<table style="border-collapse: collapse; padding: px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 6.65in; background: #1F497D; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" colspan="2" valign="top" width="638"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="color: #ffffff;"><strong><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Choosing Your Topic</span></strong></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 282.6pt;"> <td style="width: 239.4pt; background: #0D0D0D; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; height: 282.6pt;" valign="top" width="319"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #ffffff;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt 0.5in;"><span style="color: #ffffff;"><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Common Application Prompts, 2017-2018</span></strong></span></p> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ffffff;">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. </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="color: #ffffff;">2. The lessons we take from <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">obstacles we encounter</em> can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">challenge, setback, or failure.</em> How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="color: #ffffff;">3. Reflect on a time when you <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">questioned </em>or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">thinking</em>? What <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">was the outcome</em>? </span></p> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="color: #ffffff;">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. </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="color: #ffffff;">5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">realization</em> that <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.</em></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="color: #ffffff;">6. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">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?</em> </span></p> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ffffff;">7. <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">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. </em></span></p> </td> <td style="width: 239.4pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; height: 282.6pt;" valign="top" width="319"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #ffffff;">Now that you’ve read about what makes </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Now that you’ve read some great examples and discussed what makes them effective, it’s finally time to get started on your college essay.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">On the left are common <a href="http://www.commonapp.org/whats-appening/application-updates/common-application-announces-2017-2018-essay-prompts">college essay prompts</a> on last year’s common application, a generic college application used by 488 universities in 46 states as well as some international schools. You can <a href="http://www.commonapp.org/search-colleges">see if the schools you are interested in use the Common Application here. </a> Writing an application essay on one of these prompts means that you should get to use this essay on your actual application this year! </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Take a look at the prompts and choose one that you feel you could write about in an interesting essay of 500 words (the limit imposed by the Common Application is 650 words).</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">If you are not applying to a school that uses the Common Application, feel free to use the prompt from your university’s application. This process should be as real as possible!</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #ffffff;">e <strong>college essay prompts</strong> on this year’s <a href="http://www.commonapp.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffffff;">Common Application</span></a>, a generic college application used by nearly 700 colleges and universities in 46 states as well as some international schools. You can <a href="http://www.commonapp.org/explore-colleges" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ffffff;">see if the schools you are interested in use the Common Application here</span></a>. Writing an application essay on one of these prompts means that you should get to <strong>use this essay on your actual application</strong> this year! </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Take a look at the prompts and choose one that you feel you could write about in an interesting essay of <strong>250-500 words</strong> (the limits imposed by the Common Application).</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> </span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #ffffff;">If you are not applying to a school that uses the Common Application, feel free to use the prompt from your university’s application. This process should be <strong>as real as possible!</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #ffffff;">Once you’ve chosen your topic, go to the next screen to share what you’ve chosen and do some brainstorming with your classmates.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #ffffff;"> </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #ffffff;"> </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #ffffff;"> </span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p> </p>