quark Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Some prompts have changed! https://www.commonapp.org/whats-appening/application-updates/common-application-announces-2017-2018-essay-prompts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Interesting. I'm not sure what I think of #7. Otherwise, the changes look good to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 I really like 6. :001_smile: Only issue is some kids might have trouble picking one topic/ idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 I hate all of those questions. I know I am in a minority, but I find those essays the most difficult to write. On the other hand, I was looking at U Chicago supplemental essays and those look all sorts of fun! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Some of these are quite nice. #7 pretty much leaves it wide open. I like the one on what makes you lose track of time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 I hate all of those questions. I know I am in a minority, but I find those essays the most difficult to write. On the other hand, I was looking at U Chicago supplemental essays and those look all sorts of fun! 7 would let you write on anything, even one of the quirky Chicago essay questions. Ds's favorite prompt was "Take a risk" from Notre Dame. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 7 would let you write on anything, even one of the quirky Chicago essay questions. Ds's favorite prompt was "Take a risk" from Notre Dame. It's the personal essays that completely make me freeze. I don't know why, but I can't talk about myself. I just can't. I understand the importance of it to colleges, but it's hard. Some of this can be cultural. Chicago ones are just pure intellectual fun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 (edited) I really like 6. :001_smile: Only issue is some kids might have trouble picking one topic/ idea.I am thinking that 6 might end up looking like math homework. ETA: This doesn't look as bad as Caltech's additional questions. https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/admissions-prod-storage.cloud.caltech.edu/Caltech%20Supp%20Questions%20%282014%20edits%29.pdf Edited February 9, 2017 by Arcadia 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 It's the personal essays that completely make me freeze. I don't know why, but I can't talk about myself. I just can't. I understand the importance of it to colleges, but it's hard. You and my DS both!! It definitely takes a lot of brainstorming and thinking through and many, many drafts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 I am thinking that 6 might end up looking like math homework. ETA: This doesn't look as bad as Caltech's additional questions. https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/admissions-prod-storage.cloud.caltech.edu/Caltech%20Supp%20Questions%20%282014%20edits%29.pdf Caltech's is not so bad, actually. But for some colleges (imho Caltech included), it really helps to have researched them well and perhaps even visited the campus or chatted with profs and alumni before attempting the essays. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopskipjump Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 It's the personal essays that completely make me freeze. I don't know why, but I can't talk about myself. I just can't. I understand the importance of it to colleges, but it's hard. This was my dd. Those essays were absolute torture for her. I couldn't understand it, but she'd have preferred to walk through fire, I think. It was so bad that, after writing many, many essays, she just stopped. She refused to write even one more for a couple honors college applications and that "just one more" university I wanted her to apply to (*just* to see if she'd get in! Now I'll never know!!! waahhhh! lol) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Caltech used to have a prompt that was just an empty box. You were to "fill it any way you want"... That one stumped my son for a good long while. Then they changed their prompts to those that Arcadia linked. Not easy either (especially the ethical dilemma prompt), but not as bad as that blank box! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 It's the personal essays that completely make me freeze. I don't know why, but I can't talk about myself. I just can't. I understand the importance of it to colleges, but it's hard. Some of this can be cultural. Chicago ones are just pure intellectual fun. We've been having a great time with the U of C prompts! (I have been alternating essay practice assignments - week 1, timed SAT prompt in cursive; week 2, untimed typed U of C or other quirky prompt.) Common App prompts are hardtack compared to U of C's glorious cannoli..... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyOwn Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 (edited) . Edited February 11, 2017 by OnMyOwn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Do you have to answer all 7? 650 words each? :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Do you have to answer all 7? 650 words each? :001_huh: Hell no. you pick ONE. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 I like the two new ones. But then, even with the old ones it was possible to write about pretty much anything and make it #1. I hate #5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Hell no. you pick ONE. Oh thank God! I was thinking "we better start NOW!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Oh thank God! I was thinking "we better start NOW!" It;s bad enough that many colleges have their own essays ("writing supplement" in addition to the Common App essay - even if they accept the Common App. There are still a LOT of essays to write. Some of the schools DD applied to wanted four different short essays. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyOwn Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Hell no. you pick ONE. That's nice to hear. For some reason, I thought you were supposed to pick two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 (edited) It;s bad enough that many colleges have their own essays ("writing supplement" in addition to the Common App essay - even if they accept the Common App. There are still a LOT of essays to write. Some of the schools DD applied to wanted four different short essays. Ok, so still a ton of time required. Problem for us is that the application season is in the middle of final exams, which count for 60- 100% of your grade. Not good timing for Southern Hemisphere kids. Edited February 11, 2017 by lewelma 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 (edited) Ok, so still a ton of time required. Problem for us is that the application season is in the middle of final exams, which count for 60- 100% of your grade. Not good timing for Southern Hemisphere kids.Many Common App schools have their supplemental writing prompts right on the CA application. So a student can see what the prompts are as early as Aug 1 when CA opens. You could make a practice account with an extra email and check out what this year's supplements are. I found having a practice student account really helpful in any event. I really wish I'd made my kid write his essays as soon as they were available. I think they released the prompts in May last year. I love that they are coming out far earlier thjs year. Edited February 11, 2017 by Sebastian (a lady) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 I am thinking that 6 might end up looking like math homework. ETA: This doesn't look as bad as Caltech's additional questions. https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/admissions-prod-storage.cloud.caltech.edu/Caltech%20Supp%20Questions%20%282014%20edits%29.pdf After having attended CalTech, I think these prompts so encapsulate the experience there! The student body is unique and so quirky, that it can be difficult for some to fit. If you fit, you are a lifer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 (edited) Ok, so still a ton of time required. Problem for us is that the application season is in the middle of final exams, which count for 60- 100% of your grade. Not good timing for Southern Hemisphere kids. When is your exam season? Common App opens August 1st. First applications aren't due until late October; most not until December. Most of the essays don't have to be terribly deep; the writing supplements are usually multiple short ones. Many are rather vanilla: Write about an experience. Why do you want to come here, what do you think you can contribute. What obstacles did you overcome. The actual writing was not so bad. It was the brainstorming about the main essays that took time - the Common App one, and the U Chicago quirky one. DD mulled them over during the summer trips. The short ones, one just has to sit down and write them. Edited February 11, 2017 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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