College+Essay

=__**College Essay Assignment, 2017**__=

Please choose a prompt from those below or use a prompt from one of the actual applications that you are filling out or planning to fill out.
===(If you use one of the latter, please put that prompt at the top of the first page of the essay you submit.) Before you write the first rough paragraph, be sure to go back and read that short article you were given that was also used this past summer at the College Counseling college essay workshop, the one about not worrying if your draft is any good. __If you already wrote a college essay, this is a chance to rewrite it with significant improvements.__===

**1) If you’re doing an actual application and it has an earlier deadline on it, please let me know and we can adjust things for you.** ** :) **
=**__2)__** __To meet the writing expectations for this assignment for this course, you will need at least two pages of written material. If the length of the essay or essays you’re writing for your actual applications is shorter than two pages, submit another essay from another prompt on one of your applications that asked for a shorter piece of writing (perhaps 100-250 words)__. :) =


 * __VERY IMPORTANT__: As the College Counseling Office has probably told you already, you must write from the heart. That might be the most important ingredient in the creation of this piece of writing. Insincerity will be easy for experienced admissions officers to spot. Write about something that deeply matters to you. :)**

=__ **The Common Application** __= = **//Essay Prompts//** =

**The Common Application ** is accepted by over 480 colleges in the United States, all of which treat the application the same as their own. An essay is a required component of the Common App. The essay questions have changed beginning with the Class of 2014, so please see the instructions from Common App below. **Instructions. **The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. //What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores?// Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don't feel obligated to do so. (The application won't accept a response shorter than 250 words.)
 * 1) //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.
 * 2) //The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success.// Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
 * 3) Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
 * 4) //Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.//
 * 5) Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.