9.23 August First! It's all happening!
9.23 Choose the right topic for the Common App
Hi. It's Athena Mentor and it's August 1st. You know what that means. Sunflowers? Well, there's that, but today is the day that the Common Application goes live for the coming year.Colleges are posting their supplement questions. It takes a while until every college's questions have been announced, but why not start now with whichever of your colleges has posted?What about the personal essay? That's the "common" essay that will be sent to every college that requests it. In fact, the prompts for the personal essay were updated a long time ago! Get going!Some of you may feel stuck, wondering, "Which prompt should I choose?" Others among you will immediately zoom in one prompt, exclaiming, "This is for me!" Between not knowing how to start and jumping the gun, you may think it's reasonable to respond, "Well, what I should do first is read all of the prompts and then decide which one I would like to write--and write it!"I have a suggestion for you. Watch the video or read on for our biggest tip for tackling the personal statement.Click on the image or on this link to access the video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Athena Advises
Here's a different way to go about choosing the right prompt. Write two or three sentences for each prompt, sketching out what you would write about if you chose that prompt. That way, you're sure to give each of the prompts a fair chance. You may find that you have more to say about one or more of those prompts than you had first thought.When you finish that exercise, put it aside for a day, and then look at what you've written. Ask yourself, "Where do I feel the most depth? Which prompt might bring out something that's not just what I'm in the habit of saying?" How can you avoid the superficial response: "Oh, yeah, I could answer number four, no problem?"What's the most challenging prompt? What's the one that might cause you difficulty, as you come to terms with a really challenging question? Give them all a chance before you decide too rapidly, "Oh, yeah, definitely number four." You may discover something new about yourself, and your thoughtfulness will shine through your essay.Dr. Marlena CorcoranFounder and CEOAuthor of Year by Year to College, on amazon.com, amazon.de and many national amazon sites