOU think and how YOU’VE grown. The essay is the only place on YOUR application to truly take them into YOUR mind.

The same goes for if you’re writing about someone who inspired YOU or shaped who YOU are in some critical way.

In other words, YOU are the star (in case me screaming it at you in all caps 100 times didn’t emphasize that enough, heh). Bask in the spotlight!

Secret #10: End with pizzazz

The end of your application essay, whatever the prompt, is your mic-drop moment. It’s your last chance (in that essay, anyway) to make a lasting impression, so make it count!

Dial into the core takeaway you want the reader to remember and end with something that brings your theme (see Secret #3) together cohesively while making a strong statement.

Here are a few examples of powerful closings:

Theme #1: Developing resilience through adversity

Closing: I am not here before you today in spite of my setbacks, but rather because of how they challenged me and inspired me to change and adapt. The barriers helped me build resiliency and led me to pursue my dreams, knowing that I have the strength and determination it takes to succeed and make a difference in the lives of others.

Theme #2: My father, my role model

Closing: To me, my father epitomized success. I idolized him as only a son can, and even when he faced incredible setbacks and had to regroup, I saw his strength and determination as a source of inspiration. I aspire to someday have the same impact on those around me, share the same love with my family, and see the same intense respect and admiration in my own son’s eyes. Only then will I truly know success.

Secret #11: Get a second pair of eyes

Like anything of monumental importance, getting a second (or third or fourth) pair of eyes on your college application essays can provide crucial feedback. And the first 10 secrets here convey just how much thought needs to go into your essays—and the aspects that are essential to getting them right.

Friends, family members, teachers, guidance counselors, and others in your life can probably give you some broad-level feedback on whether your essays are compelling. But sometimes the surest way to tell your BEST story is with the help of an impartial observer.

Enter Kibin’s admission essay editors—who know all the secrets to good college essays.

We’ll help you polish your essays to make sure you’re on the right track—to avoid that soul-crushing defeat of a rejection from your dream school.

You want your profile to stand out among potential dates, so you carefully select your best staged candid shots and choose your words carefully to describe your scintillating personality and dynamic sense of humor.

You’re well aware that how you construct your profile determines whether someone swipes right or swipes left.

Writing a college admission essay is kinda like creating a dating profile.

You need to carefully choose your essay topic, one that showcases your amazing self.

After all, the college admission essay could make all the difference in whether essay readers swipe right or swipe left to decide whether you’re in or out.

So let’s get those admission officers to swipe right and move you that much closer to being admitted to the college of your choice.

Keep reading to learn how to come up with college essay ideas that will make your essay stand out.

What Is a College Essay?

A college admission essay is part narrative essay and part reflective essay.

In a college essay, you need to tell a story (as you would in a narrative essay), and you need to reflect on your experiences (as you would in a reflective essay).

A college essay, however, is slightly different than those essay types because you need to keep two key points in mind:

1. Purpose. The purpose of a college essay is to showcase yourself as a mature, hardworking, responsible, and involved individual. The purpose of the essay is to help you get into a college. Thus, an essay that reflects on why it wasn’t the best idea to binge-watch your favorite series all night instead of studying for your chemistry exam isn’t the best topic choice for this essay.

2. Audience. College admission officers (and possibly college faculty) will be reading your essay. Your audience is made up of professionals who are looking for professionalism in your essay, so things like academic voice and proper grammar and punctuation really do matter (perhaps even more so than in essays written for a class).

Looking for the finer points of what goes into a college essay? Read these posts:

• Personal Statement Advice: Here’s What the Admissions Experts Have to Say
• 10 Common Types of College Essay Prompts—and How to Crush Them
• How to Start a Personal Statement the Right Way
• 11 Secrets to Good College Essays

How to Come Up With College Essay Ideas That Stand Out

Remember, your audience reads volumes worth of college essays every year, so you don’t want to write a bland essay about a boring topic. You want your essay to stand out. You want it to showcase your individuality and convince readers that you belong at the college.

One of the best ways to come up with a college essay idea is to spend lots of time brainstorming ideas until you finally find one that works for you.

Keep in mind that this brainstorming activity isn’t one that you can complete in five minutes. You’ll need at least a day or two to contemplate ideas and form your thoughts.

With that in mind, let’s come up with a topic idea that stands out.

To find the perfect topic for your essay, read through the list below, and jot down potential ideas.

College essay ideas about characters, animals, and people in your life

Celebrities and fictional characters

• Did you idolize a celebrity or fictional character in your childhood? Have you tried to model your life after her/him at any point in your life?
• Did you try to learn from her/him and avoid mistakes she/he has made?
• How have the actions or words of a celebrity or fictional character shaped some aspect of your personality?

Animals

• Did you have a pet as child? What did you learn from your pet?
• Did owning a pet alter your relationships with other people?
• Would you consider your pet your best friend? Why might you consider an animal a better friend than a person?
• Has your service animal or emotional support animal changed your life?

Family

• Think about your mom, dad, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. How has one of your family members influenced you?
• Did she/he teach you a specific valuable lesson or shape your character in some way?
• Did she/he teach you important life skills?
• Do you wish you wouldn’t have listened to someone’s advice?
• Did you inherit your wicked sense of humor, empathetic nature, or love of music from a family member?
• Have you tried to learn from the mistakes of your family members so that you won’t make the same mistakes or follow the same path?
• What one piece of advice would you like to give your younger self?

Friends, significant others, teachers, and mentors

• Did a friend help you through a difficult time or offer words of wisdom that you’ll never forget?
• Did your so-called friend try to lead you in the wrong direction? How did you handle the situation?
• Has a significant other helped you see the world from a new perspective?
• Do you wish you had never met or dated a significant other? What did you learn from a negative dating experience?
• Did a teacher encourage or challenge you in unexpected ways?
• Did you have a mentor (such as a clergy member, Big Brother/Big Sister, or other mentor) who changed your attitude or changed your outlook on life?

What is one thing you wish one of these people knew about you? How does this aspect shape you and your perspectives, beliefs, and relationships with others?

College essay ideas about important experiences and moments in your life

Work and volunteer experiences

• What’s the most important lesson you learned at your first job?
• What one mistake did you make at a job that you’re happy you made?
• How did volunteering change your relationship with others or with the community?
• Do any of the people at work or at the places where you volunteer motivate or inspire you? What about in a previous job?
• How has your current job prepared you for a career in your chosen field?

Emotional moments

• What was the scariest, happiest, saddest, funniest, most embarrassing, or loneliest moment of your life?
• How did this moment shape you?
• What did you learn from this moment? Was it all positive, all negative, or both positive and negative?
• How did you handle the situation, or how did you cope with the outcome?

Decision-making moments

• Have you made spur-of-the-moment decisions that have impacted your life (either positively or negatively)?
• Have you made reasoned, well thought-out decisions? What was the outcome?
• Do you regret any important decisions you’ve made?
• Have you made seemingly insignificant decisions that made a big impact in your life?

Would you want to relive any of these moments? Would you like to relive them more than once? If you could change them, would you?

College essay ideas about the possessions in your life

Memories and mementos

• Do you have one or more treasured possessions that help ground you or remind you of someone, some thing, or a special event?
• Do you have any family heirlooms that speak to your family history?
• Did you collect any souvenirs or mementos from an event or vacation that are important to you in some way?
• Have you saved a letter written by a loved one? What meaning does the letter hold?
• Do you have a special family photo (old or new) that you treasure? What does the picture mean to you?

Personality and character

• How do your clothing choices, hair style, or jewelry display your personality?
• Do any of these objects have a deeper connection to your culture or heritage?
• Do you have any tattoos that reflect a personal memory or that are dedicated to someone?

Why are these objects so important to you? How can an object influence who you are and who you become?

Turn Your Ideas Into a College Essay

Now that you’ve read through the list above and have a handful of potential ideas for your college essay, begin brainstorming the stories you could tell.

You might realize that what sounded like a great idea quickly falls flat, and you have very little to say about the topic. That’s okay. Set it aside, and work through the remaining ideas on your list.

When you reach the topic that you feel you could write pages and pages about, you know you’re moving in the right direction. When you reach the topic that moves you and realize it’s a story that only you can tell, you know you’ve found the perfect idea for your college essay.

Remember: You’re not just telling a story about someone or about what happened.

The goal is to reflect on what you’ve learned and how the person, object, or event shaped you. Don’t try to embellish or make up a story that you think sounds good. Be honest, thoughtful, and genuine in your reflection. Your sincerity will be evident in your writing, and you’ll end up with a more powerful essay.

Additional resources

Looking for a few additional tips? Use these resources to help shape your ideas into a college essay:

• Use This Reflective Essay Outline to Get Your Paper Started
• What Is a Hook Sentence? (Infographic)
• Concise Writing: How to Writer a Strong Essay With Fewer Words
• Why Eliminating Wordiness Is So Important for Your Essay
• How to Revise an Essay and Make It Better Than Ever

Looking for additional writing inspiration? Take a look at these example college essays:

• My Desire to Specialize in Family Medicine
• Being Determined to Take My Leadership Skills Further
• The Lessons I’ve Learned From Getting Stuck in a Closet
• Sophomore Year as the Lowest Point of My Life

Can’t come up with any more ideas? Feeling like your essay is falling short of the amazing essay you know it could be? We’ve been editing college essays since 2011—let a Kibin editor help.

At one time or another, someone has probably asked you this snarky question to call you out on something.

But when it comes to college admissions essays, it’s a downright serious question. The people reading essays really do want to know what makes you special. They want to know what makes you unique. They want to know what makes you, well, you.

How can you highlight your accomplishments, your personality, or your goals with a set of high school transcripts and one short essay?

By absolutely crushing your college essay.

10 Common Types of College Essay Prompts

Let’s say you’re a great athlete or a math genius. Perhaps you can sing like an angel. Maybe you’re the valedictorian of your high school class.

While all of these things certainly carry some bragging rights, guess what? Lots of other college applicants can claim the same bragging rights.

So how can you stand out among the masses? Crushing your admission essay can make all the difference, so keep reading to learn what you should and shouldn’t do when answering these common college essay prompts.

Prompt #1: Describe a time you overcame a challenge or experienced failure

The challenge you write about might revolve around your home life, such as a struggle within yourself, your family, or dangers and challenges in your environment.

You could also write about challenges you face because of a disability, because you’re a minority, or because of some other circumstance in your life.

No matter what angle you take with this topic, keep in mind that, even though you’re writing about challenges and failures, you don’t want to focus solely on the fact that you struggled.

Instead, examine the positive outcomes. Consider how the experience changed you and what you learned from the experience.

Read an example of how one student wrote about overcoming obstacles.

Prompt #2: Describe a time when you changed your personal beliefs or values

The key to crushing this (and most every) essay prompt is to be specific.

Don’t brag about the fact you became a vegetarian and are saving the planet with your life choices. Instead, write about a specific event that made you change your eating habits. For instance, did the time you spent working on a farm or at a fast-food restaurant make you want to become a vegetarian? Did you become vegetarian for spiritual reasons?

Explain the event, and explain how the experience changed you and made you the person you are today.

See how one student’s perspective on adoption changed after the student’s family hosted a child from Ukraine.

Prompt #3: Explain what you hope to accomplish in college

Every student who enrolls in college hopes to earn good grades and an eventual degree. This is certainly an accomplishment, but it’s not the type of accomplishment that your audience wants to read about in this essay.

Admissions officers want to know what you wish to do beyond academics.

This is where you might need to do a little homework. Learn about the organizations and clubs on campus. Perhaps you want to be not only a member but also a leader. Perhaps you have goals on how to improve the program. Or maybe you see a need for something new (on or off campus) and want to develop your own organization.

If you do decide to focus on strictly personal goals, dig deeper than “get good grades.” Need inspiration? Check out this example essay about a student’s goals for personal growth.

Prompt #4: Explain why you want to attend this college or university

This is a pretty common question, so in order to stand out when answering this prompt, you’ll need to think of something more original than “because the physical therapy program is one of the best in the state.”

It’s fine to mention a great program or degree at the institution, but if you do, make sure you discuss a unique and specific aspect of the program. For example, has the program or faculty won awards? Is the faculty comprised of renowned scholars? In other words, highlight the distinctive features of the program.

Don’t forget, though, that this essay isn’t about the school. It’s about you.

The goal is to explain why you belong there. Why would you thrive in such an environment? Why is the school a perfect fit for both your personality and your career goals?

Read why one student believes her chosen college is the perfect fit.

Prompt #5: Describe a major accomplishment

Your college admissions essay isn’t the time to try to be funny by answering this prompt with the story about how you finally managed to get 1,000 likes on a clever vacation pic or how you ate an extra-large party pizza in one sitting.

Think about more serious and influential accomplishments, such as overcoming a learning disability or being the youngest person to ever open your own art show at a local gallery.

In this admissions essay example, a student describes overcoming social anxiety and the impact it had on his life and future goals.

Prompt #6: Describe an event that sparked personal growth

We’ve all had those aha moments where we suddenly have a realization that sparked a change in us. Keep in mind that these moments may occur out of either a positive or negative situation, but it’s the growth that happens afterward that is meaningful in this context.

Let’s say you failed your biology exam (a definite negative). But perhaps failing this one exam made you realize that you really do love all things science, and you want to make it your life’s work. This one negative experience caused you to evaluate your study habits and educational goals.

Maybe you even turned that one experience into more than great grades in your classes. Maybe once you pulled up your grades, you started tutoring others to help them realize they could do the same.

Remember, personal growth doesn’t have to begin with a large, earth-shattering event. It might very well be a small, seemingly minor event that makes a big impact.

Prompt #7: Describe a person you admire

Parents, grandparents, and teachers are pretty obvious choices for this college essay prompt, but don’t always look at the obvious. Your essay will be much more interesting and original if you actually write about someone else. (Of course, it’s still fine to admire your mom and dad, but don’t think they’re the only possibilities for subjects.)

Who else can you write about besides Mom and Dad?

Perhaps you admire your best friend who has overcome extraordinary obstacles, and watching him or her overcome those struggles has taught you so much about yourself and how you handle life. Maybe you admire someone famous, like Stephen Hawking or Maya Angelou, and the person’s life has inspired your own.

No matter who you admire, don’t forget to keep the focus on you. Don’t simply tell another person’s story. Explain how the person has impacted you or made you a better person.

Prompt #8: Describe what makes you unique

We are all unique and special—that’s what our mothers always told us, right?

So here’s your chance to prove Mom right and show the world how great you are. This isn’t, however, a chance to simply brag about yourself.

Your goal here is to present an insightful and thoughtful discussion of a unique aspect of your character.

While you may be unique because you won a ton of academic awards and scholarships, keep in mind that your academic achievements are already on display in your transcripts and other application materials. Don’t repeat the information by writing about it in your college admissions essay.

Instead, you might choose a point related to your academic goals and achievements but one that is a bit outside the standard classroom experience. For instance, if your ultimate goal is to become a veterinarian, you might write about how you consider yourself a cat or a dog whisperer and how this will help you become a better vet.

Whatever unique part of yourself you choose as the focus, make sure that it expresses your true self and is something that readers wouldn’t know about you by reading the rest of your college application materials.

Check out this example of how a student defines herself through her devotion to helping others.

Prompt #9: Explain what commitment means to you

To most people, commitment means working hard and being dedicated enough to work until a project is complete.

Commitment might also mean giving back to society or improving society (through volunteering with organizations or starting your own organization).

What are you committed to? Consider what is important to you and how you demonstrate this commitment.

It’s okay to feel like you fall short. The college admissions essay isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being honest. So if you don’t think you’re active enough in the “big things” (like changing the world or saving the environment) and you think you could improve, you might use this to discuss how you’re working to improve.

You could also use this opportunity to discuss your future plans for commitment by explaining your goals (or the importance of setting goals) and what you hope to achieve in life.

Prompt #10: Choose your own essay topic

Choosing your own topic can be both a blessing and a curse. Because you can basically choose just about any topic you like, it can be more difficult to select a topic that you think would showcase you, your ideas, your goals, or your achievements in some way.

If you have the chance to choose your own topic, avoid telling sports stories about the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat (unless, of course, you have a unique twist on the topic).

You should also avoid broad summaries of your volunteer experiences or your internships. These types of essays can sound like a report and read like a “what I did on my summer vacation” essay—and they won’t stand out. If you want to write about one of these events, choose a small aspect of the experience to highlight.

If you’re looking for a few ideas for this broad, “choose your own” category, consider writing about one of these topics:

• A problem you’d like to solve. This might be a larger societal problem or a problem specific to your community.

• What you learned from an embarrassing moment. Remember, you want the story to be positive, so don’t dwell on the negatives of the embarrassment (though you’ll likely want to mention those feelings too). The focus should be the positive outcome of the situation and what you learned.

• The best (or worst) advice you ever received.

• A quote that explains something about you or that inspires you. When choosing a quote, look for something original. For instance, Dr. Seuss is quoted a lot, but if you absolutely must quote him, don’t take a line from Oh the Places You’ll Go. Instead, choose a quote from a lesser known Seuss book like The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.

If you’re still stuck for ideas, read these posts:

• 4 Must-Answer Questions Before Brainstorming Personal Statement Topics
• How to Come Up With College Essay Ideas that Stand Out

You could also give brainstorming or another prewriting strategy a try and see what you come up with.

Final Thoughts on College Essay Prompts

As you’re sorting out your thoughts about your college essay prompts, keep in mind that readers want to see honesty. Don’t tell a grand tale that is certainly too good to be true. Remember, admissions officers read a lot of essays each year, so they can tell when you’re being authentic.

Want more insight on what your college app essays should and shouldn’t do? Read 11 Secrets to Good College Essays and How to Start a Personal Statement the Right Way (the same advice applies to ALL your essay prompts).

And if you’d like to check out a few more example college essays before you start your own, take a look at these admission essay examples.

Think you’ve crushed your college essay but want to make sure everything looks and sounds perfect? Here are some additional resources to help you polish your essay:

• 5 Punctuation Rules You Need to Know
• Concise Writing: How to Write a Strong Essay With Fewer Words
• How to Improve Sentence Variety in Your Essays (and Why You Should Care)

Interested in a professional opinion? Send your college essay to Kibin. We’ve edited admissions essays and personal statements for thousands of students since 2011, and we’re here to help 24/7!