We’ve spent the past few weeks breaking down each Common App essay prompt one by one, and now it’s time for the grand finale: our ultimate guide to writing the Common App essay. Sure, there are seven different prompts, but at the end of the day, every school is looking for the same thing: a story.
Getting waitlisted or deferred from your dream school is hard. We know it’s hard! You feel rejected, but it’s this weird non-rejection rejection that can leave you feeling lost and confused. And while a lot of things in college admissions are totally out of your control, there is something you can do if you’ve been waitlisted or deferred to give yourself another chance. A letter of continued interest, sometimes known as a waitlist letter or deferral letter, is one of the few, actionable things you can control when admissions decisions seem so out of your control. It’s your only chance to make a good second impression, and we help students write them every single year.
Getting waitlisted is the ultimate limbo – it’s not not a rejection, but it’s not a full-on denial, either. And depending on your circumstances, you could be feeling everything from mild disappointment to full-on panic. Don’t get yourself into a tizzy just yet, because there are things you can do to give yourself a shot at getting off the waitlist and make sure that you have a plan in place for the next year.
Hey, look, sometimes ED doesn’t work out the way we want it to, and we have to change strategies. If you just got rejected or deferred from your ED/EA option, we’d like to introduce you to our good friend, Early Decision 2. ED2 is just as binding as ED, and it signals to the school that you are serious about attending that school, and guess what? Schools like when you’re serious about them.
“Hey, can you write a new post for the blog?”
“Sure any idea of what we should write about?”
“I think we need to do one on form and the common app essay.”
“On form?”
“Yeah about how good common app essays break form.”
“Of course! I will work on one about how breaking form can make a really memorable reading experience.”
When we were asked about time management tips for juniors, the writer of the email was also hoping to find opportunities for this upcoming summer that align with their interest in climate change. You’ll find our ideas below:
Back in your grandparent's day, it was acceptable to play a sport for fun for four years, get solid grades, take the SAT without practicing much and expect to get into a great school. With Ivy League schools now boasting acceptance rate in the single digits, those days are long gone. But kids often ask us what resume items look good on college applications and particularly, which sports look best. In this post, we talk about how you should structure your extracurriculars.
Even the most prepared students are usually surprised by some part of the college application process. Maybe it’s a supplement that really makes them think or how short some essays have to be, but there’s one thing that everyone knows about before starting the process: they are going to have to write a killer common app essay.
In continuation of our common app essay series, we’re diving into the fifth prompt. Most prompts fall firmly into one of two camps: absolutely not or maybe. This prompt started as a hard maybe for us, and then ended in the “Thank U, Next” camp after we did some internal brainstorming. Keep reading for our thoughts:
The 2021-2022 college application season is upon us, and we’re here with a series about how to approach and answer all seven of the common app essay prompts. At times, we will suggest things that seem difficult. We’ll write about things that don’t align with what you might have read on the internet. We’ll also let you know when we think it’s best you skip a prompt. We’ve gathered quite a few tips and tricks over the years, and we want to help our blog readers write essays that work. Let’s dive into the first prompt:
The pandemic has disrupted and upended countless industries. Scores of state-of-the-art corporate developments in major cities across the nation sit empty. Schools everywhere have adapted to remote learning. As the vaccines bring new hope to a country that’s been on pause for more than a year, many Americans might be beginning to return to some semblance of normalcy. But as some corporate employees head back into the office for the first time and students head into summer with hopes that they can pass hard-copy notes to their friends in the fall, college hopefuls might be entering into a new post-pandemic world of college applications entirely. Applications for universities have been at an all-time high for the past decade or so. But this last admissions cycle truly marked a change in competition. And perhaps for good.
A few weeks ago, we got an email from one of our blog readers who was looking for summer plans related to climate change. We’ll be writing a separate blog post about that, but they were also looking for time management tips. In addition to wanting to pursue an environmental position, she also wanted a paying job, to keep up with an independent project, study for the SAT, and start her college applications. We totally get that balancing work, fun, and extracurricular activities can be challenging. Here are our tips for not going crazy this summer:
College decisions are out, and while our TKG clients got into their top choice schools, we know that there are many people out there wondering: what happened? People want to know: “how come I didn’t get into my dream school?” This might sound cheesy but it’s worth noting: getting into a certain college has literally nothing to do with your value as a person. Rejection is hard, and while we can’t make you feel better, we do think it might be helpful to read the below. We don’t know your life, we don’t know where you applied, but we are familiar with how this process works. Here are a few reasons why might have gotten rejected:
We recently received an email from a blog reader asking for advice on how to become a member of a political campaign this upcoming summer. We love to hear from our readers when they have specific questions, and we commend anyone who is committed to solidifying summer plans during these uncertain times. Keep reading for our tips:
We scoured the internet for our favorite English major programs and made efforts to only include programs that focus on English, and not writing. These kinds of programs are often blended together, but not everyone who plans to study English wants to be a writer. Enter this list. As per usual, we do not create our lists based on rankings and look for unique programs with special opportunities.
Let us rejoice, there is a new common app essay prompt and it’s actually not half bad! Before we dive in, it’s only fair to mention that at TKG, we always choose prompt #7. Always. Prompt #7 is, in our opinion, far superior to the rest because you can take it in any direction you so choose. We’ve copied the prompt below for reference:
Let’s start with some hard facts! This may be disheartening to hear, but college admissions officers spend just a few minutes reading your application. We know, we know. You work on it for weeks, months even. It feels unfair, but it’s true. Let’s say they spend five minutes reading your application in its entirety. What this really means is that you have five minutes, and just a few opportunities, to add depth to your application and to show them that you’re a dynamic high school student who has a lot to offer to any given college.