The website The Common Application has announced its personal statement essay prompts for the 2016-2017 year. This website allows students to apply to over 600 colleges and universities around the world with one application form. While the form may be the same, the essay questions change from year to year. The essay prompts are designed to give information that will help strengthen other parts of the application, and allow the school admissions to better understand the perspective student. Here are the essay prompts for this year:

2016-2017 Essay Prompts
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.
2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
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.
5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

If you or your child are planning on applying for colleges in the fall, now is a great time to begin preparing and working on honing their writing skills to ensure they send a great college essay. At Learning Ascent, we have tutors who specialize in writing and editing, and can work with your student to write a great essay for their applications. Call us today at (630) 587-2795 or schedule online at here.Summer spots fill up quickly, so schedule today!

Since 2002, the professional tutors at Learning Ascent in St Charles, IL have provided tutoring and ACT prep, helping thousands of students from Batavia, IL; Geneva, IL; South Elgin, IL; and other Fox Valley towns to improve their academic performance.