Common App Essay Prompts

2025-2026 Application Cycle

📋 Common App Essay Prompts

The Common Application essay prompts are designed to help you tell your unique story. Choose the prompt that best fits your experiences and allows you to showcase your personality, values, and growth. Remember, there's no "right" prompt - pick the one that inspires you to write authentically.

Prompt 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.

💡 Tips for This Prompt

  • Focus on something that truly defines you
  • Show how this aspect has shaped your perspective
  • Connect it to your future goals and aspirations
  • Be specific and use concrete examples
Prompt 2
The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

💡 Tips for This Prompt

  • Focus on growth and learning, not just the challenge
  • Show resilience and problem-solving skills
  • Be honest about your initial reactions and feelings
  • Demonstrate how this experience changed you
Prompt 3
Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

💡 Tips for This Prompt

  • Show critical thinking and intellectual curiosity
  • Explain your reasoning process clearly
  • Be respectful even when challenging ideas
  • Focus on the learning and growth from the experience
Prompt 4
Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

💡 Tips for This Prompt

  • Focus on the unexpected nature of the gesture
  • Show how it changed your perspective or behavior
  • Connect gratitude to your values and future actions
  • Be specific about the impact on your life
Prompt 5
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

💡 Tips for This Prompt

  • Choose something that truly changed your perspective
  • Show the before and after of your understanding
  • Include specific details about the moment of realization
  • Connect this growth to your current goals
Prompt 6
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?

💡 Tips for This Prompt

  • Show genuine passion and curiosity
  • Include specific examples of your engagement
  • Demonstrate your learning process and resources
  • Connect this interest to your academic or career goals
Prompt 7
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.

💡 Tips for This Prompt

  • Choose a topic that showcases your unique perspective
  • Make sure it reveals something important about you
  • Ensure it's well-structured and engaging
  • Consider if another prompt might actually work better